Not much warms the cockles of a horseman’s heart quite as readily as news of an old warrior, and only yesterday we received word of a former inmate of the Summerhill stallion barn from no less a publication of renown than the European Bloodstock News.
Coolagown Stud announced “the arrival of two new sires for the 2016 season, Apsis Barathea) and Solskjaer (Danehill), in deals brokered by French-based agent Richard Venn.
Solskjaer was a Group 2 winner over ten furlongs and is a half-brother to Yeats (Sadler’s Wells). He came from champion breeders, Summerhill Stud in South Africa, where he stood since he retired from racing. He won the Gr.2 Royal Whip Stakes over ten furlongs at The Curragh in a record time for Aidan O’Brien and earned a Timeform rating of 120. He has produced multiple Group and Stakes performers in South Africa and ranks amongst the best stallions there by earnings per runner, as well as percentage of winners to runners.
He was the trailblazer in a “new” (at the time) Summerhill policy of investing again in their own stallions following almost two decades of exclusive commitment to those of the Maktoums, and at the time of his departure, it was fair to say, he left on his highest note: all of Shogunnar, Ice Axe and Winter Star were millionaires in their own right.
Stack remarked: “Solly only arrived in Ireland three weeks ago but he looked great after his long journey and his months of quarantine. He is an exceptional walker, has a perfect set of forelegs and a lovely attitude. He should suit a wide spectrum of mares and will be an economical alternative to his three-parts-brother, the impressive Yeats.”
Solskjaer stands for €2,500 (R37,500) in 2016.
– summerhill.co.za/racingpost.com