Former Lammerskraal owner Mike Rattray’s policy of buying well-bred fillies has had a huge impact on the success of one of the most renowned studs in South Africa.
Through judicious purchases, the Ceres stud has reaped the rewards with an enviable broodmare band which continues to deliver, albeit that the farm is now in new hands.
The stud’s latest success, Gr3 Godolphin Barb Stakes winner Good Traveller, added to the sterling reputation of a Lammerskraal family which has enjoyed some notable successes in recent years, that of Strawberry Lane.
Happy connections lead in unbeaten Good Traveller after his feature success on Sunday (Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
When Geoff Woodruff was given the mandate to buy the daughter of Jallad as a yearling, little did he know he had purchased a future Broodmare of the Year.
Physically, on the small side, but well-topped, Strawberry Lane also possessed the typical off-set Jallad legs. However, she was a daughter of the fine racemare Taineberry, who had won the Gr2 Oaks for David Payne and at the time of purchase, the filly’s own sister Jalberry had just won the Gr3 Pretty Polly for Woodruff and clients Des Scott and Anthony Peter.
On the track, Strawberry Lane lacked her sister’s prowess and to make matters worse, she suffered a career-ending injury which saw her arrive at Lammerskraal as a winner of one race and two places from just six starts.
Her accomplishments as a broodmare have been well-documented.
Voted Broodmare of the Year in 2017-18, it would be safe to say that she has outperformed her accomplished sister as a broodmare. Eight of her foals are winners, and include the Gr1 winning siblings Solo Traveller and Redberry Lane, both sired by Western Winter. The former completed the Cape/KZN Guineas double, while Redberry Lane landed the Garden Province Stakes.
Mike & Norma Rattray – laid the Lammerskraal foundation
In addition, their own sister Strawberry Ice ran second in the Gr2 KZN Fillies Guineas and became dam of the exported Gr2 Gold Bracelet winner Flying Ice.
Strawberry Lane was a regular consort of Lammerskraal champion Western Winter, who sired all but one of her winners, that being the Dynasty five-year-old Knight’s Templar, runner-up in last season’s Algoa Cup.
Jalberry retired to stud with a glowing resume.
In addition to the Pretty Polly, she also won the Goldfields Sprint, while her string of stakes places included a Gr1 third in the SA Fillies Sprint.
She too, became a top broodmare and boasts a tally of six stakes performers from eight winners. To Var she bred Gr2 Durban Golden Horseshoe hero Purple Diamond; Trippi features as the sire of Gr3 winners Love To Boogie and On This Rock; Count Dubois is the sire of Gr2/3 placed Count Express; and to Jet Master she bred Mr Fantastic, a Gr3-placed winner of nine races in Singapore.
The latter’s own sister Mary’s Pride won four races but more importantly, became the dam of Silvano’s Gr1 Woolavington 2000 winner Silvano’s Pride.
Good Traveller’s dam Skylar Lane, an own sister to Solo Traveller and Redberry Lane, was trained by Brett Crawford. Unraced at two, she showed promise in her first two starts, a debut second followed by a fluent maiden win over the Kenilworth mile. Sadly, she suffered the same fate as her dam and was retired after a fall on a tar road left her with a fractured knee.
Jallad- Sire of Strawberry Lane
As her paddock value clearly outweighed her modest track record, she duly returned to her birthplace to join the Lammerskraal broodmare band and former manager Sally Bruss recalls her as being “big, rangy and handsome, much in the mould of both Solo Traveller and Redberry Lane.”
A son of resident stallion Visionaire, Good Traveller is the mare’s second foal, the first being a ‘high quality’ Querari filly.
After producing a Visionaire filly in 2019, Skylar Lane was culled. Lammerskraal’s loss has become Cheveley Stud’s gain, for she is now a stakes producing member of Vaughan Koster’s broodmare band and is currently in foal to Gimmethegreenlight. It is an explosive mating, as Skylar Lane carries no less than three lines of the mighty Star Kingdom, while Gimmethegreenlight’s dam Yes She Can Cancan adds another double of the legendary Australian sire.
As regards Good Traveller, Sally remembers him well. “He was a good-looking foal, but had a very, very explosive temperament. When I saw that he had been gelded, I thought, now we’re in business.”
Prophetic words, considering the hugely talented stakes winner is still unbeaten!
