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.’”

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Images: Candiese Lenferna

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.

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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.

The 2yo well related and well grown chestnut full brother to Gr1 2nd placed Bartholdi, and a half brother to Gr1 winner Bohica, Wyzeact by Act Of War impressed on debut and finished second by just a nose in a fighting finish for his connections.

Selling for R375 000 off the 2022 BSA August 2YO Sale, Wyzeact is out of Wysiwyg by Mullins Bay, voted KZN Breeders Broodmare Of The Year in 2022 after both of her sons impressive Gr1 efforts.

She is due to foal to Master Of My Fate this season. This is the family of Mannequin, Kalami and Brave Voyager.

Watch Wyzeact debut run:

Bloomhill Stud is another farm with a small but quality draft on offer at the 2023 KZN Yearling Sale. The farm will be offering a pair of fillies sired by proven sires Futura and Master Of My Fate respectively. Palpable (Lot 4), who shares her four time G1 winning sire Futura with such high-class fillies as Pink Tourmaline, Light Of The Moon and Vihaan’s Pie among others, is out of a twice winning daughter of multiple champion sire Silvano and four time G1 winner, and dual Equus Champion Princess Victoria. This filly also hails from the same family as current standout Princess Calla and former champion sire Jallad among many others.

Master Of My Fate, whose daughters include G1 winners Sentbydestiny and Zarina as well as this season’s G2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Lady Of Power, is represented here by a three-parts sister to the Master Of My Fate sired Equus Champion, and G1 Gold Medallion winner, Tempting Fate, with this filly’s other notable relatives also including this season’s G3 Winter Nursery runner up October Morn.

These two fillies can be found in Block A at the Suncoast Casino in Durban.