Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

A Pivotal decision

David Thiselton
Drakenstein Stud in the Franchhoek Valley, owned by Johan and Gaynor Rupert, have had some interesting youngsters born on their stud farm, including four Pivotals, an Oasis Dream and a Green Desert, all of whom were sired north of the line (SNL).
The six youngsters are the progeny of mares that the Ruperts bought overseas and had covered in England to southern hemisphere time. They were then imported to South Africa and foaled down at Drakenstein. Their southern hemisphere-bred counterparts will thus have no advantage over them in terms of weight-for-age.
Pivotal has been one of the stallion phenomenons of recent years in Europe. The sprinter is by the Nureyev sprint-miler, Polar Falcon, whose stakes wins included the Group 1 Ladbroke Sprint Cup over six furlongs at Haydock Park, a Group 2 over a mile at Newbury and a Group 3 over a mile in France.
Pivotal himself won four races in just six starts for 148,023 pounds in earnings, including the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes over five furlongs at York, in the second fastest time ever of 56,53 seconds, and the Group 2 King Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot over five furlongs, also in the second fastest time ever.
He was bred by David and Patricia Thomas’s England-based Cheveley Park Stud and began his breeding career at the same stud in 1997 for a modest 6000 pounds per cover.
However, his ability to produce top performers from seemingly modest mares was startling and he has become highly sort after.
He has produced 63 individual stakes winners and during 2007 his yearlings fetched some huge prices.
Not surprisingly his cover fee has risen to 85,000 pounds.
Sheik Mohammed’s Darley Stud bought a quarter share in him in 2005.
It is indeed exciting that four of his progeny will be running in South Africa.
Green Desert is also a speed influence, having won the Group 1 July Cup over 1200m and he has sired 72 individual stakes winners. He is also a sire of sires, having produced the likes of stallions Cape Cross, Desert Style, Volksraad and Desert Sun. The 25-year-old stallion stands at one of Sheik Hamdan’s England-based Shadwell Studs.
Oasis Dream was a Champion two-year-old and World Champion sprinter whose Group 1 victories included the Nunthorpe Stakes and the July Cup as a three-year-old and the Middle Park Stakes over 1200m at Newmarket as a juvenile. He entered one of Prince Khalid Abdullah’s England-based Juddmonte Studs in 2004 and was the leading first-season sire by Stakes winners.
Two of the Rupert-owned Pivotals were due to make their debut as three-year-olds at Kenilworth on Tuesday but unfortunately the inclement Cape Town weather won the day yet again.
One of them is trained by Mike Robinson, Drakenstein’s pre-trainer and now trainer to a few of the Ruperts’ home-bred horses in training, and the other is trained by Justin Snaith.
The Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud farm, upon which the exciting new stallion Trippi stands, was exclusively a wine farm owned by Johan’s late brother but five years ago the couple decided to use the lower slopes, which are not as good for growing vines, for the purpose of breeding thoroughbreds.
Gaynor, who bought her first filly in 1986, previously stood her mares at Mick and Cheryl Goss’s Summerhill Stud.

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