Jet Dark enjoyed arguably his finest hour when he stormed to a second successive win in the Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.
He now finds himself in exalted company, that of such luminaries as the mighty Sea Cottage, Sledgehammer, Politician, Wolf Power, and his own broodmare sire Jet Master, all dual winners of the country’s oldest Gr1 mile event.
Last season’s Champion Three-year-old and Champion Miler, the colt has little left to prove and although his connections may be tempted to go for a third successive Queen’s Plate – a feat achieved only by Legal Eagle in 2018 and Pocket Power earlier, who subsequently achieved a fabulous four – a stud career looks the more likely proposition.
Jet Dark storms to his second L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate victory (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
As a triple Gr1 winner – he also claimed last season’s Champions Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville – the four-year-old is now a highly desirable stallion prospect and the country’s stud masters will be queueing up to acquire this handsome entire once the time comes for him to exchange the racetrack for the breeding shed.
In addition to his racetrack achievements, Jet Dark’s pedigree ticks all the boxes.
Not only is he by Drakenstein’s linchpin stallion Trippi out of a mare by the legendary Jet Master, he also boasts a distinguished female line of international repute., it is littered with readily identifiable champions such as the wonderful filly Pawneese, European Horse of the Year, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner and successful sire Peintre Celebre (an own brother to Jet Dark’s third dam Pine Chip) and more recently, Bjorn Nielsen’s stayer extraordinaire, Stradivarius.
Trippi: End Sweep – Jealous Appeal (Valid Appeal)
Pic – Drakenstein Stud
Jet Dark was bred by Drakenstein Stud from the winning Jet Master mare Night Dark, who significantly, is no longer a member of the farm’s broodmare band.
She was sold at auction in 2019 when in foal to Futura, whose first crop had yet to reach the track, which made him very much an unknown quantity as a stallion. At the time, Night Jet also had just one winner to her name, her first foal by What A Winter, while the fourth, Jet Dark was a yearling.
In hindsight, the lucky buyer was Cornerstone Stud’s Anthon Hoek, who purchased Night Jet for the princely sum of R3000, not bad for a well-bred mare destined to become the dam of a dual Queen’s Plate winner! Such is the stuff dreams are made of.
“She’s a lovely big mare, a typical Jet Master,” a delighted Anthon said this weekend. “The foal she was carrying when I bought her is a very nice colt, which we have decided to race ourselves. Named Future Knight, he will go into training with Johan Janse van Vuuren.”
Night Jet currently resides at her owner’s 16-acre stud situated in Centurion in Gauteng.
A relative newcomer to the breeder ranks, “we are now in our fifth year”, Anthon sends his yearlings to the Magaliesberg area to grow out, an unconventional area to many purists perhaps, but as he states: “It may not be the Karoo, but the winters are just as cold and the soil is also exceptionally rich in limestone.”
Sadly, Night Jet has been barren since foaling Future Knight. Anthon takes up the story. “She’s proving to be a difficult mare. Last year we sent her to Trippi’s son Gold Standard and after spending the breeding season in the Western Cape, she came home not in foal. This year, we decided not to travel her, and fortunately, were able to send her to Jackson, who is based in Gauteng at Heversham Stud. Like Futura, he is a high class son of Dynasty and in my opinion, is a very underrated stallion. Night Jet will be preg-tested some time this week, so fingers crossed!”
Remarkably, all of Night Jet’s six previous foals have been colts and includes another black-type performer, Jet Dark’s year-younger half-brother Night Ruler.
By ill-fated Kingsbarns, he races in the distinctive Drakenstein silks and finished third in last season’s Gr3 Langerman, a race his illustrious half-brother won at two.
Needless to say, if Night Jet is in foal, Anthon is hoping for a filly and added: “She will definitely not be for sale!”
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