Carl de Vos

Carl de Vos has been stud manager at Varsfontein Stud since 1988. Alongside the Kalmanson family, he has helped grow and develop the stud, seeing their international successes with Caesour, the acquisition of exciting new sires Judpot and Gimmethegreenlight and more recently, producing their very own home-grown sire in Master Of My Fate. Along with his wife Amanda, Carl is a champion breeder in his own right and currently shares in Gimmethegreenlight’s freshman success with his TBA Million winner, Legend.

Breeding season is a tough time to chat to stud staff, but we managed to catch up with Carl in between foaling down, rushing a colicky mare to hospital and trying to get an orphan foal onto a foster mare.

Although Carl is one of our most established stud masters and most people know his story, it’s still a fun one to recount. Carl grew up on a sheep farm in Beaufort West. His mother did dressage and show-jumping with Gonda Beatrix and bought her first showjumper from Terrace Millard and Carl’s father bred Arabians, so Carl grew up around horses. He spent 2 years of his national service in the horse unit at Potchefstroom and did dressage and show-jumping alongside the likes of Lachlan McLachlan and Barry Taylor.

Carl’s stud career started with Frank Freeman at Boland Stud and then Derek Southey at The Valley Stud in De Doorns after which he did stints in America at places like Spend Thrift, Gainesway and Mill Ridge Farm. Carl also worked at The Alchemy Stud (the US version) for the Rosen family before making his way home. Carl was working for Hymie Maisel at Hyjo when Ronnie Rosen purchased the Wedge Stud in Robertson from Piet and Anne Nel, renamed it The Alchemy after their US operation, and appointed Carl to run it. A few years after the Rosens sold The Alchemy to the Kahans, Carl took up the stud manager position at Varsfontein and has been there ever since. This is his 29th breeding season at the stud.

Long association

Like most people who have grown up close to the land and know the value of patience and hard work, Carl speaks softly and slowly and the Karoo landscape still shapes his accent and the sort of old school manners and respect that one so rarely encounters these days. Although a respected breeder in his own right, Varsfontein’s legacy is his pride, his joy and his passion.

“Things have changed a lot. Susan and John (Kalmanson) lost their dad when they were young, so when they came of age they really took the farm over to grow it again. You must remember that I’m more or less the same age as Susan and John, so we’ve all experienced and grown it together.”

“When I first came, there were still vineyards and other agriculture and we were foaling down about 18, maybe 20 mares a season. Now it’s purely a horse farm and we foal down over 100 mares. It’s a big operation. We bought the farm next door so that we have extra land, there’s a big dam for water and the whole farm is irrigated from a computer system. We grow all our own oats and I don’t buy commercial feed – we make our own. And we’ve added the new stallion barn. It’s very different from when I arrived – except for the old stables, which were originally built by convicts and are still the same as when I arrived.”

Highlights

“As a stud manager, there are more lows than highs, but the highs are so good that you forget the lows. It’s true! But there are lots of highlights really. I think something that’s special to us is that Marie Galante is still alive. Both her and my son were born in 1988 – the season I joined Varsfontein – and they are both now 28! She was the first filly that really did well for us as the new team. I think that got all the interest and juices going, so she will always hold a special place for all of us – John, Susan and myself.”

“The second highlight was Promisefrommyheart – she was also very special. Her mother, Secret Pact, was the highest priced mare ever to be sold at auction at the time. Secret Heart was a half-sister to Promisefrommyheart who was bought by the Jaffees. She was a Fort Wood filly and went to America and produced Pluck, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is now at stud.”

“I think we’re the first South African stud to produce an Australian Gr1 winner in Perfect Promise. Her dam belonged to Hendrik Winterbach who was our assistant manager at the time, but she was bred here and won a Gr1 in open company in Australia. I don’t know whether any other SA-bred filly has achieved that? And then there was Irridescence. She was also Hendrik’s, but was also bred here and she won the QEII beating Ouija Board, who was the highest rated Cartier filly in the world at the time.”

“I cannot think that any stud in SA has produced more international horses than we have.”

Key to success?

“I wish I knew!” he laughs. “Everyone puts in a lot of hard work and I think a big part of the success of the farm is that we all get on so well. There have been tough times, but everyone is very loyal to the farm and to each other. And we all love the horses.”

Accomplished breeder

“We’ve got a mare named Star Of Arcole who has produced 3 Oaks winners (Princess Of Light, Arcola and Ash Cloud) by three different sires. I don’t think a mare has done that before ever.” She is currently 22 years old and has just produced a Gimmethegreenlight filly.

Star Of Arcole was named Equus Champion Broodmare in 2014, the same year Mr & Mrs de Vos received their Champion Older Male award for their Jet Master colt, Yorker, as well as Breeder of the Year award. Carl was part of the JACK Syndicate that bred Spook Express, a Champion in SA who finished second to Banks Hill in the 2001 Breeders Cup Fillies & Mares Turf. He and wife Amanda are also responsible for Caughtintheslips, now entrenched in the Varsfontein firmament, Floatyourboat, the previously mentioned Yorker, Princess Of Light, Arcola, Ash Cloud, Jet Aglow and now the exciting looking Gimmethegreenlight colt Legend, who won the BSA Million Mile on Sunday.

Legend

“Gavin van Zyl bought the half-sister Malou and she had problems from word go. Brian Burnard moved her to Duncan Howells and he had the same problems, but he must have seen some ability, because he was hooked on this colt. They didn’t pay much for him – I got R160k on the 2015 National Sale – but they loved him from the beginning.”

Amanda is in charge of naming their horses and Legend received his name courtesy of a TV documentary on John Legend. “It’s that simple,” laughs Amanda. “When I suggested it, Carl really liked the name and said that we should see whether it’s available and there you go.”

Gimmethegreenlight

Gimmethegreenlight ended the season with a bang to finish top of the Freshman sire log with a Gr1 winner in Gunner, the unbeaten Gr2 performer Hack Green, and a clean sweep of the TBA Breeders’ Million races last weekend. “Wasn’t it amazing? The filly nearly beat the colt in the sprint and gave us a 1-2 and we won the Mile as well and they were all Gimme’s and they were all bred here!” he adds proudly.

“Gimme got off to a bit of a slow start. One does worry, because a stallion needs stakes winners, but you must remember he’s by More Than Ready who has produced Oaks and Derby winners. We knew that they should take a bit of time and Gimme himself was at his best as a 3yo, so we weren’t too concerned, but it’s good to have ended the season the way we did.”

What does the Freshman sire title mean?

“I don’t judge a stallion on their 2yo’. Look, it’s nice to have 2yo’s but if they can’t carry on, then what have you got? The fact that Gimme has done it towards the end of the 2yo season means they’ve taken time to come to hand and all things being equal, they should be better as 3yo’s. We’re getting unbelievable reports from trainers saying the more they mature, the better they get and also that they want more ground and that part is very exciting. So now we’ve got to see if Gimme can produce a Guineas or a Derby winner, but at the moment he’s on fire, so long may it continue.”

“There’s no official Champion Freshman sire award, but the biggest advantage is the awareness that it creates. After Gold Cup day, Gimme was fully booked within 24 hours – done and finished – there’s no room for a mouse. It’s a nice position to be in and one is blessed when it’s like that. Last year all 3 stallions had full books and it looks the same for this year again. We are very fortunate to have three popular stallions.”

“Only a handful of sires have produced Gr1 winners in their first crop of 2yos – Var, Judpot and now Gimme. Now we’re hoping that Master Of My Fate makes it. We’ve yet to see a Jet Master son making the grade, but if there’s one that should have a chance, it’s him. He’s so well bred and he’s got a lot of speed in his family. Beyond the top 5 stallions, there’s not a lot else around, so we’re on the verge of a big change. If a new stallion has ever got a chance, he’s got a chance now and if they’re good enough they’ll do it. Having had the grandmother and the mother and having bred him ourselves, it would be very special.”

2016 National 2yo Sale

Varsfontein have a number of high quality lots on the forthcoming BSA 2yo sale, with highlights including Hashtagselfie, a filly by Gimmethegreenlight out of Selkie (lot 131) and a half brother to Juxtapose named Valbonne by Var out of Sunsational (lot 157).