One of the best performed racehorses in the South African stallion ranks today, Ridgemont Highlands’ internationally proven five time Group 1 winner Canford Cliffs has maintained his superb momentum in his second SA season.
With a gutsy third win for the aptly named Ridgemont Highlands-bed Prime Example in a 2400m handicap at the Vaal on Thursday, Canford Cliffs took his tally to 31 winners so far in this his second SA term, with 15 of them coming in the first three months of 2023.
Canford Cliffs’ son Prime Example storms home under Julius Mariba (Pic – JC Photos)
Trained by Ashley Fortune, Prime Example, who is out of the Tamburlaine mare Sharp Mistress, stamped himself as a young stayer for the notebook when winning well under replacement jockey Julius Mariba.
His sire Canford Cliffs was proudly voted South African Outstanding New Sire last season, with only iconic champions Jet Master and Captain Al having produced more first season winners in the history of South African racing and breeding. That achievement speaks volumes!
As a milestone man for the Kieswetter family’s global racing and breeding operations, the champion racer will always hold a special place as the family’s opening gambit in their now extensive international investment in high-quality thoroughbreds.
This has extended far and wide, from Australia through Ireland and England, and right down to an eyecatching Barnane Stud-bred maiden winner in the beautiful Girl Racer at Wolverhampton earlier this week.
Barnane Stud’s Girl Racer storms home on debut at Wolverhampton on Monday (Pic – Supplied)
“It’s a long game and it requires massive time and fiscal investment. Patience is key. Every success is thus celebrated with gratitude, humility and satisfaction, and as a team we are fortunate to have access to the very best of international resources. That’s where we consider the privilege, for example, of standing a stallion like Canford Cliffs. A great racehorse, he performed out of Coolmore for six seasons, where he also shuttled to Australia, and has continued his career at Ridgemont Highlands in Robertson with exciting results,” observes Craig Carey.
Boasting an impressive haul of Gr1 victories in the Irish 2000 Guineas, Sussex, Lockinge, Queen Anne and St James’s Palace, Canford Cliffs was hailed Europe’s dominant miler at three and four.
Time flies. It was 11 years ago that the supreme equine athlete had his swansong outing against the great Frankel in the ‘Duel on the Downs’ at Goodwood. Top trainer Richard Hannon hailed his Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood star the best he ever trained.
Canford Cliffs – super racer and a top sire
Now one of a quintessential quality quintet of stallions at the beautiful Ridgemont Highlands in Robertson, Canford Cliffs, who enjoys the distinction of stakes winners in both hemispheres, has proven a gamechanger for many a mare owner, injecting a potent precocity and speed that half belies his classic tag.
But lest we forget – Canford Cliffs is a son of a Gr1 winning juvenile and won the Gr2 Coventry Stakes himself as a 2yo. So should we really be surprised? The exciting aspect is that as they mature and the closer they get to the mile, greater things can be expected!
Ridgemont Highlands is enjoying an excellent season with their flagbearer this season the star 3yo filly Make It Snappy, winner of both the Gr1 World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas and Gr1 Cartier Paddock Stakes and a potential Equus Award candidate, who should make her presence felt on the East Coast during the forthcoming SA Champions Season.
The Ridgemont Highlands team will be offering a high-quality draft at the 2023 National Yearling Sale, and we asked Craig Carey to give us an exclusive sneak preview into three good ones.
“We really have a lovely draft but seen we are talking Canford Cliffs, I’d suggest a close look at lot 23 named Simply Majestic, a daughter of our star out of Queen Laurie. She is a really beautiful mover, has plenty of scope and will be one to keep an eye on. Then lot 287, Claude Monet is out of the Dynasty stakes performer Francia. A lovely mover, he is a colt with plenty of scope and will keep improving. Then New York City is a son of Canford Cliffs out of Gr1 winner Miss Florida. Here’s a sharp colt that will definitely come to hand quickly. Very much like his dam! See you at the sale,” concluded the veteran horseman.
Canford Cliffs has a total of 13 lots going through the ring at the BSA National Yearling Sale in Johannesburg on 21 and 22 April.
