Western Winter (Gone West-Chilly Hostess)
Cold As Ice, the impressive winner of Saturday’s Gr2 Sceptre Stakes at Kenilworth, is the latest in a long line of top class performers for her sire, the now deceased Western Winter. The son of Gone West, who died in 2013, left behind 80 stakes winners – of which 48 were graded winners.
Western Winter, widely regarded as a superior sire of colts, also achieved, however, marked success with his daughters. To date, 15 of the sire’s graded stakes winners are female, with his daughters including the high class fillies, Autumn Gold, Ice Belle, My Kazzie, Strawberry Ice and Fillies Guineas second, Winter Ade. Western Winter, who is also broodmare sire of Saturday’s Listed Jamaica heroine Gathering Fame, is an increasingly successful broodmare sire. His daughters have already produced the likes of Past Master and Carry On Alice, and they look sure to build on this in years to come.
Mr Prospector
Western Winter’s grandsire, Mr Prospector, is one of the world’s two dominant male lines in pedigrees today (the other being Northern Dancer). His outstanding sire sons make up a list too long to enumerate, and Mr P also features as the great grandsire or grandsire of such recent high class stallions as Dubawi, Elusive Quality, and Street Cry to name but three.
There are critics who feel the Mr Prospector male line has not been effective in South Africa but is this true? While Mr Prospector did have a few sire sons who arrived in South Africa and failed to live up to expectations (Krusenstern and Sleek Gold among others), he did also leave behind one son who would surely have been one of the great stallions of the country, but for a premature death.
Secret Prospector (Mr Prospector-Secret Asset)
Secret Prospector, who boosted one of the best pedigrees in the stud book, was a very close relative of champions Rhythm and Woodman (a subsequent sire of over 100 stakes winners), as well as Not For Love (broodmare sire of US Horse Of The Year California Chrome). He lived up to his pedigree, siring 8% stakes winners to foals, and left behind 11 individual Gr1 performers, including SA Derby hero, Hidden Fortune, as well as the Gr1 winners Secret Rites and What A Prospect. An exceptional broodmare sire, Secret Prospector is the dam sire of the very promising Cape based sire Elusive Fort, as well as one of South Africa’s greatest performers of the modern era, Variety Club. One can but wonder quite what Secret Prospector might have achieved but for his tragic death.
Another son of Mr Prospector who made his mark, albeit as a broodmare sire, was Capture Him, whose daughters have produced the likes of the mighty champion, Beach Beauty, as well as Gold Cup hero, Wavin’ Flag.
Goldkeeper (Mr Prospector-Chapel Of Dreams)
Goldkeeper was another exceptionally well bred son of Mr Prospector to excel at stud in South Africa. Despite suffering from fertility problems, Goldkeeper established himself as a top class sire, and a great source of high-class sprinters, overcoming small crops of foals in the process. An emerging broodmare sire (Goldkeeper is the dam sire of champion All Is Secret among others), Goldkeeper sired 7% stakes winners to foals, and left behind 12 individual Gr1 horses. He is also the sire of the world class sprinter Tiza, who was winning in Europe at the advanced age of ten! From the same family as leading sires Royal Academy and Storm Cat, Goldkeeper (a stallion with a superb temperament) was another case of what might have been had fate been kinder.
Muhtafal (Mr Prospector-Polite Lady)
Yet another top class sire son of Mr P to suffer fertility issues was the superbly bred Muhtafal. A full brother to Horse Of The Year and influential sire Afleet, Muhtafal, who is now pensioned from stud duties, left behind 25 stakes horses – including champion Let’s Rock ‘N Roll, and fellow Gr1 winners Disappear and Outcome.
Strike Smartly, who died after producing six foal crops at Mauritzfontein Stud, left behind 9 Gr1 horses. His best son, the multiple Gr1 winner Slumdogmillionaire, recently made his Dubai debut for Mike de Kock, and Strike Smartly is also the broodmare sire of last season’s Gr1 Tsogo Sun Medallion hero, Guiness.
Kahal (Machiavellian-Just A Mirage)
Mr P’s champion 2yo son Machiavellian, left behind an outstanding SA sire in Kahal, who sadly died last year. The best stallion to stand in KZN for many a year, Kahal built a reputation as a consistently top class stallion, capable of siring Gr1 horses from 1000m to 3200m, and a sire whose fillies were as good as, if not better than, his colts. At the time of his death, Kahal had no fewer than 19 Gr1 performers to his credit.
The Gone West line not only produced the above mentioned Western Winter (without question one of the outstanding SA stallions of the past two decades or so), but Zafonic’s son, Count Dubois, has also established himself as a successful sire in his own right. Any horse who can sire 6% stakes winners to foals of racing age, must be considered a decent sire, and Count Dubois (who has the talented 3yos Door Of Deception and French Navy to his credit) is certainly just that. Gone West is also responsible for the very exciting Sail From Seattle, whose first crop produced Cape Guineas winner Elusive Gold (sadly since exported to Hong Kong).
Forty Niner is the sire of Rich Man’s Gold – the sire of promising KZN sire and Equus Champion Kildonan, and is also broodmare sire of SASCOC Triple Crown hero, Louis The King and luckless Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes second, Athina.
Trippi (End Sweep-Jealous Appeal)
However, Forty Niner is grandsire of an even better locally based stallion in Trippi, whose progeny earnings recently topped $50 million. Trippi is a consistently successful sire of Gr1 performers, and his 3yos this season include Paddock Stakes winner Inara, RTR winner Zambezi River, top sprinter Trip To Heaven, as well as Afrikaburn and One Fine Day – first and second in last season’s Gr1 Golden Horseshoe. A sire whose offspring train on well (Hammie’s Hooker, Trip Tease to name just two), Trippi, also a considerable commercial hit, is a sire capable of siring the Gr1 horse all buyers and breeders should be looking for.
With promising younger sires such as Ashaawes, Mambo In Seattle, Warm White Night and Visionaire still coming through, it is hard to imagine how anyone could doubt the success that the Mr Prospector has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, in South Africa.
