The first foal of the French-bred Treve, twice winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, was born on February 1 and served to highlight the saturation of the Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector cross which exists in the modern thoroughbred.

The foal is by Dubawi, champion sire of France in 2015 and record holder for the quickest to ever reach 50 Group winners. Dubawi also has more Group winners at present than any other sire at the same stage of their careers. He has 26 Gr 1 winners to date and is the flagship stallion of Darley, the worldwide stallion operation of Sheik Mohammed, Ruler Of Dubai.

Treve (Supplied)

Treve’s first foal has two lines of Mr Prospector mixed in with six lines of Northern Dancer. She stunned the racing world in 2013 by scooting to a five length victory in the Arc at odds of 9/2, annihilating the 2/1 favourite Orfevre. She had an interrupted 2014 season and went into the Arc as an 11/1 shot on the back of three losses in succession. However, she romped to an easy two length victory.

Ironically, she was an even money favourite to make it three-in-a-row in 2015, but could only manage fourth. Treve, trained by Criquette Head-Maarek, won nine races in 13 starts and six of those wins were Gr 1s. She is owned by Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani (Al Shaqab Racing) of Qatar. Her first foal was born at Sheik Joaan’s Haras de Bouquetot at midday last Wednesday.

Meanwhile in the USA the brilliant racehorse but luckless broodmare Zenyatta is due to foal down to Medaglia D’oro soon. Zenyatta won her first 19 starts, including 13 Gr 1s, but was beaten in her 20^th and final start in the Breeders Cup Classic, although she only just failed in that race and was most unlucky.

As a broodmare her two runners to date are yet to win in a combined total of six starts. Her other two foals tragically had to be euthanized. The foal by Medaglia D’Oro out of Zenyatta will be 4×4 to the Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector cross.

Meanwhile, Rachel Alexander, who ousted Zenyatta as Eclipse Horse Of The Year in 2009, was not covered in any of the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons due to complications in the birth of her last foal.

However, her two foals to date have both won. The second of them, Rachel’s Valentina by Bernadini, was a Gr 1 winner and finished second in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Rachel Alexandra’s first foal was a colt, Jess’s Dream, and his impressive debut win proved to be his only start. He is now a sire. Rachel Alexandra was by Medaglia D’Oro. There is, of course, a long list of great race mares who have not made it at stud.

However, South Africa are fortunate to have the blood of one of the North American greats who did succeed at stud too.

Glorious Song, a Canadian-bred daughter of Halo, won four Gr 1s and at stud produced three notable racehorses-turned-sire, Rahy, Singspiel and Rakeen.

Rakeen was imported to South Africa and won a Gr 2 and a Gr 3 as well as finishing third in the Durban July. At stud he sired Jet Master, five-time Gr 1 winner and twice Horse Of The Year, before becoming the greatest SA-bred stallion in history, winning the national sires title seven times.

However, Glorious Song is in stark contrast to Jet Master’s own dam, Jet Lightning, who only won two races and whose ten foals yielded only one stakes winner.

By David Thiselton

The ambitious plan to fly Legal Eagle, The Conglomerate, Marinaresco and Silver Mountain to race in America – and so pave the way for the South African bloodstock industry to be opened up to the world – looks to have fallen through.

David Thiselton reported in this paper last Thursday that the flight was in the balance because of lack of support but yesterday Derek Brugman, the man behind it all, said: “It now looks highly unlikely and the feedback I am getting from the other guys involved is that it is a no-go for the money involved.”

The Conglomerate (Nkosi Hlophe)

The original target was 15 horses sharing the $600 000 flight cost but, with only six (possibly seven) horses confirmed, the cost per ticket has risen from $40 000 to $100 000.

Brugman said: “It’s a great shame but I gave Markus Jooste an undertaking from the beginning that we would only do this if it made economic sense and I can’t justify spending that kind of money. It’s too big a risk.

“Similarly the other guys who committed from the start are not prepared to spend an extra $60 000 a horse. The exercise doesn’t make sense at that price.”

The intention was that, once the big-name horses came through their 60-day lockdown in New York with a treadmill for exercise, they would add to their reputations on the racetracks of the States and so advertise South African bloodstock to such an extent that American owners and trainers would buy yearlings here and take them home via the same New York 60-day quarantine.

When the market developed sufficiently breeders here could benefit further by breeding some of their mares to Northern Hemisphere time.

Brugman, who has been working on all this for two years, regards the setback as temporary and said: “I can assure you that I haven’t thrown in the towel in terms of trying this again in the future, possibly even later this year.”

He is looking forward to the day when So

uth Africa is regarded by the Americans as Contagious Equine Metritis-free. At the moment it is not and so they insist that any colts or entire horses coming from this country must do a third month of lockdown during which they have to cover two mares. It is a requirement that would play mental and physical havoc with any plans to keep them racing.

Brugman said: “But for this requirement we might have been able to send a couple of our good three-year-olds with the shipment.”

By Michael Clower

FAIRVIEW POLYTRACK 07 FEBRUARY TIPS AND SUGGESTED BETS BY INFORM

Selections:
Race 1. (1) BRITISH FAIRY  (7) HEIR TO RICHES  (9) AUNTY CAROL
Race 2. (6) PONT DU GARD  (4) FIRE HORSE  (10) FRENCH CAPTAIN
Race 3. (2) ASPEN FIRE  (7) ERICA  (10) ELUSIVE MIST
Race 4. (1) CROWN OF GOLD  (3) ALGHADEER  (6) DREAMFOREST
Race 5. (1) GOLDEN CRISP  (2) COASTAL SPELL  (8) VAN DAM’S FORCE
Race 6. (1) THIS IS SPARTA  (10) CHESTNUT’S CHAMP  (5) ROYAL UNION JET
Race 7. (9) DANCE IN THE WOODS  (6) PORTRAIT  (1) TYPHOON TESS
Race 8. (1) SOVIET COSMONAUT  (5) PAY AS YOU GO  (10) ANGELUS BELL

Place Accumulator: (R48)

Leg 1: 6
Leg 2: 2,7
Leg 3: 1,3
Leg 4: 1,2
Leg 5: 1
Leg 6: 9,6
Leg 7: 1,5,10

Pick 6: (R3360)

Leg 1: 2,7,10,8,9
Leg 2: 1,3,6,4,7,5,8
Leg 3: 1,2,8
Leg 4: 1,10
Leg 5: 9,6,1,10
Leg 6: 1,5,10,11

Jackpot: (R360)
Leg 1: 1,3,6,4,7,,5,8
Leg 2: 1,2,8
Leg 3: 1,10,5
Leg 4: 9,6,1,10,7

Best Bet:
Race 6: 1

Value Bet:
Race 2: 6

Former Grade 1 Cape Guineas winner and stallion, Noordhoek Flyer, has died. Bred by Wilgerbosdrift, the chestnut was the fifth top lot sold at the 2008 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.

Sold under the name White Hills, he fetched R2.5 million. Subsequently renamed Noordhoek Flyer, he was second in both his outings as a two-year-old and showed good improvement at three, winning his seasonal debut by more than three lengths.

Second to subsequent Grade 1 Met and Equus Champion Past Master in the Grade 2 Selangor Cup, he then ran out a one-length winner of the 2009 Grade 1 Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas. His beaten rivals that day included subsequent Gold Cup winner Ancestral Fore, July champion Bold Silvano and Singapore champion Lizarre.

Noordhoek Flyer was game when second to Bravura next time out in the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby, when he appeared to find the 2000m beyond him, but bounced back to win his next two in a row – including the Grade 2 KRA Guineas at Greyville.

He ended his career having won or placed in 10 of 11 outings and earned R1,274,500. At the time of his death, Noordhoek Flyer who spent his stud career at the Gary Player Stud Farm had left behind 25 winners who had earned over R3,384,000.

In other sad news Carolina Cherry, dam of Triple Tiara winner Cherry On The Top, died recently at Mauritzfontein Stud.

Bred and owned by Mauritzfontein, Carolina Cherry was one of two major winners to emerge from the third crop of her champion sire Fort Wood, with the other being subsequent Horse Of The Year Celtic Grove.

Carolina Cherry won first time out over 1000m as a two-year-old, but came into her own as a three-year-old. Trained by Mike De Kock, she won three times, with her biggest victory coming in the Grade 2 Gold Circle Oaks, where her victims included SA Oaks winner Idle Fancy.

Carolina Cherry won from 1000m to 2400m and retired to stud having won or placed in 14 of 20 outings. She left behind just five foals with her four winning foals including Cherry On The Top and Cherry On The Cake.

Cherry On The Top, a daughter of Wilgerbosdrift’s ill-fated sire Tiger Ridge, made history when joining Horse Of The Year Igugu as a winner of South Africa’s Triple Tiara. She was later named 2013 Equus Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and retired to stud having won or placed in 14 of 19 outings.

Cherry On The Cake, by Strike Smartly, was also a high-class racer whose victories included the Grade 3 Jacaranda Handicap.

–  Cape Breeders Club/TABNews

Budapest, the horse not the city, has always had ability but it has taken patience for him to realise his full potential after pulling off a surprise victory in the big Lanzerac Ready To Run sales race two seasons back.

Racing in pacifiers appear to have done the trick and he came from the clouds to land the Pinnacle Stakes at Scottsville yesterday.

One never knows what you get from enigmatic Sylvester The Cat, but he brought his A-game to the track yesterday and set a smart early pace under replacement rider Jarred Samuel. With the line in sight it looked as if ‘Sylvester’ would hold on for his fifth victory, but Budapest finished with a rattle to nail him on the line in a fine training feat by Gareth van Zyl for owner Brian Burnard.

Budapest (Candise Marenwick)

The two principal runners in the Pinnacle Stakes for fillies and mares, Lala and favourite Impala Lily, finished in that order but it was hardly a contest. The two met in the Flamboyant Stakes where Lala had the worst of the draw finishing down the field with Impala Lily second. Lala proved the form all wrong as she was given a copybook ride by Anton Marcus.

“We were under a bit of pressure,” said Doug Campbell. “I got Albert (Rapp) to come down from Jo’Burg for the race.”

Always travelling well, Marcus produced her with a trouble-free stretch run to win comfortably.

Impala Lily, on the other hand, took time to find her rhythm and Anthony Delpech was forced to switch in and out of traffic before she finally got going to edge out Spring In Seattle for second.

Objections are never without their share of controversy and it was touch-and-go in the third where Diamante and La Suerte De Matar came together in a tight finish with the stipendiary stewards calling for a race review immediately after the runners crossed the line.

Duncan Howells eventually decided to object on behalf of second-placed Las Suerte De Matar. It was pretty much a 50-50 call according to a relieved Mark Dixon with Diamante getting the benefit of any doubt.

The stable has been in mustard form of late and added a double although the blood pressure will have risen for the second time in just a couple of hours as The Poet had to thread his way through some heavy traffic.

At the top of the straight Keagan de Melo picked a clear run up the outside rail, The Poet moving with De Melo sitting with a double handful. However, most of the riders in the field had similar ideas and it was plan B for De Melo as the door was firmly shut.

Dixon, watching from his favourite table, let fly in anguish, but De Melo switching in for a second go, got The Poet to respond and get to grips with Warren Kennedy and Putchini, putting his head down when it counted. Eric Denman, acting on behalf of his United States-based brother Trevor and wife Robin, was even more relieved. “This has got to be the most unlucky horse in training. He had no luck in his last two. Thank goodness it changed today but it was close.”

The Poet has had his problems. “He’s much better than a two-time winner,” said Dixon and on the evidence of this win, a change of luck and staying sound should give substance to that opinion.

By Andrew Harrison