Pooe, who has a holiday home in Inchanga and divides his time between his business in Gauteng and the Valley of 1000 Hills, said he looks forward to enjoying close access to his stallion. Pooe said: “I loved Purple Pitcher as a young horse, before he even raced. He was always special to me. I want to be able to visit him when I am in the region. Also, there is too much competition among stallions in the Western Cape.  His own sire, New Predator, was moved to the Western Cape before his unfortunate death, and this is my tribute to him. Purple Pitcher has given us much joy and I trust there will be more highlights at stud.”

Cathy Martin of Hadlow Stud described Purple Pitcher as a strong, athletic individual with a calm demeanour, and expects that he will get the support he deserves, especially as his covering fee has been set at R5000 live foal, with the added bonus of sending an extra mare for free.

Pooe said that he has one more talented son of New Predator in training. Now three years old, Copper Eagle won his two-year-old debut last June and went straight into a handicap for a close second to Tommy Shelby. “Copper Eagle has just been gelded. We didn’t want him to become as heavy as Purple Pitcher did. His trainer Robyn Klaasen thinks a lot of him, so we’re hoping he can be just as good as Purple Pitcher was on the racetrack.”

Pooe’s rags-to-riches story is marked by the same guts and perseverance so beautifully displayed by Purple Pitcher. Born in Charterson, a small ‘location’ near Nigel on the East Rand, his mother was an orphan, and Pooe himself grew up without a father during a period of political upheaval and extreme hardship for people of colour.

The Pooe family was forced to resettle to the township of Duduza, 30km away from Nigel, because Charterston was considered by the government to be too close to a white town. ‘Duduza’ means ‘comfort’, but conditions were all but comfortable and in later years this became one of the most highly active townships in South Africa in the struggle against apartheid.

On the brighter side, there was ‘bush racing’ in the area, much enjoyed by the township folk. This is where Pooe first came into contact with horses and betting. “The kids loved going to a bush race. We took small bets among each other on which horses would win and this was exciting.”

The family was forced to move again and ended up in the small farming town of Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, where Pooe managed to complete his secondary education with a matric certificate in 1976. With no job opportunities, he returned to the East Rand and started digging gold like his grandfather did, mainly on the mine dumps scattered on the outskirts of towns like Brakpan, Boksburg and Benoni.

Pooe eeked out an early living with a hammer, a chisel a carpet to filter sand through water so he could get to particles of gold dust, using old sewage pipes to channel some water for his activities. But he started to prosper, selling grams of gold dust, then ounces. He drew some of his friends into his venture and can justifiably be called, the ‘father’ of the original Zama-Zamas – by its official meaning, people who work illegally in abandoned mining areas and mineshafts in order to retrieve metals or minerals.

Pooe said: “I have to say that being a Zama-Zama was something to be very proud of in the 1980s and 90s. There weren’t many of us, our only objective was to earn money to survive and we worked long, hard hours in awful conditions. We were friendly with the police, we helped them to protect cables and catch the cable thieves. There were no criminals among us.”

With some cash on hand, Pooe started attending race meetings, mostly at the old Gosforth Park and Newmarket tracks, in the 1980s. He discovered a knack for picking the right outsiders and cashed out big money, often.

With a new government in place in 1994, Pooe applied for a mining licence. He battled for several years, but the licence was eventually granted in 2000. This led to the establishment of his company, Copper Eagle Trading, near Brakpan. He employs 12 workers.

Pooe is happy investor in the racing industry, enjoys helping smaller stables and said: “The racing industry, like most others, is linked to the country’s economy. People do not have money to spend. Our government needs to fix the economy and create jobs. This will get the industry to flourish again. Racing is popular still, people love it. They’ll come back the moment they have jobs and earn money. “Our government needs to licence mining activities for individuals, followed by strict control and policing of the industry. There is plenty of gold all over South Africa, enough for everyone for at least the next century. The only thing a worker needs to start a business is a chisel, a ten-pound hammer and a big towel to use as a filter. They can all make money.”

You can view Got The Greenlights pedigree and further information on the KZN Breeders page – https://kznbreeders.co.za/stallion/got-the-greenlight/

Picture of Got The Greenlight: credit, Candiese Lenferna.

#KZNStallions#KZNQuality#GotTheGreenlght#FutureEquineChampions

Champion Sandringham Summit will return to his birthplace Varsfontein Stud for stallion duties at the conclusion of his racing career.

The champion in action (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)

Leading consultant John Freeman has been mandated to syndicate the son of resident champion Gimmethegreenlight for stallion duties, and he confirmed that “shares literally flew off the shelf” which speaks volumes for the colt’s popularity with local breeders.

“Varsfontein will retain 20 of the 46 shares on offer,” he added. “Thanks to all of the star breeders that are participating.”

Although the colt remains in training – he is after all still just three – Sandringham Summit already boasts impeccable stallion credentials as a juvenile Gr1 winner who has the looks and pedigree as befits his R1.7-million price tag as a yearling.

Trained by David Nieuwenhuizen, the colt made heads turn when he came from an impossible position to win the Gr2 Golden Horseshoe at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Durban July day and earned his Gr1 spurs in the Premiers Champion Stakes, at the expense of by downing the hitherto unbeaten Main Defender, who was over two lengths adrift at the line.

Named last season’s Champion Juvenile, Rakesh Singh’s star colt was perhaps an unlucky loser in this seasonal debut when narrowly beaten by his old nemesis in the Gr3 Betway Graham Beck before finishing third in the Gr2 Dingaans.

Remarkably, he is Gimmethegreenlight’s second Premiers Champion Stakes winner and was preceded by first-crop son Gunner, who likewise, is out of a Captain Al mare.

Significantly, Sandringham Summit offers breeders a wonderful outcross pedigree, free of the all-pervading Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector blood in the first four generations.

His dam Townsend won both the Gr2 Odessa Stud Fillies Championship and Gr3 Diana Stakes, and in addition to Sandringham Summit, she is also dam of Gr1 Gold Medallion winner Eden Roc, who has just finished covering his first book of mares at Clifton Stud.

Townsend is a half-sister to Gr1 Champions Challenge hero Regal Ransom. This is also the female line of Gr2 Guineas winner Zapatillas and Gr2 Dingaans second Shoemaker, both of which were bred at Varsfontein.

-sportingpost.co.za

**Eden Roc stands for R10 000 live foal and is owned by the KZN Breeders Club.

Kahal as a broodmare sire has won a Gr1 and a Gr2 in the space of a week in two different provinces, as the broodmare sire of Ambiance-bred Royal Victory and Kwinta’s Light bred by Syrilla Stud.

The deceased son of Machiavellian out of a Green Desert mare, who stood at Summerhill Stud for much of his career prior to his transfer to Bush Hill Stud, saw his handsome grandson take the Gr1 Betway Summer Cup a week at Turffontein, followed up with Justin Snaith’s beautifully bred Kwinta’s Light, taking the Gr2 WSB Southern Cross Stakes.

Kwinta’s Light is by Gimmethegreenlight and races in the colours of Maine Chance Farms.

It was a double at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth for the Shadwell Stud-owned Kahal, has his tall leggy grand-daughter won Race 4, out of mare Cousin Annie.

Kwinta’s Light is out of Kwinta, an own sister to Eastern Greeting and Kalaam – all bred by KZN breeders Kjell Foundation’s Benson family based in Karkloof.

All of the aforementioned mares are resident as broodmares in the Cape.

Kahal also happens to have come full circle in KZN, as Blue Sky Thoroughbreds Chimichuri Run is out of Gr1 winner Spiced Gold, by Kahal. ‘Chimi’ as he is affectionately known has his first foals on the ground this season and they are the spitting image of their sire, with powerful hindquarters and quality heads.

Excluding Saturdays Hollywoodbets Kenilworth results which have been updated as of yet, Kahal is on 31% winners produced for the season and over R5,7-million in stakes earned.

Rabada enjoyed a double on the turf on Wednesday, with his doppelgänger son Addabar winning by over five lengths in hand while Umhlali snuck up on the outside rail under Rachel Venniker to grab victory on the line.

Addabar made a winning return to his form, winning easily under Calvin Habib unextended by over five lengths for owner and trainer, MJ Odendaal, who was heard in his interview to say that if the progeny looked like Rabada, they run like Rabada- which goes for most of them as he is a sire that stamps his stock.

The smart colt had a virus as an excuse for his below par performance in his previous running, and looks to be an exciting prospect for the KZN Champions Season to come in 2024. He is a half brother to Gr1 winner Under Your Spell and Gr3 winner Witchcraft.

The next to follow was Umhlali, a well bred filly out of dual Gr2 winner Fisani by Kahal, winning for the second time for owner Mr Tommy Crowe, trained by Michael Roberts.

Rabada stands at Sandra and Lance Trethewey’s Bloomhill Stud, and its currently boasting a 37.5% winners to runners percentage. From 16 runners this season, he has produced 8 winners and 17 places.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Twice Grade 1-winner Rabada was very well received by a packed Summerveld clubhouse in an unusual stallion day on Saturday for which he was transported down form his home at Wartburg’s Bloomhill Stud down to the KZN’s only major training centre.

The former Mike Azzie-trained Brave Tin Soldier stallion won the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes as a two-year-old and the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 as a three-year-old.

He is proving to be a fine stallion, despite the limited opportunities he has had, and last season had a 47.8% winners to runners strike rate with eleven winners of 14 races from 23 runners.

This compares to the national champion stallion Gimmethegreenlight’s percentage of 48.2% and although the latter obviously had a lot more runners he also enjoyed a lot more opportunities being an in demand Western Cape-based stallion.

Included among Rabada’s runners is the like of the promising MJ Odendaal-trained gelding Addabar, the Doug Campbell-trained gelding Ermelo and the Weiho Marwing-trained filly Soldier’s Eye.

Addabar, now a four-year-old, has been the subject of a big offer from overseas after cruising to a comfortable win over 1800m last time, meaning he has won all three of his races contested over distances of a mile and beyond in impressive style.

Mohammed Sheik has been brokering a deal between the interested parties in Bahrain, but it will not be easy to complete with the export protocols as they are and also with the timelines in place for travel and the accompanying red tape involved.

He is also the ideal horse to promote the up-and-coming Odendaal stable and if he does not go overseas MJ plans to target him at the next SA Champions Season. As a horse he does not need to rush, he aims to get him there with a competitive merit rating.

In a twist to the stallion day, MJ rode Addabar to the clubhouse grass and he was also paraded.

Ermelo, now a three-year-old, is a big, long-striding individual who has won two out of four starts and he finished a fine 3,25 length third in his last start over 1400m in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes to the talented Mike de Kock-trained Gimmethegreenlight colt Gimmeanotherchance. 

He is merit rated 96.

The Weiho Marwing-trained filly Soldier’s Eye is merit rated 97 having won two races before finishing fifth in the Gr 1 Douglas Whyte Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville in the last race of her two-year-old campaign.

That high merit rating did not stop her running a close second in a fillies and mares handicap over 1750m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in her first start as a three-year-old.

Sandra Tretheway of Bloomhill Stud said there had been an excellent turn out on Saturday by a mixture of breeders, owners and trainers to see Rabada in the flesh and there had even been the like of farriers and veterinarians in attendance.

The Summerveld clubhouse was packed.

Onlookers were very impressed by Rabada’s excellent temperament.

He handled the one-and-a-half hour wait to be paraded perfectly calmly and behaved himself impeccably while being shown.

He had to parade in front of 65 onlookers and he also stood perfectly still for photographs.

It was important to show prospective breeders, owners and trainers Rabada’s “most magnificent temperament”, because Brave Tin Soldier’s progeny can sometimes be up tight.

The stallion day has led to more business for Rabada and since Saturday and yesterday he had already gained an extra ten mares.

Tretheway said about the day, “It was fantastic. He was well received and it was a positive, good event for our industry which needs positive vibes.”

There have also been clients who could not make it to the stallion day who have visited the stallion at the farm instead.

There has also been interest from the Cape.

Rabada stands for R10,000 payable on a live foal, but as an incentive Bloomhill Stud have given a special incentive offer in which a breeder sending two mares will get one cover free of charge.

Another incentive for the resulting Rabada crop of this season’s coverings is that the first one of them to win a Gr 1 in KZN will earn a R50,000 bonus for the owners.

Tretheway said these incentives confirmed Bloomhill Stud’s belief in Rabada as a stallion and their commitment to both him and to the horseracing industry.

Bloomhill Stud is one of the newest thoroughbred breeders on the block.

Sandra has always loved horses and the family farm just outside of Wartburg has always had a riding horse or two for their use.

Hence she travelled to the Summerhill dispersal sale a few years ago intending to buy one or two riding horses.

Instead she returned with a number of broodmares.

She has been advised on breeding by Mick Goss, the owner of the multiple champion breeders Summerhill Stud.

Sandra concluded, “Rabada is going to be one of the commercial stallions and he just needs the support. I said to the people on Saturday, ‘With the stats he has got, which is not an emotional thing, can you afford to ignore him.’”

-goldcircle.co.za

Images: Candiese Lenferna

Peter Blyth who stands Eden Roc on behalf of the KZN Breeders Club at Clifton Stud, was delighted to announce that the Gr1 winning son of Var has his first mares confirmed in foal.

The half brother to star Sandringham Summit, recently bestowed with the Equus Champion 2YO Award, is an exciting acquisition for KZN standing for a very accessible fee of R10 000 live foal.

According to Raceform.co.za, Karel Miedema’s thoughts on possible suitable mares for Eden Roc:

Suitable lines for Eden Roc could include:

• Vienna (Vaguely Noble in Flower Alley, Indigo Magic)
• Alibhai (Flower Bowl & sons His Majesty and Graustark – widespread)
• Best In Show and dam Stolen Hour through Northern Guest (Pomodoro, Capetown Noir), Pathfork, El Gran Senor (Visionaire, Cordoba (Act Of War)), Redoute’s Choice (Rafeef), Canford Cliffs (has double Stolen Hour, and has Vienna in his sire)
• female line descendants of Baby Polly & dam Pretty Polly (widespread, but remote)
• female line descendants of La Troienne (notably Buckpasser & dam Busanda – widespread)
• first prize could be Oratorio. The dam of his sire Danehill is by His Majesty out of a Buckpasser mare. His dam is by Vaguely Noble. His pedigree has double Heliopolis and treble Blue Larkspur, coming together in female line ancestor Heliolight, who is close kin to Buckpasser.

Former Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes and Gr 1 Daily News 2000 winner Rabada was left out of the annual Sires Catalogue and therefore he will be transported down to Summerveld on 16 September for a “Stallion Day”.

Sandra Tretheway of Bloomhill Stud in Wartburg said, “We’re going to bring him down to the people and we’re inviting all the owners, trainers and breeders just so they can see him in the flesh because obviously his progeny are doing so well at the moment. It’s something a bit unconventional but we need to do it because when buyers see his progeny at the sales they can say, ‘We’ve seen the stallion and he’s actually magnificent.'”

An incentive will be announced at the stallion day.

She continued, “We’ve had some nice support for him recently but not enough. We’re sitting on about 12 mares and I would like to get it up to 20 or 30, so it will take some serious marketing on our part after he was left out of the Sires Catalogue.”

She added, “He’s looking magnificent and has covered three already.”

Unfortunately the dam of one of his recent success stories, Addabar, is deceased. However, they are hopeful he could still get the dam of his Listed Gatecrasher Stakes third-placed Ermelo.

Rabada has some quality mares booked to him.

They include the Gr 3 Strelitzia Stakes runner up Me Time (Gimmethegreenlight), who is due a foal to him and will be covered again; he has just covered Strelitzia Stakes winner Elegant Blush, who is also dam of two stakes-placed horses; he will be covering Mary Liley’s three-time winner Noodle.

Bloomhill have 14 mares of which six are so far booked to Rabada, while five are going to the Cape to be covered by respectively all of Jet Dark (who is part-owned by Tommy Crowe, who owns the dam of Ermelo), Rafeef and What A Winter.

One of Mick Goss’s mares on the farm is going to Danon Platina.

Meanwhile, the Doug Campbell-trained Ermelo has Cape Town aspirations. The big rangy type unfortunately burst through the starting stalls in the Gr 1 HKJC World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes at the end of last season and had to be scratched. He knocked himself slightly during that incident but Doug is targeting him at the Non-Black type Model Man Mile at Hollywoodbets Greyville on October 22 and he then might target some big Cape races.

The stallion day for Rabada at Summerveld will on Saturday September 16 will start at 10 a.m.

Please rsvp to Sandra at stud@bloomhill.co.za for catering purposes.

-goldcircle.co.za

Blue Sky Thoroughbreds’ sire Hat Puntano got off to a start last year with Givers Grace (bred by Wynnholme Stud) winning second time out for Carl Hewitson, and from very limited representation on the track, he has produced his second winner for Glen Kotzen at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.

Owned by Mr Jaime and Mariza Vilela, who also own the bay-almost-black stallion Hat Puntano, Hat’s Pride out of a Mambo In Seattle mare also gave Donald Geerthsen his first Cape win.

From six runners, the son of Hat Trick (Sunday Silence) has had two wins and five cheques earned for his progeny’s connections.

A beautiful stallion with boundless energy in his paddock, Hat Puntano arrived in South Africa a dual Gr1 winner from Argentina. His wins include the countries major feature, the Gr1 GP Gran Criterium (1600m) at age 2, and at age three he won the Gr1 Argentine Guineas (1600m).

After his arrival in South Africa and raced in partnership between Drakenstein Stud and Jaime and Mariza Vilela, at age 4 he won the Gr2 Charity Mile, where he beat the likes of French Navy, recently deceased New Predator, Mac De Lago, Tilbury Fort and Bezanova.

His most expensive yearlings and two year olds have yet to race. Givers Grace, from the female line of Badger’s Coast and Surfing Home, was a R30 000 graduate of the 2022 KZN Yearling Sale and earned her connections the BSA Bonus of R100 000 when she won, whilst the aforementioned winner Hat’s Pride was passed out unsold at the 2022 November 2YO Sale.

At the most recent August 2YO Sale, a lovely colt out of Frederico’s Dream (Gimmethegreenlight) sold to Jane Thomas for R180 000, consigned by Blue Sky Thoroughbreds.

Hat Puntano is out of a Bernstein / Egg Toss mare.

By Hat Trick, who produced eight wins in Japan and Hong Kong including the Gr1 Mile Championship, Gr1 Hong Kong Mile, Gr3 Shimbun Hai, Gr3 Sho Kyoto; earning the JRA Award at 4 for Best Sprinter/Miler and stood at stud in the USA, Australia, Argentina. He was champion sire of 2yo’s in France in 2011.

Hat Puntano stands for a fee of R6000 + Vat.

Bloomhill Stud resident sire Rabada, a Gr1 winner at ages 2 and 3, has seen his progeny frequenting the winners box almost 50% of the time last season and he looks to be continuing the momentum.

MJ Odendaal’s Addabar, which is Rabada backwards, looks a smart sort and has now won back to back over distances of 1600m – 1800m at both of KZN’s racecourses for the former champion jockey.

It is his third win to date from a handful of runs with two places.

The four year old gelding is a half brother to Gr1 winner Under Your Spell and Gr3 winner Witchcraft.

He was bred by Summerhill Stud and bought as a weanling by Robyn Klaasen-Peter who sold him under her Suikerbosview Stud banner at the 2021 National Yearling Sale, knocked down for R150 000 to MJ.

Rabada, a very handsome son of Brave Tin Soldier, has already had four winners in August and his percentage is already rocketing to 25% winners to runners, last season he ended on 47% for the season with 23 runners, 14 wins and 51 places with an AEPR of an impressive R57 000.

His only representative at the recent August 2YO Sale, bred by Blue Sky Thoroughbreds and a first foal for dam Just Chaos who won four races including a Listed, sold for R140 000.

Standing at Sandra Trethewey’s Wartburg stud farm, Rabada will be presented to the public on 16 September. A venue will be announced. Be sure to save the date.

Rabada stands for a very accessible R10 000 live foal this season.