Kingsbarns short career at stud was curtailed by his untimely passing at the age of 8 in 2018 and Gaynor Rupert and the Drakenstein team enjoyed some mixed emotions to watch his son King Of Gems win on debut for Brett Crawford at Kenilworth on Saturday.
With fertility issues hampering what was anticipated to be an exciting career at stud, the impeccably bred Kingsbarns only produced a handful of horses from his first SA crop – and Drakenstein kept nine of them.
Corne Orffer drives Kng Of Gems to a smart debut win (Pic – Chase Liebenberg Photography)
One of his three Drakenstein bred colts, King Of Gems, out of the Trippi mare Sapphire Gem, finished strongly over the Kenilworth 1200m to beat fellow Drakenstein bred and raced Constable in a memorable finish for the champion breeders.
Corne Orffer rode the winner who started at 12-1 and showed his class when expected to need the outing.
Drakenstein’s Kevin Sommerville (far right) joins the Crawford team at the lead in (Pic – Chase Liebenberg Photography)
By sire of sires Galileo, Kingsbarns was one of the very best two-year-olds of his generation. Timeform of 2012 rated the colt at 120, placing him above the likes of Gr1 winners Reckless Abandon, George Vancouver, Olympic Glory, Flotilla, Loch Garman and subsequent star miler Toronado.
An imposing rangy attractive colt, Kingsbarns won both his outings at two, with a seven length maiden win being followed up by a facile 1.75 length victory in the G1 Racing Post Trophy.
The latter race saw Kingsbarns account for runner up Travel Brother as he liked, with pattern race winners Steeler, First Cornerstone and Irish Derby winner Trading Leather among the beaten runners.
Injury played havoc with Kingsbarns’ racing career.
