#kznbreds Enjoyed three wins on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, with Cathy and Jonathan Martin’s Hadlow Stud enjoying a winner and a second place on the day.

Hadlow’s day started off with the handsome Canford Cliffs colts improving over the mile to finish second for owner Mrs Kuhn, The Honorable Justice Kruger and Mr Krishen Naidoo, trained by Duncan Howells. The colt is well bred out of a Jet Master mare, Touch The Clouds. This is the family of Red Ray and Brutal Force.

Hadlow followed with up with Tienie Prinsloo filly Im The Buzz, the first of a double for the Prinsloo stable and a double for sire Flying The Flag. A consistent sort who collected her second career victory for the Prinsloo family, Im The Buzz has also placed eight times previously. The dam All Abuzz is by Bezrin, in turn out of Polonaise who produced 11-time winner Formation. This is the famed family of Kochka, Jay Peg and Whiteline Fever.

Clifton-bred Flag Man won Race 4, another eye catching colt who was purchased by the Gareth Van Zyl stable for owners Messrs Larry Nestadt, Reon Barnard, Dave MacLean and Gary Player. When the race looked sewn up by El Dante, Flag Man showed an impressive turn of foot to win by half a length going away under Athandiwe Magudlwa. Out of a good Brazilian imported mare Irresistable Chris (Mark Of Esteem) with whom the Van Zyl stable has enjoyed success with sibling Admire Me, also owned by Larry Nestadt. Flag Man has now won two races in a row from only four starts and has placed in the rest, relishing a mile trip and looks to be a horse to follow for KZN’s coming Champion Season.

Clifton Stud also had a second place in Race 2 with Oratorio filly, Run To Rio.

The day was concluded with Bush Hill-bred Willow Magic gelding, aptly named Shot Of Courage, winning for trainer Timothy Pretorius and passionate owners Mr C M Zoghby & Mrs T F Zoghby. Out of Lee Danzig, herself a top producer of multiple winners including Graded Stakes Placed Malak El Moolook, multiple front winning sprint filly Magicallee (Willow Magic) and the talented Reign As Kings, the Gr3 winning Qui Danzig mare has produced 8 winners in total, boasting 20 wins between them all!

Shot Of Courage is blind in one eye, but that hasn’t stopped the bay gelding doing his best in every outing and built his confidence in 2023, with 15 runs in that year alone for three career wins and only out of the cheques in three of those starts – the type of horse every owner loves in a stable. He won under Serino Moodley over 1000m by a length and a half. Breeders Warwick and Karin Render of Bush Hill Stud have achieved 14 wins this season and almost R2-million in stakes earned. He has earned R237 000 in stakes for his winning connections.

Congratulations to the winning connections!

Foaling season each year brings a mixed bag of emotions for breeders, whilst the hours of selecting pedigrees come to fruition from August each year with the hopes of a safe foaling and a good sort delivered, as with any animal husbandry there can also be setbacks.

The highs equal the lows and every breeding season has its challenges, but for two foals at Hadlow Stud who have overcome difficulty, the future looks bright indeed.

Cathy Martin, Chairman of the KZN Breeders Club, tells the story of taking care of two orphan filly foals.

“We have a chestnut filly by first season sire Chimichuri Run, out of Shuffles. The mare died during foaling, and Doug Campbell lost his Var mare Val La Ree at Sugar Hill Stud in Richmond, not long after due to post foaling colic complications; she produced a Willow Magic filly. This foal belongs to Doug Campbell with clients.”

It has come full circle for the little Willow Magic foal, as her deceased dam Val-La-Ree was born and raised at Hadlow Stud.

Shuffles is a Sarge mare who has produced two winners, and Val-Le-Ree had a promising start to her racing career, winning three starts in quick succession.

“We would normally try and foster the foals onto a mare who had recently lost her own foal. These days, with new knowledge, it is a fairly quick and easy process as opposed to the time it could take in previous years.  This way the foster mare raises and feeds the foal as she would her own – it’s  a win-win situation. Unfortunately at the time there were no foster mares available.  I contacted Doug and proposed teaming them up as friends.  There is nothing more gut wrenching than looking at a little orphan foal lying alone in a stable. They also need to be fed hourly so it is quite an intensive process.” 

“Doug sent his filly the next day and they became firm friends very quickly, which is quite a warming moment to watch after a heavy heart. We moved them together into a small paddock and they have never looked back!”

“We were fortunate to be able to get a ‘dry nanny’ to keep them company.  A lovely cross-breed mare, Nanny Mcfie was rescued by the Coastal Horse Care unit a few years back and went to Bush Hill Stud to keep an orphan company.  She has done her job year after year with great love and care ever since.”

“Last year she did duties at Blue Sky Thoroughbreds and I was very lucky to be able to use her this year.  Her job is to keep them company and teach them manners, which is important for orphan foals.  On arriving here she took to them immediately, what a star nanny she has been.”  

“They are starting to go into a bigger paddock together in the day.  The end result will be to integrate Nanny and her two babies into a small herd of mares and foals to allow the orphans to grow up as naturally as possible.”

Cathy says the two babies are going from strength to strength and growing beautifully. 

She advises that they are currently fed every two hours and each drink 24 litres of milk replacer a day, certainly a case of “drinking for the team”. 

“Being involved in this gives you renewed respect for the mares, who have to produce this quantity themselves on a daily basis – incredibly, it is  approximately 3% of her body weight per day for the first 3 months.”

Feeding wise, the two are starting to eat some hay and concentrates so while the quantity of milk stays as is, the regularity of their feeding will decrease until they are getting milk replacer four times per day.

The KZN Breeders Club consists of a tight knit group of Thoroughbred breeders, who via a Whatsapp forum assist each other when the need for foster mares are sought. The mares are then returned to their respective farms after the foals are weaned.

There are many success stories the world over of orphan foals going on to win Group races, and the most recent local success story of a foal going onto Graded Stakes winning success was Visionaire filly Emirate Gina, winning the Gr3 Tab4Racing Fillies Mile.

Cathy concludes that she hopes by giving the foals a well balanced diet and good paddock discipline from Nanny McFie and other horses, the play and company of other foals, they will grow up as normally as possible.

“We look forward to seeing them developing into the athletes they were born to be!”

Images: Cathy Martin

Hadlow Stud, a long time vendor at the KZN Sale, will be offering seven yearlings at the KZN Yearling Sale this year with Cathy and Jonathan Martin offering thoroughbreds sired by a host of attractive stallions namely Act Of War, Danon Platina, Erupt, Futura, and New Predator.

Japanese champion Danon Platina has made a sensational start with his first two-year-olds this season, and the son of Deep Impact is represented here by Take Note (Lot 99), a half-sister to seven winners, including the useful Hong Kong galloper Travel Comforts as well as the stakes placed pair of Smart Colleen and Troop The Colour. Former Cape Guineas winner Act Of War, sire of this season’s Listed World Sports Betting East Cape Derby winner Machete Man, has two lots on offer here. Running Eagle (Lot 44) is a filly from the family of numerous G1 winners including current successful sire Red Ray, while Queen Amina (Lot 83) is a filly whose dam is a three-parts sister to the very high-class racemare Hawker Hunter.

Boom sire Futura, like Act Of War a son of Dynasty, is another proven stallion doubly represented in Hadlow’s KZN Sale string. The former Horse Of The Year is the sire of both Quiz Party (Lot 40), a colt whose dam is a full-sister to G1 winner and Equus Champion Let’s Rock’N Roll, and an unnamed colt (Lot 107) whose dam won three and also finished third in the G3 Champagne Stakes, with this colt hailing from a potent Australian family.

The Martins will also be offering Hot Lava (Lot 81), an Erupt filly whose dam is a winning own-sister to multiple graded stakes winner African Night Sky, and an unnamed filly (Lot 61) by the exciting young sire New Predator. The latter filly, who is from the same family as champions Jay Peg and Kochka to name but two, is out of a half-sister to three black type horses including the stakes winning millionaire Formation.

Hadlow’s string can be viewed from Blocks B and C at Durban’s Suncoast Casino.

Cathy and Jonathan Martin’s Hadlow Stud enjoyed a double in a week, with Im The Buzz (Flying The Flag) and Lady Lacewing (Danon Platina) both winning in a week. They have also had three places in addition to their wins from their last seven runners.

We reported on the prior win of Im The Buzz, who took the historical feature Carbineers silver trophy for Tienie Prinsloo, and Hadlow Stud enjoyed a follow up at the Pietermartizburg course with Lady Lacewing coming through to win for the The Racing Boys Syndicate and the team of Michael Miller.

The chestnut filly earned her owners the BSA Bonus cheque of R100 000, not a bad return for her purchase price of R80 000 off the 2022 KZN Yearling Sale excluding her stakes cheque. The filly out of Var mare Anatevka was part of a superb draft the Martins sent to Suncoast last year.

Anatevka is from the female line of Kommetdieding and Captain America, and she has produced two runners and two winners to date.

Cathy and Jonathan Martin have an AEPR of R43,096 and a winners to runners percentage of 38%.

Flying The Flag filly Im The Buzz, bred by Cathy and Jonathan Martin of Hadlow Stud, took the feature of the day at Hollywoodbets Scottsville for owner and trainer Tienie Prinsloo.

The Ingobamakhosi Carbineers Plate has been a race etched in the history of the Pietermaritzburg racecourse since the late 1800’s.

The chestnut filly accelerated to a six length finish over 1200m and broke her maiden in the process. Out of a Bezrin mare, she has only been out of the money in one start of her five.

She sold for just R7 000 on the April Online Auction held by Bloodstock South Africa in 2022 and as the saying goes, horses do not know their prices!

She is out of a half sister to Formation, an 11-time winner who won and placed in multiple features. This is the famed family of Kochka, Dash For Gretna and Jay Peg.

From just 17 runners, the Martins who are based in Mooi River, have had 7 wins for the season and a winners to runners percentage of 35%, with Average Earnings Per Runner of R41,579.

Cathy and Jonathan Martin presented a well bred draft of superbly turned out yearlings at the KZN Yearling Sale which saw the auction return to Suncoast Casino, and the Martin’s reap the rewards and average R219 000 for five yearlings sold.

Their top seller, Lot 117 by Rafeef out of Daintree Dancer by Mossman sold to Form Bloodstock for R520 000 from the female line of Karaka One.

The second highest price of the day also went to Hadlow with the beautifully bred Lot 95 – a daughter of star sire Vercingetorix out of Blue Rhone Sky, a full sister by Dynasty to African Night Sky. She sold to Paul Gadsby for R270 000.

Hadlow presented a smashing colt by Canford Cliffs out of a Jet Master mare, knocked down to Howells Racing for R210 000. This is the family of Red Ray and Set Afire.

Blue Sky Thoroughbreds sold a handsome son of Just As Well out of Island Girl by Trippi for R230 000. This is the family of Buy And Sell and Count The Money. Knocked down to Gareth Van Zyl, who trained Just As Well’s Gr2 Caradoc Gold Cup winner, Just Cruised In.

Bush Hill Stud’s top seller, a quality New Predator colt knocked down for R170 000. This is the family of Alastor, Wild Aster and Eyes Wide Open.

Clifton brought a handsome draft to the sale and averaged R92 500 for 10 lots sold. Their top price was R170 000, again by New Predator, sold to Mervin Govender. Out of Sagrada by Danehill Dancer, the second dam is South African raced Igreja (ARG), a 6-time winner including the Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas.

Congratulations to all concerned!

Hadlow Stud’s Cathy Martin is very excited by the quality of her string for this year’s KZN Yearling Sale.

Cathy says, “We are bringing a very strong draft of horses to the KZN sale this year.  It was a conscious decision on our part to bypass the National Sale and bring them all to the KZN Yearling sale rather than split the draft and go to two different sales.”

Enticed into the thoroughbred industry by Craig Ramsey, Cathy and Jonathan Martin have bred horses in the beautiful KZN Midlands for over 20 years. Among the horses to have graduated from Hadlow are five time G1 winner Dancewiththedevil, G1 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes winner Ronnie’s Candy as well as former East Cape Horse Of The Year Celtic Fire and the talented Thunderflash. Both Celtic Fire and Thunderflash were sold off past KZN Yearling Sales.

Hadlow Stud will be offering yearlings by such notable or promising stallions as Canford Cliffs, Danon Platina, New Predator, Rafeef, Willow Magic and champion sire elect Vercingetorix at the 2022 KZN Yearling Sale.

Cathy had the following to say about her string for the KZN Yearling Sale:

Lot 67 is a colt by Canford Cliffs out of a Jet Master mare.  He is related to multiple black type winners including Captain Chaos, Set Afire, Rudra, Nania, Red Ray

Lot 86 is a filly by the exciting new stallion New Predator, and she is out of a half sister to eight winners 3 black type horses.

Lot 87 is a filly by Danon Platina.  She is a half sister to 2 winners and closely related to the people’s horse Kommetdieding.  

Lot 95 is a filly by sire of the moment Vercingetorix.  Her dam is the winning full sister to African Night Sky from a top-class US female line. One to take note of.

Lot 117 is a lovely athletic colt by the well received sire Rafeef.  His dam is a stakes placed Australian mare.  Another one to take note of.

Lot 145, a large colt by Willow Magic, a stallion who is doing it on the track. This colt is a half brother to two winners out of a well related Trippi mare.

This consignment can be found in Block B at the Suncoast Casino in Durban.

[watch the race]

Trained by Wendy Whitehead, who also trains his 5yo full sister Alfonse Baby with four wins to date in hand, expressed sadness of the passing of Noble Tune as this pedigree has worked so well for the family.

Alfonse Baby has also placed 2nd eight times and can always be counted on for consistency.

Moonlightbecomesu won twice over 1200m, and out of a Fort Wood mare, the female line also carries Harry Hotspur for speed and the mighty Brigadier Gerard – unbeaten as a 2yo including the famed sire producing Middle Park Stakes (now a Gr1) and beating Mill Reef in the 2000 Guineas amongst his glittering record of classic wins – he won 17 of 18 races he contested, beaten only by Roberto in the Benson And Hedges Gold Cup – Roberto happens to be the paternal grandsire of Cataloochee.

Brigadier Gerard was crowned British Horse Of The Year in 1972, with a Timeform Rating of 144!

This is the female line of Il Maurice, Red Beech and leading German filly in her day, Oraza. Moonlightbecomesu foaled a handsome and flashy chestnut colt by Act Of War this year.

Well done to Geoff and we look forward to following Joshua Hotsnake in his career!

Hadlow Stud will be offering a pair of two-year-olds, both sired by the G1 winning two-year-old Crusade, at this year’s November Two Year Old Sale.

Prior to his untimely death, G1 Middle Park Stakes winner Crusade left behind a host of above average performers including the stakes winners Alfeo, Butchie Boy and Covered In Snow, as well as the likes of Antigonus, Bullsade, Linear and Silent Crusade.

Crusade’s Pleasure (Lot 5) is a half-sister to two winners from a potent female line. Her dam is a four time winning daughter of champion sire Trippi and half-sister to Mauritian stars Green Keeper and World Focus. This well bred filly’s granddam is a half-sister to the uber speedy, and G1 Computaform Sprint winner, Shoe Shac.

Crusade is also represented in Hadlow’s draft by Islandsinthestream (Lot 121), a filly whose dam is a three-parts sister to G2 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes queen Hawker Hunter. This filly’s granddam is the stakes winning Wisp Of Light,  and further back,this is the family of champion sire Court Martial.

In search of a two-year-old sired by a G1 two-year-old? Come and inspect Hadlow Stud’s consignment at the 2021 November Two Year Old Sale.

An outstanding result at Kenilworth on Wednesday for Ridgemont Highlands and Brett Crawford was more good news for Hadlow Stud’s stallion Summa Cum Laude owned by Anne and Bruce Nicolas, a half-brother to Australian resident Gr1 winning broodmare In The Fast Lane.

The Jet Master mare produced two exceptional winners at Kenilworth.

The Ridgemont team enjoyed a unique ‘family’ double at a sunny Kenilworth on Wednesday, courtesy of a superbly talented brother-sister duo who both look set for richer pickings in the Cape summer season.

The winning brother and sister are by Australia’s history-making Champion Sire of 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020, Snitzel, out of In The Fast Lane, a champion daughter of seven times South African champion sire, and champion broodmare sire, Jet Master.

The interestingly named Stiptelik – Afrikaans for promptly – romped home on debut in the first race of the afternoon, clocking an unpressured 73,90 seconds for the 1200m. Said to be possibly short of a gallop, and hailing from a non-punting operation, the beautifully athletic bay was easy to back at 9-2 and won with a measure of ease by 2 lengths.

Representing Ridgemont, Craig Kieswetter said “They were covered in Australia, foaled down at our farm in Ireland, broken in here in Wellington, and then sent into training with Brett at Philippi!”

A lightly raced chestnut speed merchant, Real Gone Kid was coming in off a 34 week break when he registered his fourth win in eight starts when steamrollering a decent field in a 1000m Pinnacle Stakes just over an hour later, clocking 58,21 secs in perfect weather conditions.

Clearly the target is the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship – the winning duo’s dam In The Fast Lane won both the Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas and Gr1 Woolavington 2000.

Second dam is First Arrival, a Northern Guest mare who produced multiple Black Types including Gr2 winner and Dubai winner Light The Lights, the feature raced Pack Leader, Wendy Whitehead’s very smart Keep On Dancing who set the tracks alight in KZN this past season. She is by Silvano, and Summa Cum Laude standing at Hadlow is an outstanding specimen by Silvano’s smashing son Vercingetorix.

The latter has a full book for the season, and with the looks and pedigree of Summa Cum Laude with a family behind him that is firing on all cylinders currently, it makes sense to take advantage of his first season and to book mares to him.

Contact Cathy Martin at Hadlow Stud for more information on cathym@futurenet.co.za.

-extract ridgemont highlands Facebook.