Malhub The Forgotten Star
| Malhub The Forgotten Star 26 March, 2012 – Lisa Barrett |
One KZN stallion who has been largely ignored by breeders over the past few years is Malhub.
Malhub comes with an impeccable pedigree, son of the multiple Group One winner, Kingmambo, himself a son of one of the most successful sires of modern times, Mr. Prospector. His dam was the Stakes-winning mare Arjuzah, who won the 1993 Kyoto Sceptre Stakes. Malhub’s granddam was Miesque, a champion mare, who won 10 Group One races, and who has the distinction of being the only horse to win two consecutive Breeders Cups and racing awards in both Europe and North America. She went on to produce numerous Stakes winners including of course, Kingmambo and Mieseque’s Son (sire of Mieseque’s Approval who stands at Scott Brothers in the Natal Midlands).
Malhub showed his precocity as a 2YO when he won his maiden 7 furlong race. He followed that up at 3YO with a win in the Milchars King Charles II Stakes and then at Great Yarmouth. His finest hour though was to come in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr.1) over 6 furlongs at Royal Ascot, where he beat an impressive field of competitors including Eclipse Horse of the Year, Johannesburg, the talented Danehill filly, Danehurst and Invincible Spirit, himself a champion sprinter.
Sadly, he never was quite able to repeat his earlier success at Ascot, though he came hearstoppingly close in many of his attempts; namely the Nunthorpe Stakes (Gr.1), the Stanley Leisure Sprint Cup (Gr.1) and the Diadem Stakes (Gr.2). His final race came in 2003, after which it was decided to retire him to stud in South Africa. Malhub was sent to Mick Goss’ champion breeding and racing establishment, Summerhill Stud.
From his numerous crops, Malhub has managed to produce consistent winners and place getters: Onehundredacrewood, a listed winner who has beaten the likes of Waywest Goddess (champion Highveld Filly of the Year), however it was in the Bauhina Handicap that she achieved her most notable success when she beat the highly fancied Mannequin; leading juvenile, Midnight Serenade, two-time winner and consistently placed against the likes of Delago Deluxe, and who was a gallant second in the Var Gold Rush Sprint (L).
Magic Potion, a regular place getter, whose finest performance was a narrow second to the highly fancied Mystic Jet. Arguably his best juvenile to date, was the ill-fated Sithela, whose performances made him the odds-on favourite for the 2011 running of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup at Turffontein.
Sadly a freak training accident deprived the racing public of a potential superstar, and we shall never know just how good Sithela might’ve been.
One thing is for certain though, Malhub cannot be written off as a consistent producer of winners and place getters. As they say, like a good wine one gets better with age and this certainly seems to be the case for Malhub.
| Lisa Barrett – Guest Writer “Lisa Barrett”, her psuedonym, currently works at a stud farm in the KZN Midlands – a position she has held for the past eight years. She describes herself as “absolutely and totally besotted by horses” and she is in a fortunate position to work with a stallion she idolises every day. She describes herself as “continually fascinated by every aspect of the racehorse business, especially pedigrees!” |