By Alan Carasso
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Rafeef (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}), one of two sons of 2006 South African Horse of the Year National Colour (SAf) (National Assembly) to register Group 1 victories at Turffontein May 6, has been retired from racing and will enter stand his first year at Highlands Stud near Cape Town beginning with the upcoming breeding season. The deal was brokered by Jehan Malherbe's Form Bloodstock.
Bred in partnership by John Messara's Arrowfield Stud and Ralph Koster's Klawervlei Stud from a treble Grade 1-winning dam, Rafeef was consigned by Arrowfield to the 2014 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale and was purchased by Shadwell's Australasia arm for A$800,000. Trained by Mike de Kock, Rafeef made his racetrack debut as a 4-1 chance in the 2015 G1 S A Nursery S., then proceeded to cross the wire first in six of his next nine outings, including the G2 Hawaii S. (1400m) at Turffontein Mar. 4 before following in the considerable hoofprints of his dam by taking out the May 6 G1 Computaform Sprint (1000m) in the slick time of :55.95. Four races earlier on that program, Rafeef's Shadwell-owned full-brother, the A$1.75-million Easter grad Mustaaqeem (Aus), drilled his fellow juveniles by four lengths in the S A Nursery.
“We knew from the start that Rafeef was an exceptionally talented horse gifted with brilliance,” de Kock commented. “We saw only a glimpse of that in the Computaform Sprint and I have no doubt that he would have won many more Grade 1s had he been kept in training. He has the 'wow' looks to go with his 'wow' ability.”
Craig Carey of Highlands thanked Malherbe for putting together, “a very nice group of shareholders” and said: “We are very pleased to have a horse of this calibre coming to the farm. Our special thanks must go to Mike de Kock, who fought hard for Rafeef to stay in South Africa. This is a very exciting venture for us.”
Rafeef, who was named Horse of the Year, champion older horse and champion sprinter at the recent Highveld Feature Season Awards, will command a fee of R50,000.
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