Founded in 1967 by Dr Robin Rous, Henham Stud was named after the farm in which legendary British handicapper Admiral Henry John Rous was bought up on.
Early on, the stud only had 15 mares give or take, but managed to produce horses of the ilk of top-class sprinter Tucson and fellow smart sprinter, Cavilan, winner of the SA Airways Sprint, among others.
Robin was passionate about his horses and on his death, his sons, Trevor and Gavin took over his breeding operation. Through all the ups and downs of the racing industry, older established stud farms have gone but these two die-hards continue their father’s legacy and love of racing.
Henham Stud has continued to produce top-class thoroughbreds from a relatively small band of mares, including Gr3 Gold Vase winner, and Equus Award nominee, Walter Smoothie, ten time winner Ghost Dog, and the smart Abbottsbury. Remarkably, that trio were sired by Biarritz, Mellifont and Grey Eminence respectively -stallions who were hardly the height of fashion!
At the Summerhill Dispersal Sale, Henham Stud managed to procure Jet Master mare, Movingandgrooving for only R5000. This was before her first foal, Pilgrims Progress had won and before her second foal, Running Brave was sold. Running Brave subsequently went on to earn nearly R2 000 000 in stakes, winning the Gr2 Gold Bracelet twice as well as the 2021 G3 London News Stakes.
At the National Sale this year, Henham Stud will be offering a beautiful Vercingetorix half-sister (Lot 66), pictured above, to Running Brave by the name of Miracle In Motion.
Judy Rous describes the three other lots in their draft as:
- Lot 155: a neat, beautiful moving filly by Potala Palace out of the Galileo mare Sehaba
- Lot 341: a tall handsome colt by Potala Palace out of the Western Winter mare Cresta
- Lot 26: a beautiful big racy colt, he is a Querari full-brother to Liberty Hall, who ran second in the G1 Premiers Champion Stakes
The latter colt is offered by Henham Stud on behalf of John Slade.
The Rous Bros’ quartet can be viewed in Block B in the TBA complex during the week leading up to the 2022 National Sale.
