South Africa

GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB) (Acclamation {GB}) has been sold by Juddmonte to continue his career in South Africa at the new stallion operation of Paardeberg Stud. A collaboration between British businessmen Steve Ajax and Charles Palmer in partnership with South African breeder Sally Bruss, Paardebrg Stud sits on 200 hectares in the Paarl region of the Western Cape. Expert Eye, the sire of Chesham S. winner Snellen (GB) and G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S winner Juniper Berries (GB), is currently in quarantine in South Africa ahead...

It is not unusual to see Group 1-winning jockeys riding work in Newmarket, but it is a less familiar sight to find one riding four lots a day through the depths of winter. That, however, is how South Africa's multiple champion Greg Cheyne has been spending his time since relocating from his native country last August. Cheyne and his wife Claire are both now employed by William Haggas at Somerville Lodge, and the jockey has recently been given the green light by the British Horseracing Authority to resume his race-riding...

Multiple Grade 1 winner Jet Dark (SAf) (Trippi--Night Jet (SAf), by Jet Master (SAf)) has been retired and will take up stallion duties at Drakenstein Stud where he was foaled and raised, owners Nick Jonsson and Tommy Crowe announced. Drakenstein's Gaynor Rupert is now part-owner of the bay. The R200,000 BSA April yearling won Grade 1s at ages two, three, four and five and was named 2020/21 Equus Champion 3-year-old Colt, 2020/21 and 2021/22 Equus Champion Miler, 2021/22 Equus Champion Older Male and 2021/22 Equus Champion Middle Distance Horse. He...

The 2023 Cape Yearling Sale catalogue is now online and can be viewed on the Bloodstock South Africa website. Potential standouts include lot 13, a Querari (Ger) half-brother to G1 Cape Derby runner-up Sachdev (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}); an Erupt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) half-sister to MG1SP Driving Miss Daisy (SAf) (Master Of My Fate {SAf}) (lot 35) and a colt out of G3 Fillies Mile winner Banbury (SAf) (Horse Chestnut {SAf}), by Ideal World, who will pass through the ring as lot 88. The 2023 Cape Yearling Sale will be held...

Newmarket may be known for its dominant stables that currently house headline names such as Baaeed (GB), Stradivarius (Ire) and Alpinista (GB), but the town is also home to a large number of smaller yards, and the newest trainer to join the town's ranks is Dylan Cunha. The South African is new to Britain but he is not new to training. In his home country he won the G1 Steinhoff International Summer Cup with Strategic News (Aus) (Strategic {Aus}) in 2007. To include him within our Local Heroes series is...

A bay son of Gimmethegreenlight (Aus) (lot 378) brought a session-topping R2 million (£100,745/€120,106/$126,676) during the second day's trade at the Bloodstock South Africa National Yearling Sale which ended on Friday. Greg Bortz snapped up the half-brother to Grade 3 winners Ghaalla (SAf) (Var) and Due Diligence (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}) from Varsfontein Stud, who is already named Steadfast (SAf). South African Triple Crown winner Malmoos (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}) features under the second dam. Second top lot was a son of Fire Away out of Equus Champion Broodmare of the...

Grade I-producing sire Laoban is off to a fast start in Kentucky as he nears the completion of his first book at WinStar Farm. Meanwhile, his son Keepmeinmind, one of two graded winners for the son of Uncle Mo, readies for his bid in Saturday's GI Preakness S. "He has settled in and is doing really well," WinStar's President and CEO Elliott Walden said. "He's going to breed around 140 mares this year." The transition from Laoban's original stud farm, Sequel Stallions in New York, to WinStar was a breeze,...

A filly by Gimmethegreenlight (Aus) out of MGSP Strawberry Ice (SAf) (Western Winter) topped the Cape Premier Yearling Sale on Sunday. Already named Strawberry Light (SAf) (lot 172), the filly was offered by Lammerskraal Stud and bought by Bjorn Nielsen for R1,100,000 (US$73,776/£52,977/€61,720). She is a half-sister to Flying Ice (SAf) (Go Deputy), a winner of the G2 Gold Bracelet. Sharing second billing at R800,000 was a What a Winter (SAf) colt named Stratospheric (SAf) as lot 171 and a filly by Trippi (lot 106). The former, a member of...

Phumelela Gaming and Leisure (PGL) went into Business Rescue May 8, and a Post Commencement Finance ('PCF') deal has been agreed to with Mary Oppenheimer Daughters Pty Ltd ('MOD'), reported Sporting Post. One of the conditions of the deal outlined by MOD was that the PCF Board initiate Business Rescue. Charles Savage was appointed by MOD to act as an intermediary between the two entities. Previously facing bankruptcy (TDN, May 4), the injection of PCF will allow PGL to meet its financial obligations for the duration of the Business Rescue...

Horse racing in South Africa has been temporarily suspended from Mar. 27 to Apr. 16, after a presidential directive was issued on Monday. The upcoming suspension is part of a three-week coronavirus lockdown, as cases in that country hit 554 on Tuesday.

The 159th running of the R1.5 million L'Ormarins Queen's Plate WFA at Kenilworth Racecourse--a Breeders' Cup 'Win And You're In' race--was anything but ordinary. The field had barely arrived at the start when a grass fire broke out across the road from the track. With the prevailing wind sending billowing clouds of smoke across the tracks, the horses were placed in a hold, while the effect of the smoke was considered. When loading finally commenced, it appeared that Pack Leader (SAf) (Philanthropist) and Twist Of Fate (SAf) (Master Of My...