Andreas Jacobs

The Queen’s Plate is synonymous with the L’Ormarins blue and white, but what has become almost as much of an institution as the Queen’s Plate itself, is the Gr1 Maine Chance Paddock Stakes, which shares the billing with South Africa’s most anticipated race day.

With a highly successful season behind them where Silvano was pipped to a second sire’s championship by a few rand, a documentary on Lomitas received an accolade at the Equus Film Festival (the ‘Horse Oscars’) in New York and they received a visit from Monty Roberts, we caught up with Maine Chance’s man at the helm, Dr Andreas Jacobs.

A Racing Dynasty

Dr Jacobs is from the 3rd generation of a breeding and racing family. Grandfather Walther Jacobs founded their German stud farm, Gestüt Fährhof near Bremen, in the early 60’s. The farm was originally started for the family’s Warmblood horses as Andreas’ father Klaus was an Olympic dressage rider and Andreas himself competed at European Championship level. However, Gestüt Fährhof’s reputation for producing top class thoroughbreds grew quickly and it has established itself as a leading Thoroughbred stud and has just been named Germany’s Leading Breeder for the 19th time.

Andreas began helping at Fährhof in 1992, joining in an official capacity in 1995 and slowly taking over the reins. Andreas was met with early success in 1996, when the farm bred and owned the first and second in the Deutsche Derby.

Andreas’ father Klaus acquired the 1,200 acre Newsells Park Stud in Newmarket in 2000 and built it up into one of Europe’s most successful commercial breeding operations before his untimely death in 2008, leaving Andreas at the helm. One of the first mares purchased by Newsells Park was a tough little American mare named Spirit Of Eagles, who when mated to Gestüt Fährhof’s resident champion Lomitas, would go on to produce Silvano. “He was the first good horse I bred,” explains Andreas. “He won the Gr.1 Arlington Million in the USA, the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong and the Gr.1 Singapore Cup. He was also fourth in the Cox Plate and third in the Dubai Sheema Classic, so he was an international superstar, renowned as much for his toughness and constitution as his indomitable will and extraordinary ability to accelerate in an instant. I will always respect him as the consummate traveller with a perfect temperament.” Silvano was voted German Horse of the Year and Champion Older Horse and retired to Fahrhof in 2001.

Maine Chance Farms

Dr Jacobs purchased Maine Chance Farms from Graham Beck in 2002. Regarding the decision to invest in South Africa, Dr Jacobs relates, “I first came to South Africa in 1989 when my wife worked in a hospital in Cape Town. We started dating here. So we love the country and we fell in love with the stud, which has both beauty and ruggedness. For me, Maine Chance is pleasure and I try to keep it this way. If the hassle gets bigger than the joy, I will be out. I hope John F. Kennedy’s words will be heard louder in this country: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”. When I compare Maine Chance Farms with our other studs, I have to admit that Europe is more sophisticated along the value chain, from covering mares, to foaling, to grooming and to training horses. But South African horses are globally competitive because they grow up more natural. The value for money is much better in this country. And the staff at Maine Chance, most of them, from top to bottom, are world class.

Outgoing studmaster John Slade left on a high after Silvano earned his first champion sire title and Maine Chance produced the first three past the July post in 2015. He was succeeded by Tim Bootsma and with new blood comes new ideas and new energy. “With the retirement of John Slade, we went through a change and I have Tim Bootsma and Francois Giliomee running the farm, a working relationship in tandem that was successful before. They are both younger than me and can take the farm to the next generation, so I am full of hope and enjoy the fresh air. My family does too, so I hope we will be around for more years and future generations.”

Under Tim and Francois’ stewardship, Maine Chance has enjoyed a very successful 2015/16 season. “We were number four on the breeders list with more winners to runners than the top three studs. So we have the blood and the team to make the horses run fast.”

Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes

Maine Chance Farms have sponsored the Gr1 Paddock Stakes since 2013. Why this particular race? “We sponsor the race because we like to give something back to those horse owners and partners who support us by using our stallions and buying our yearlings. We picked the Paddock Stakes because it is a wonderful race day thanks to all the passion Mrs. Rupert puts into this day. The date is great because my family and I can attend the race during our holidays and to my mind, the Paddock Stakes is the most prestigious, most valuable race for fillies and mares in this country. A winner needs both speed and stamina, and it is run on a super fair track.”

The 2017 edition of the race will be extra special as the stud will have a runner in the lovely filly, Silver Mountain. The Bass Racing charge experienced feet problems during a somewhat frustrating KZN campaign and has had a 5 month layoff, but with the help of Robbie Miller is back to best. Although lightly worked, she produced a good comeback run in a 1400m Conditions Plate at Kenilworth on 17 December. Dr Jacobs says, “It is wonderful to see Silver Mountain back on track. The team did a great job after her break. She is a classic Group 1 winner from a top international family. She has to prove nothing. We hope she will be close to the winner and get some more black type.”

Stallion roster

Silvano another fantastic season in 2015/16 and is again lying second on the sires log for 2016/17, Black Minnaloushe has seen his first son retire to stud (Louis The King), the Queraris have hit the ground running in no uncertain terms and even more promisingly, are training on and new boy on the block Vercingetorix has his first foal crop on the ground. Like all true horsemen, Dr Jacobs is full of pride and affection when it comes to discussing his horses. “Silvano had a fantastic year, narrowly beaten on the last day of the season to become the Vice-Champion, but we are proud of his class with 11% Stakes Winners, ahead of the Champion Sire Trippi. I give him a hug every time I arrive on the farm. He is one of my closest friends, like his father Lomitas who we bred in Germany. By the way, you should watch the video on Lomitas and Monty Roberts on Youtube, it just won the “Oscars” of all horse films in the world. Unfortunately, Silvano’s mother, Spirit Of Eagles died this year at 30 years old. We know, this is the circle of life.”

“Like Silvano, Querari is a true family member. We bred his mother, his Grandfather, his Great-Grandfather and around 50 of his family members. I brought him to South Africa because he had both stamina and speed, and he was a top race horse. Like Silvano. He is a great outcross to South African blood and this is what I am trying to bring to this country – top race horses, where you know the pedigree and the quality over generations. Don’t forget, the German breeding industry is about a third of the size of the South African breeding industry and about 2% of the US breeding industry, but three of the past four Melbourne Cup winners were German! This year’s winner was the 18th generation of a family owned and bred by Gestüt Schlenderhan over 150 years.”

“Vercingetorix was certainly an important move. Because we are a commercial breeder, I sold all the sons of Silvano, so the chances of buying his best son on track to become a stallion was limited. I am very thankful to Mike De Kock and Jehan Malherbe for allowing me to buy into this horse and for their help in syndicating it. He is super fertile and his foals are very promising – to be honest, they are better looking than Silvano’s foals. So we are full of hope.”

Cape Premier Yearling Sale

Maine Chance Farms always produce outstanding yearling sale drafts and are consistently high on the vendor lists. The 2015 CPYS saw the top priced yearling (Dynasty out of Shina, a full sister to Silvano and now racing under the name Horizon) knocked down for R5,2 million and the 2016 sale saw a son of Silvano, the Drakenstein Stud bred Silver Coin, break the SA sales ring record, going under the hammer for R6 million. This year, Maine Chance have a 19 strong draft for the 2017 CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale on 21 and 22 January, with the expected good spread of top notch bloodlines including Silvano, Querari, Dynasty, Var, Duke Of Marmalade, What A Winter and Pomodoro. There is sure to be a lot of interest in lot 187 in particular. By Duke Of Marmalade and out of Silvano’s full sister Shina, she is also a half sister to the 2015 sales topper, Horizon. It is not often Dr Jacobs sells fillies of this calibre and offers a rare opportunity to buy into this illustrious German family. Asked for his thoughts on their current draft, Dr Jacobs answers, “I am a great fan of the CPYS sale. It was innovative and received credentials when the sale in London was launched two years later. We are sending a top group of correct, clean and well-balanced horses. I inspected the draft in October and again last week and I am very impressed by the individuals. But please forgive me, I will only share my favourites with you in Cape Town over a cup of Jacobs Coffee!” Now there’s an offer one can’t refuse.