SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Golden Sword and Greig Muir at the School of Excellence
(Photo : Leigh Willson)

GOLDEN SWORD STANDING AT SUMMERHILL STUD

Continuing their policy of only standing stallions of quality racing class, South Africa’s Champion Breeders of the past seven consecutive seasons, Summerhill Stud, have acquired the 122 Timeform-rated son of High Chaparral, Golden Sword. While European racing fans will remember him for his consummate victory in one of the principal Derby trials, the Chester Vase (Gr.3), South Africans and those in the Gulf will recall his rattling finishes from behind in Dubai, where he ran the fastest 2000 metres ever, a record which still stands. It’s arguable though that Golden Sword’s finest moment came in the Investec Derby (Gr.1) at Epsom, where he was beaten a tad over two lengths by the world champion, Sea The Stars. With less than a furlong to go, Golden Sword looked to cause the upset of the decade, as he battled it out with Sea The Stars going to the line. 

While it was expected when he first arrived at Coolmore that his dual Breeders’ Cup-winning sire High Chaparral, would bask in the shadow of his much-vaunted paternal half-brother, Galileo, the former’s career to date tells a vastly different story. With six Group One heroes in both hemispheres, High Chaparral became the first stallion since his own illustrious sire, Sadler’s Wells, to have that many winners at the highest level in his first year at stud. Any association with the progeny of High Chaparral immediately reminds us of So You Think, one of the world’s top-rated middle distance horses of last year, yet it’s a tribute to the class of Golden Sword that he is the next highest ranked among his sire’s stock. That he enjoyed the admiration of his champion trainer, Mike de Kock is evident: “Golden Sword was the best horse of a classy generation in my overseas string. At his best, he was a serious international competitor.” 

Speaking from Summerhill, head stallion man of twenty-five years, Greig Muir, remarked “Golden Sword is a big, elegant horse much in the mould of So You Think, and provides breeders with a welcome source of one of the most valuable bloodlines in the world. We’re delighted to have ventured here with Drakenstein Stud, Wilgersbosdrift Stud, Moutonshoek and long-time Summerhill client, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum. In any other year, he might’ve been a Derby winner, and he would not have been in South Africa if that were the case.”

THE GREATEST GIFT IN CREATION

Click above to watch an insert on the 2011 Investec Stallion Day and the
official opening of the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence
(A Jimmy Lithgow Production)

AL MAKTOUM
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE

The world is a very competitive place; it’s never been more so.
Education is the key to the world.
There is only one School of Management Excellence
in the Southern Hemisphere, and it has the best teachers in the world. 

AND THE BEST PEOPLE KNOW IT.

Drakenstein, Highlands, Klawervlei, Maine Chance, Mike de Kock, Summerhill and Wilgerbosdrift.

JOIN THE CLUB : YOUR STAFF DESERVE IT

Heather Morkel +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email heather@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

MOTHER RUSSIA : QUEEN OF L'ORMARINS

Mother Russia - L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Gr1
(Photo : Gold Circle)

L’ORMARINS QUEEN’S PLATE (Grade 1)

Anton Marcus may have “pulled the trigger a little early” but that did not stop Mother Russia snapping three time Equus Horse of the Year Pocket Power’s hopes of a five-race winning streak in the R1million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate run over 1600 m at Kenilworth Saturday.

Andrew Harrison writes that the defending champion Pocket Power was game in defeat but in truth never looked dangerous as he battled into fourth place with the son of Kahal, Tales Of Bravery, clearly second best ahead of the sophomore filly Ebony Flyer who did brilliantly to finish third.

Racing in the familiar black and red silks of Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift Stud, Mother Russia was run out of it late at her last two starts including the Sansui Summer Cup, but she was not to be denied this time round.

With Blue Tiger sent out as the hare to ensure a decent gallop for stable companion Pocket Power, Marcus was content to sit in the vanguard of the chasing pack, the mare doing it comfortably all the while.

With the pacemakers falling back rapidly in the straight and Ebony Flyer looming dangerous on his outside, Marcus gunned for home early and Mother Russia responded in an instant. She stretched away from Ebony Flyer and it was the Vaughan Marshall-trained Tales Of Bravery who came out of the pack to try and make a race of it, but in vain. “I pulled the trigger a little early,” said Marcus post race. “The pacemakers were coming back at me and I had this 550kg monster on my outside and I didn’t want to get pushed in. If I had waited a little longer I think she would have won a little easier.”

Ominous words in light of the J&B Met to be run at the end of the month where Mother Russia will be looking to go one better than last year’s second.

Ebony Flyer, taking on a mammoth task at this stage of her career, came through superbly in third. Justin Snaith was philosophical in defeat. “They went flat out and made it a harder mile than we had hoped for,” he said.

Although Pocket Power only managed fourth Mike Bass was full of praise for his champion. “In a classic WFA mile you need everything. Older horses develop stamina but lose a bit of speed and turn of foot. This was a top class field and an ordinary horse would have been left for dead but he came fourth. It was a big ask and I’m not disappointed. He’s given us so much in the past,” he concluded.

Trainer Mike de Kock, watching from his international headquarters in Dubai, planned the race with military precision. Ducking the inclement weather that has dogged the Highveld for much of the summer, Mother Russia and traveling companion Flirtation spent a fortnight in the Cape and the decision paid obvious dividends.

FINAL RESULT

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	MOTHER RUSSIA	57.5	111	1	A Marcus	Mike de Kock
2	2.25	TALES OF BRAVERY	60.0	111	8	MJ Byleveld	Vaughan Marshall
3	3.00	EBONY FLYER	52.5	107	12	F Coetzee	Justin Snaith
4	4.25	POCKET POWER	60.0	117	2	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
5	4.50	RUSHING WIND	60.0	104	11	K Neisius	Mike Bass
6	5.75	PAST MASTER	60.0	114	5	G Schlechter	Darryl Hodgson
7	7.00	SUPER STORM	60.0	99	9	P Strydom	Mike Bass
8	7.50	CASEY COOL	60.0	107	3	F Anthony	Darryl Hodgson
9	7.55	CELTIC FIRE	60.0	107	6	K Teetan	Yvette Bremner
10	8.30	BLUE TIGER	60.0	109	12	A Domeyer	Mike Bass
11	10.80	CAPTAIN’S SECRET	60.0	107	7	R Fourie	Mike Bass
12	11.30	AMERICAN MAN (AUS)	60.0	91	10	S Veale	Mitchell Wiese
13	12.80	TROPICAL EMPIRE (AUS)	60.0	114	14	G Hatt	Duncan Howells
14	24.55	TIME AND LOVE	60.0	104	4	M Odendaal	SJ van Rensburg

THE BREEDERS’ PREMIERSHIP : A NEW RECORD

SOUTH AFRICAN THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS’ PREMIERSHIP
2009 - 2010

It was the celebrated South African flyhalf, Naas Botha, who once famously said that “the Currie Cup is not won in May.”  He was quite right, and that’s been proven time and again with the passage of the years. However, Summerhill’s record of five consecutive Breeders’ Championships is one that stands alone in the last forty years, and this weekend, with a full three months of the racing season left, we have eclipsed all our previous (and South African) earnings records, as our runners amassed more than R1million for the week, catapulting our collective earnings for the season past the R16million mark.

We’ve asked the question before, only to be proven wrong, but we wonder whether we can ever best this season again. The log tells the story. And asks the question.

Figures courtesy of Sporting Post as at 5 May 2010

Breeder	Stakes	AEPR	SW Wnrs	SW Wins
Summerhill Stud	16,037,712	64,151	11	14
Lammerskraal Stud	5,207,650	56,605	3	3
Normandy Stud	5,113,525	71,021	6	10
Wilgerbosdrift Stud	4,960,900	55,740	3	4
Highlands Farm	4,599,587	38,845	2	2
Maine Chance	4,499,312	38,787	2	2
Ascot Stud	4,478,225	46,167	3	3
D Cohen & Sons	4,289,662	33,513	0	0
Avontuur Farm	4,264,325	63,647	5	5
Klawervlei Stud	4,201,075	25,933	2	2

THE LETHAL COCKTAIL

Kahal
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

OF KAHAL, NORTHERN DANCER, MACHIAVELLIAN, DANEHILL, HALO AND SUNDAY SILENCE

Statisticians and racing intellectuals spend their lives accumulating data on everything and anything related to our sport. When Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift Stud was searching for a proven sire a few seasons back, some of the game’s most accomplished gurus were engaged to find the best prospects. The one horse whose name kept recurring was Kahal, no doubt for the numbers he was spewing out. Fortunately (for us), Kahal is the property of an unusually wealthy man, and so the thought of disposing of a possession as prized as a top class stallion, was not on the table. Remember, in Arab lore the signature of victory in any tribal conflict was the seizure from the heart of the sultan’s encampment, of the prized stallion, and disposing of an animal of rare genetic potential is unthinkable.

Let’s face it, Kahal is a good stallion by any standards, and he gets good runners from a variety of mares. However, he was the right horse for Summerhill, and Summerhill was the right place for him, as he’s displayed an unusual affinity for the daughters of our late and much-lamented stallion, Northern Guest, and our other members of the same tribe. Visit the results, and you’ll see a stream of genuine stand-outs carrying this cross. Bold Ellinore, Emperor Napoleon, Bhekinkhosi, Evening Attire, Khebraat, Fenerbahce, Art Of War, Galant Gagnant, and now Vangelis, victor on the weekend in the Memorial Mile (Listed). If you search long enough, you’ll find the affinity reaching other strands from the Northern Dancer line. It is true, when we put our hand down this seam of genetic potential, we picked up a handful of diamonds, and pedigree scholars will tell you it’s no coincidence.

You see, Kahal’s sire, Machiavellian, carries two strains of the female line which produced among others, Northern Dancer himself, his famous grandson Danehill, as well as the American champion sire, Halo. The combination of Kahal with members of the Northern Dancer tribe forges an irresistible union of these spectacular elements, as does any combination with a Danehill or Halo (and for us, Sunday Silence through Admire Main).

So there’s strategy in the fact that today at Summerhill, we have several leading members of the Northern Dancer tribe, as well as the Machiavellians, Danehills and a son of Sunday Silence.