British Grade 1 Winning Colt Destined For Middlefield Stud

British Grade 1 Winning Colt Destined For Middlefield Stud

A farmer from the midlands and a businessman from Johannesburg have purchased one of the most exciting stallion prospects to come to this country, the entire will be arriving from Juddmonte Farms.

A tough racehorse with a Timeform Rating of 126, Rob Pickering and Ashley McNabb have landed a coup by securing Byword(GB) from Juddmonte, the breeders and owners of Frankel.

The colt who has defeated 18 Group 1 winners throughout his career, will arrive in October – however he will only be available for the 2013 breeding season. Rob has intimated that shares will be available to breeders. A flashy chestnut that stands almost 16h, he has a pedigree that will suit most mares.

Byword is a winner at age 4 of the Gr 1 Prince Of Wales’ Stakes at Ascot where he went onto defeat a strong field by over a length (beating Twice Over at even weights), the Gr 2 Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud and the Gr 2 Prix Jacques Laffitte. He went on to place third in the Gr 1 Juddmonte International and second by just half a length to Goldikova in the Gr 2 Prix Foy and Gr 1 Prix d’Ispahan.

To give an idea of just how good a racehorse Byword is, he defeated Twice Over by over a length in the Gr 1 Prince Of Wales Stakes and Twice Over is a multiple Gr 1 winner, including winning the Juddmonte last year and placing fourth to Frankel in the same race this year. He defeated Musir in the Maktoum Racing Challenge by almost three lengths, and ran two lengths off the great race-filly Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

To start with, at age 3, he won two of his four starts – the Prix Pelleas Listed and placed in French Gr 2 and Gr 3 races.

He continued his success at age 5, winning the Gr 1 Prix Dollar (beating Cirrus Des Aigles) and winning another Gr 3 in the Prix du Chemin du Fer du Nord at Chantilly. He placed once in the Gr 2 Prix du Muguet at Saint Cloud.

In total, he has an outstanding race record, having 16 starts, 7 wins and 6 places, earning a staggering £699 385,00. From his seven starts, he had a Gr 1 win, two Gr 2 wins, a Gr 3 win and two Listed races. His places included two at Gr 1 level, three at Gr 2 and one at Gr 3. The fact that he raced till five years of age proves his soundness, toughness and grit to be so consistent.

He has an outstanding pedigree to match, being by world champion racehorse and Gr 1 producing sire and sire-of-sires as well as being the fastest ‘Arc’ winner ever, Peintre Celebre, out of Britain’s Broodmare Of The Year in 2010, Binche(USA), by Woodman – in turn out of a Rainbow Quest mare.

Binche is the dam of Bold Black Type by Dansili, the filly Proviso. She won nine races in France and the USA including the five Gr 1 wins and two Gr 3 wins in both continents. She placed seven times in seven Gr 1 races.

Under the second dam, Binary, herself a full-sister to Bequeath, she produced leading sire Binary File(USA), by Nureyev (sire of Peintre Celebre) as well as another sire, Hawksbill(USA).

Third dam is Balabina(USA), a full-sister to Quiet Fling and sire in South Africa a few years ago, Peacetime(USA). She produced sire and Bold Black Type, Bal Harbour.

Ashley McNabb talks of the chances of securing a horse such as Byword, “I daresay that if it wasn’t for Twice Over – he’s a year older than Byword, and Frankel possibly entering he stallion ranks next year, Byword may not have been accessible for us to purchase.”

Rob goes onto say that he would like to thank Ashley McNabb for his support and eager efforts and enthusiasm in assisting to secure the stallion. Ashley McNabb is an ardent supporter of horse-racing and breeding and partially owns the good-looking son of Rock Of Gibraltar, Rocky Street, standing at Middlefield Stud.

Contact Rob Pickering of Middlefield Stud on 082 573 0418 or email robpick@mweb.co.za for more information. Visit Byword’s website at bywordstallion.com.

Middlefield Stud have Antigua Island, Carpocrates, Rocky Street and Spanish Harlem standing this season.

Exciting times ahead for breeding in KZN, we are very excited to receive a stallion of this calibre to add to our ranks and congratulations to Rob and Ashley for making this possible, we look forward to a grand future indeed!

View our Facebook Page, KZN Breeders to see a gallery of photos of this outstanding stallion coming to KZN.