KZN Breeder, Ms Nothemba Mlonzi of Mwetwood Stud enjoyed a feature win as an owner and breeder on Wednesday at Hollywoodbets Greyville, winning the River Indigo Handicap Non Black Type.

#kznbred Petit Verdot, bred by Clifton Stud, finished second.

Her beautiful chestnut filly aptly named Mvulazana, which means Soft Falling Rain after her sire, is immaculately bred out of a Tapit mare Grey Light, and secured her 5th victory for trainer Wendy Whitehead under another marvellous ride from Calvin Habib.

Nothemba Mlonzi expressed her joy and excitement at the win, and Mvulazana will be returning to her place of birth to stand at stud when the time is right.

Nothemba has already made waves, with Master Keys her first feature filly produced.

Congratulations to all concerned.

Two-year-old Jerusalema Rain looks to be a horse with an exciting future ahead of him. Runner up on debut, he followed up a smart maiden win by finishing second, to subsequent G1 Gold Medallion winner Lucky Lad, in the G2 World Sports Betting SA Nursery before going on to win again next time out.

His breeder, Keivan Stud, will be bringing two quality yearlings to the 2023 KZN Yearling Sale, in the form of fillies sired by Horizon and Skitt Skizzle. The four time winning Psaltery, a half-sister to Listed East Cape Oaks runner up Katara (dam of former KZN Yearling Sale Million winner Winter Stories), has a Skitt Skizzle filly on offer. This filly’s sire sports outstanding statistics and Skitt Skizzle remains an excellent value for money stallion.

However, standout in this small but quality draft is the Horizon three-parts sister (Lot 64) to this season’s Listed World Sports Betting East Cape Derby winner Machete Man, whose sire, like Horizon, was sired by Dynasty. The Keivan bred Machete Man was winning for a third time in a row when he won this year’s East Cape Derby, and is another feather in the cap of his breeder.

Keivan’s three lots can be viewed from Block E at the Suncoast Casino in Durban.

Another quality draft which can be found in Block E at this year’s KZN Yearling Sale is the Mwetwood Stud. This draft is made up of yearlings sired by Erupt, Flying The Flag and Twice Over. The latter, whose dual G1 winning son See It Again is a leading contender for this year’s G1 Hollywoodbets Durban July, is represented here by a classically bred filly (Lot 56) whose dam is a winning daughter of G1 Woolavington 2000 and G2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Zirconeum.

Flying The Flag, closely related to this year’s impressive G1 Betfred Derby winner Auguste Rodin, is represented here by a colt (Lot 125) out of a half-sister to dual G1 winner Happy Archer, while Erupt (like, Happy Archer, sired by the mighty Dubawi), whose two-year-olds have been firing on all cylinders this season, has three lots in this draft including a half-sister (Lot 103) to Listed Syringa Handicap winner Way Of The World, and a filly (Lot 132) whose five time winning dam is a Tapit sired three-parts sister to Listed Umngeni Handicap hero Rodney.

There was plenty to celebrate at the KZN Breeder’s Awards held at Fordoun in Nottingham Road on Saturday night but the most heartwarming story was of a new breeder, Nothemba Mlonzi, whose first two runners she has bred both won in their first racing season.

Nothemba owns a farm in the Midlands where she had been growing tomatoes. A Cedara graduate was managing this operation and thoroughbred breeding doyen Anton Procter, who lives nearby, was also regularly helping out. The manager one day recommended she should do something with the section of empty land she had, where the kikuya grass would provide good grazing. He informed her of Procter’s success in breeding racehorses in the area and advised her to chat to him.

Procter recommended she should first travel to watch the Epsom Derby, where the winner represents the pinnacle of breeding achievement, and this would give her a good idea of what the game was all about.

He had soon organised her a Derby ticket with the help of Larry Nestadt.

Nothemba, who works in Johannesburg for the company she herself founded, Econ Oil, had a wonderful time at the Derby, where she was hosted by Bernard Kantor. She came home with no more doubts about starting the new venture. She had soon purchased two mares, On A Wing (a three-time winner over 1200m by Tiger Ridge) and Celestial Cloud (a twice-winner by Toreador and a half-sister to Grade 1-placed Patchit Up Baby). The resulting progeny were the filly Master Keys and the colt Galaxy Tunes. The pair  were sold at the National Yearling Sales and the KZN Yearling Sale for R100,000 and R50,000 respectively through her Mwetwood Stud.

Master Keys gave Nathan Kotzen his first winner as a trainer when scoring on debut and Galaxy Tunes also won on debut for Mark Dixon.

Master Keys had her second start at Scottsville yesterday and finished unplaced.

Procter has advised Nothemba throughout and she could not have asked for a more experienced and passionate mentor.

Procter’s influence is still felt in SA breeding as he was instrumental in bringing Rakeen over to South Africa. This son of the great Northern Dancer went on to sire the phenomenal champion racehorse and seven-times South African National Champion Sire, Jet Master. It was Nestadt who had given Procter an instruction to find a horse good enough to win a stakes race in South Africa and have a pedigree good enough to stand at stud. The buying team’s first option was on Mark Of Distinction, but the deal fell through. Then, Procter, with the help of pedigree fundi Robin Bruss, identified all of the Northern Dancers left in the world and they found Rakeen, a four-year-old trained by John Gosden who had not yet raced but who had a superb pedigree.

They approached Sheik Mohammed’s manager Anthony Stroud and he agreed to sell for £100,000. However, a few days later Rakeen won comfortably on debut over nine furlongs and the deal was off. Three days later he ran over a mile and was beaten as odds on favourite. Stroud did an about turn and said he would sell for £125,000 and the deal was done. Procter went to watch Rakeen’s next race a few days later at Doncaster with Henry Cecil’s assistant and a Sheik Mohammed representative. Under Walter Swinburn he won the ten furlong event by five lengths. Rakeen won four races in South Africa and finished third in the July of 1991, the same year the celebrated import Al Mufti ran second.

Procter was working for Aldora Stud in the KZN Midlands when Rakeen stood there. He recalled the late Hugh Jonsson wanting to send his mare Jet Lightning to him but stalling as he was convinced R5,000 for a live foal was too much. Procter, in a session of bartering which lasted about two hours one morning, eventually convinced Jonsson the fee was worth it for such a well bred stallion and the resulting progeny was Jet Master.

Procter, with the help of veterinarian John McVeigh, also identified the successful stallion Toreador on a visit to Coolmore and he was also instrumental in bringing over Crusade, who was announced as the KZN Stallion of the Year at Saturday night’s awards.

Nothemba currently owns six mares and has also bought a share in the exciting new Maine Chance Farms-based Dubawi stallion, Erupt.

Her enthusiasm will surely rub off on others so her importance to an industry which needs new participants can not be underestimated.

-David Thiselton

Ms Nothemba Mlonzi, a Johannesburg based business lady who breeds Thoroughbreds in Birnamwood outside of Howick at her Mwetwood Stud, has now produced two winners from two runners in her first crop season.

She stands five mares at stud who are due to foal this season, and has supported the local sires for 2018.

After Master Keys (Master Of My Fate – On A Wing) won very impressively on debut (and in the process gave Nathan Kotzen his first winner), it was followed up by the well bred Galaxy Tunes – a juvenile son of Toreador trained by Mark Dixon and a full brother to Cumulus.

Galaxy Tunes was one of three winners for trainer Mark Dixon at Scottsville yesterday, all three of the horses #kznbred – Galaxy Tunes, Isingamoya (8th win) and Admiral’s Guest.

Master Keys was the first yearling to be sold at the National Yearling Sale [for R100 000] by a black lady, and Galaxy Tunes at the 2017 KZN Yearling Sale for R50 000. A neat, very likeable yearling, he has placed previously from his four starts and repaid his purchase price.

Out of an Invincible Spirit mare who is a half-sister to multiple Graded Stakes Placed Patchitup Baby, this is also the damline of sire Qui Danzig.

Nothemba is the founder, pioneer and Executive Director of her company Econoil, with a legal background and a very hands on approach. She has more than eighteen years’ experience in legal practice, managing and directing various companiesand has served on various boards in South Africa.

Well done to Nothemba and we look forward to more to come from her stud farm.

Image: Galaxy Tunes winning at Scottsville/Candiese Marnewick