A flashy bay colt was the news of the day at Scottsville last year, as the white faced juvenile Ishnana blazed to a debut victory not only for himself, but for his first time owner Mr Thabo Mhlongo.

Thabo is a highly successful businessman who amongst his company Ishnana Holdings has significant portfolios such as property development, retail, manufacturing and resources, including one of Howick’s iconic landmarks Thabo’s Antiques amongst them.

At odds of 20/1 under jockey Mandla Ntuli, the Garth Puller trained two year old won by almost a length going away from Black Ball (Black Minnaloushe) and Sniper Shot (Judpot) over the 1200m straight at Scottsville.

The colt is bred by Mr Robert Smith out of his Northern Guest mare Bird Strike, by little know sire Al Miqdaam – a resident son of Danehill at Roy Moodley’s breeding operation in Mooi River, and the sire of Al Ciberano. The combination of Al Miqdaam and Bird Strike has been a winning formula previously, with his full sister, a 2010 foal named Shikra, a previous winner over 1600m for trainer Lola Crawford.

Robert Smith interestingly bred the dam of multiple Gr1 winner Captain Of All, the Fard mare Serious Side.

Upon enquring with Mr Thabo Mhlongo’s contact details, they matched the horses name, Ishnana. “We named him after our company, which is a name made up from our children’s names. My son before school this morning said  ‘hey Dad, I have this feeling Ishnana is going to win today!”

Mr Mhlongo begins the story of how he came to owning the colt, Ishnana. “About 10 years ago, Rob introduced me to what he was doing with the horses and tried to pursue me to get involved, he said its a sport that can unite families and enjoy it with your wife and family and friends.” Mr Mhlongo chuckles and continues, “I kept ignoring Rob and continued doing other things besides the horses. Two years ago he came back strong – he invited us to his farm to look at them, where he breeds them and we looked. Then last year again, Rob said he had some babies without names coming up, and he asked me if I was sure I didnt want a horse – and that I needed to find time to enjoy life. I told him I would think about it.”

“I asked Rob to take me through the process. Eventually, I went to see the horse on my own and Rob said to me, I think this is the one for you and I could come in as a partner, if I didnt want to own the horse outright. We went into the paddock and Rob began to chase them around, and they all ran except for Ishnana. He just stopped and looked at us. I asked Rob, why is this horse not running? Ishnana was looking at us with his ears pricked. Rob chased him again, and once more the colt stopped, turned and looked at us, and I said to Rob, this is the one I want.”

“I went home to talk to my wife and get her approval. My wife and family came with me the next day after church to look again. I showed her the horse I liked and my youngest daughter Nathi, said ‘Daddy I like this one too’ and my son agreed. My wife said well that is that – this is the horse for us!”

“We had a separate meeting with Garth [Puller] who took us through the process and explained everything to us. He has been keeping us informed and up to date and encouraging us. He has also invited us to see the horse at Summerveld and we went to the training stables to see Ishnana. I am convinced the horse remembers us from the farm because he came straight towards us and walked up, his ears up and he was swishing his tail.”

Thabo recounts the race day. “The feeling when we went into the parade ring – Ishnana is different to the other horses and I felt good, this is a nice horse. When they cantered to the start, Garth told us ‘you have a good horse here, I am telling you!’ I had a feeling inside me that he was going to win. I told Rob I wanted to put more money on him and Rob said no (he was trying to manage my possible disappoinment) but I still made R460 on him from what Rob suggested I bet. As we saw him coming we started shouting him home! Rob just hugged me and said the horse has come through for us, it was great fun!!!”

“Garth is a great guy and I can see now what Rob had wanted to show me ten years ago, and experience.”

Ishnana’s dam Bird Strike is by Champion broodmare sire Northern Guest, in turn out of a Bush Telegraph / Royal Prerogative mare, Winged Signal. This female line has produced Gr1 Champions Stakes winner Swan Prince, as well as 1987 Arcsa Champion in 1987, Mark Anthony – a Gr1 J&B Met and Queen’s Plate winner.

From very small crops to date, Al Miqdaam has produced winners Al Ciberano, Shikra, Roy’s Twilight and Ishnana.

Al Miqdaam is out of Gr1 winner St Clemens Belle(AUS) in turn out of British mare St Clemens, by Canadian sire London Bells out of American mare Emotional by Sensitive Prince – truly an international pedigree.

St Clemens Belle achieved seven wins from two years of age over 1000m to 1600m. She won the WATC Stakes Gr1, the MVRC Champagne Stakes Gr2, Bill Stutt Stakes Gr2, SAJC Smoke-Free Stakes Gr3, VRC Hilton on the Park Sprint Handicap Listed as well as the MVRC Silver Jubilee Stakes Listed.

Her half-sister Sanctus is a Stakes Winner too, producing three decent horses with 11 wins between them.

Under the third dam is Be My Princess, another Stakes Winner who won six times and produced Turffontein Goldfields Sprint Handicap Listed winner, Flying Princess.

Al Miqdaam was purchased by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and began his racing career in Australia. He ran in seven Barrier Trials over five months – winning two, placing second twice and a third and fourth, and changing trainers in between.

Three months after being in a different yard, he placed twice more and arrived in South Africa – sent out for his first start a month short of two years later, at Scottsville.

Al Miqdaam finished second for trainer Mike De Kock over 1000m. He only raced four more times, twice finishing just short of the placings and preferring shorter trips over 1000 – 1200m, once finishing just behind Art Of War.

Congratulations to the winning connections of Ishnana – we are certain to see much more from this horse in the near future.

Entries have opened for the KZN Breeders Series of eight races at a stake of R200 000 each, held on KZN Breeders Race Day taking place in Sunday 25 June 2017, and last year saw a record with almost 900 horses entered for the day.

The KZN Breeders Series was introduced to reward our owners and trainers who support our local breeders with the purchase of “KZN-bred” horses, by offering an opportunity to win a substantial stake on the day and has been an overwhelming success each year, with our owners and trainers and breeders who enthusiastically support our black and white race day, filling the Durban View Room to capacity each year.

Please note the supplementary entry dates and fees:

Pre Entries close Tuesday, 6 December 2016 at 16:00 Fee: R57 (Fee R50 + Vat R7)
Supplementary Entries close Friday, 21 April 2017 at 16:00 Fee: R2280 (Fee R2000 + Vat R280)
Final Supplementary Entries close Thursday, 15 June 2017 at 11:00 Fee: R11400 (Fee R10000 + Vat R1400)

Entry Form To Download Here:
entry-form-kzn-breeders-series-2017

The races will all be run over Greyville’s Polytrack, excluding the Million Mile (and excluded from this pre-entry process) which will be run on turf on the KZN Breeders Race Day, taking place.

The KZN Breeders Race Day will see stakes being won for a total of R2,600 000 exclusively for KZN-breds, making it one of the biggest race days on Gold Circle’s calendar.

The KZN Breeders Race Day is restricted to horses that qualify as “KZN-breds” in terms of the KZN Breeders Premium scheme and need to be registered with the KZN Breeders Club. The breeder must be registered and in turn, the breeder must have registered the horse with the Scheme to be considered for entry as a yearling or two year old (two year olds do incur penalties for late registration). Three year olds may not be registered under any circumstances and in accordance with the rules of the KZN Breeder Premium Scheme.

The race meeting comes the weekend before the KZN Yearling Sale and will give added incentive to prospective buyers to invest in KZN-bred stock – the winners and first three places of each of the KZN Breeders Series of races, in addition to the large winning stake, each receiving a voucher towards the purchase of a KZN-bred yearling at the KZN Yearling Sale a week later.

The eight supporting races will be two races each over 1200m, 1600m and 2000m, one each for fillies and mares and colts and geldings respectively and two juvenile races each for colts and fillies over 1200m. The races will be open to all horses country-wide whose credentials meet the criteria of “KZN-bred” as prescribed by the rules of the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme.

To qualify for the races, points will be awarded in the months leading up to the racemeeting, from 1 January 2017 – 18 June 2017 (Final Acceptance). All races run throughout South Africa qualify for point-scoring purposes.

Horses registered at first entry will receive a 4-point bonus but horses supplemented in April and June will not qualify for the bonus.

Points for Maiden races will be awarded on a 4, 3, 2 basis for first, second and third. All other races, including Grade 1’s, will have points awarded from first to fifth on 8, 6, 4, 3, 1 basis.

Points will be awarded regardless of the distance of the races and it will be up to the connections of the horses as to which races they nominate for. The intention is to publish a points log on a fortnightly basis.

Keep an eye on our website for the updated logs.

To check if your racehorse is registered with the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme in order to qualify, contact dhevm@goldcircle.co.za with the horses name, dam and year of foaling.

We look forward to the entries and attracting yet another day of quality fields of KZN-breds and a day of first class racing and entertainment for breeders and owners alike.

Click here to find out more information about our KZN Breeders Premium scheme.

Visionaire’s son Jet Air will be contesting the Gr1 Cape Guineas this weekend, whilst Spring Valley-bred A Time To Kill (half-brother to Dunford) runs in the Gr3 Cape Summer Stayers Handicap and No Worries in the Jet Master Listed.

Trainer Gary Alexander has another top horse again after high class KZN-bred Pierre Jourdan’s brother, Champagne Haze proved best in the R2.5 million Cape Thoroughbred Sales Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1400m at Turffontein on Saturday.

Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes winner KZN-bred Rabada finished second, just three lengths off.

The effervescent Fortune, who can never be accused of lacking confidence, said afterwards, “On his [Champagne Haze] work] when sprinting up on Thursday I knew he could not lose.” The hard-working hoop had drawn a blank the previous day on his relentless round-the-country schedule to minor centres, but was unconcerned, “That doesn’t count, because I’ll win a R2.5 million race tomorrow!” he had prophesied. “I’m so glad for Alexander to have a big horse again – it is a pleasure working for him and this great team.”

Alexander revealed, “I liked him at the sale – and can tell Mick now that we had a fund up to 500K but we got him for 280K. He breeds lots of nice horses.” The Gauteng trainer has endured difficult spells, prompting a gracious acknowledgement to loyal patrons, “My owners have supported me through the bad times…”

Such downers are inevitable in this roller coaster game, but Alexander bounced back in no uncertain terms when also claiming third and fourth spot in the richly endowed incentive race.

The victorious connections include Messrs JF and LMF Wernars, Pravin Chetty, BG Gardner, AB Giuricich, J Labuschagne, GP Sadie, DA Simpson and Mesdames JP Gardner and AP Whicher. Based on this dominant performance by Champagne Haze, the future looks bright for their scopey youngster.

The winner, purchased at the CTS Johannesburg RTR Sale for R280 000, is by Kahal out of the four-time winner Vin Fizz and was bred at Summerhill Stud.

He took his scorecard to three wins with two places from five starts and gross stakes earned to R1 379 800.

– extract sportingpost.co.za