This year’s August 2YO Sale, to be held on 20 and 21 August at the TBA sales complex near Germiston, features just a handful of KwaZulu-Natal studs, but as the catalogue shows, it’s very much a case of quality over quantity.
Peter and Jenny Blyth of Clifton Stud enjoyed a fine season as the province’s leading breeders, whilst finishing in twelfth position on the General Breeders list. Their haul of stakes winners included a trio of Gr.3 winners in Madison Valley, who won the Cup Trial, Merchants hero Mount Pilatus and Mai Sensation, winner of the Poinsettia Stakes. In addition, Gocekwithlove won the Listed Lady’s Pendant while juvenile colt Charming Cheetah claimed the Listed Storm Bird Stakes before finishing second in the Gr.1 Gold Medallion.
Clifton’s quality draft for this year’s sale includes the progeny of a fine array of stallions, from the stalwarts Act Of War, Canford Cliffs and What A Winter, to the young Turks Erik The Red, Declarationofpeace and Chimichuri Run.
Clifton are also proud breeders of the champion filly Mrs Geriatrix, a grandaughter of the Model Man Vogue, who did sterling service for the farm, producing stakes winners Fort Vogue, Whatalady and Prince Of Kahal. Clifton will offer the What A Winter colt Winston’s Guard (Lot 68), whose dam Duchess Of Windsor is a daughter of Whatalady.
Vogue is also grandam of Red Hot Guy (Lot 84), a colt by Fire Away out of three-time winner Fashion Talk. Fire Away is a son of War Front as is Declarationofpeace, the sire of Gutsy Girl (Lot 50), a filly out of Gr.3-placed Captain Al mare Copiapo, the dam of three multiple winners to date. Grandam Urabamba won the Gr.1 SA Fillies Classic and hails from the famed Bosworth Farm family of Royal Line, Topa Inca, Cholula and Cordillera.
They say timing is everything, and Clifton Stud certainly hit the jackpot at last year’s sale with a R500,000 for a colt by One World, who had just been crowned champion freshman sire. Twelve months on and the stud may well cash in on a colt by another boom first-season sire Erik The Red. Named Erikson, Lot 272 is the first foal of Verinova, a winning Var half-sister to Copiapo.
The sizeable draft from Blue Sky Thoroughbreds likewise represents the progeny of a diverse selection of stallions.
Rafeef is the sire of Lot 247, a half-sister to last season’s smart juvenile Jingleberry. A winner on debut, she picked up black type in her only other start when second in the Gr.3 Pretty Polly Stakes.
Rafeef is also sire of Lot 262, a filly from a female line nurtured at Blue Sky over many years, that of the Rainbow Dream mare Fancy Fantasy. Just a modest one-time winner on the track, she proved a veritable goldmine as a broodmare, producing Gr.1 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Indiscreet Fantasy, as well as stakes winner Silver Fantasy , Gr.1 Cape Flying Championship third Personal Fantasy and multiple Gr.2-placed ten-time winner Malinga. The Rafeef filly is out of her Trippi grandaughter, the four-time winner Trippi’s Girl.
The death of New Predator was a sad loss to the South African breeding industry, and he is represented here by Lot 125, a colt from another fine Blue Sky female line, that of Equus Champion Broodmare Trade Enquiry. A stakes winner of nine races, she produced the Gr.1 winners Count The Money and Buy And Sell, as well as Gr.2 SA Oaks victress Bedloe’s Island, the grandam of this colt.
Bedloe’s Island is also grandam of Lot 118, a filly by Legislate. Stud master Bruce le Roux will no doubt hope that lightning strikes twice, as he was handsomely rewarded for a filly by the same sire at last year’s sale. Snapped up by Lawrence Wernars for R600,000 and subsequently named Serengetti Sun, she made a first dent in her purchase price with a debut victory at Scottsville before finishing a close-up fifth in the Gr.2 Debutante at Greyville.
Blue Sky bred last season’s dual stakes winner Lady Fallon, a daughter of Act Of War, who is the sire of Lot 30, a colt out of the versatile Gr.3-placed mare Bold Wonder, a winner of seven races trained by Duncan Howells.
Blue Sky will also offer three youngsters from the first crop of its exciting resident stallion, the Gr.1 Tsogo Sun Sprint ace Chimichuri Run, amongst which Lot 263, a filly whose pedigree screams ‘speed’, as she is the first foal out of Gr.3 Sycamore Sprint victress Tropic Sun.
Camargue Stud boasts a 15-strong draft, which for the most part is made up by the progeny of Declarationofpeace, prime amongst which the half-sister to multiple Gr.1 performer Royal Aussie. Set to step into the ring as early as Lot 3, stud master Brett van Laun describes her as “a real stunner.”
Brett also raved about Lot 55, the Danon Platina filly out of Gr.3 Kenilworth Fillies Nursery winner Cousin Liz, a half-sister to multiple Gr.3 winner Gimme One Night. “She is a quality filly, sure to be a showstopper.”
Camargue will also be offering a colt by leading first-season sire Erik The Red in Ulez Camera (Lot 110), the first foal out of High Dudgeon, a Judpot half-sister to the stakes winning Gimmethegreenlight siblings Third Runway and Kinda Wonderful.
The Fort Stud rounds out the KZN contingent with a pair of smart youngsters. First through the ring and offered on behalf of Aldora Stud will be Majik Wine (Lot 96), a big strong filly by Willow Magic out of an own sister to Gr.1 Empress Club Stakes winner Ronnie’s Candy. Those in search for a classic prospect, look no further than Dance For Darling (Lot 144). By stalwart Ideal World, the chestnut is the first foal out of Littlewood, a five-time winning daughter of Fort Wood. She is bred on a proven cross, one which to date has already yielded eight stakes winners, besides which Ideal World also sired multiple champion Smart Call from a mare by Fort Wood’s son Horse Chestnut.
