Few stallion open days were more widely looked forward to than the annual get-together at Summerhill Stud, where stud master Mick Goss would welcome fellow breeders, even overseas visitors.
The Summerhill stallions needed no introduction.
The mighty Northern Guest was the cornerstone of the stud’s rise to fame while Mick fondly referred to Muhtafal as “the General we could go to war with”.
Mick Goss (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Then there was Kahal, who for many years, rated amongst the top five stallions in the country.
Sadly, Summerhill as we knew it, is no more, ill health forcing Mick to sell up in late 2019.
At the time, the world-renowned stud was home to a barnful of young, unproven stallions – the Gr1 winners Act Of War, Capetown Noir, Willow Magic, Rabada and Hat Puntano.
Three years on and only Act Of War remains at what is now known as Summerhill Equestrian, with its focus primarily on warmbloods.
Act Of War – top rated son of Dynasty
The son of Dynasty made a dream start to his stallion career by siring Champion filly War Of Athena and Gr1 winner Battle Force from his first crop.
Champion Capetown Noir had sired stakes-placed Brandina from his first crop by the time the stud changed hands.
That the blue-blooded son of Western Winter has since lived up to his credentials cannot be denied, for he is now a Gr1 sire of Cape Flying Championship winner Bohica and Allan Robertson victress Under Your Spell.
Cherry Ano challenges for honours in the Pretorius red, white and blue (Pic – Pauline Herman)
This season, he is also the sire of the promising three-year-old Cherry Ano.
Bred at Summerhill out of a Kahal mare, he races for the farm’s owner Henning Pretorius and boasts a near-perfect formline of four wins and a second from as many starts.
Trainer Gavin Smith is understandably excited about the colt and remarked: ”He is a progressive horse. I got him very late, which was probably a blessing as he is quite a big boy. He’s a big softie really and has plenty more to come. I have nominated him for the East Cape Derby on 12 May, so we’ll see how he shapes there.”
Gavin will be hoping lightning strikes twice, as he previously won the Derby with another of Capetown Noir’s sons, Jaeger Moon, who had the distinction of going through his first six starts unbeaten.
Capetown Noir wins the Gr1 Cape Guineas
Needless to say, Gavin thinks highly of the stallion: “I loved him as a racehorse and I’ve done well with his progeny.” Talk about an understatement.
Capetown Noir now stands under the Piemonte banner, but sadly is not receiving the sustained numerical support so vital for a stallion to remain commercial. As Piemonte’s Lee Scribante reflected: “It’s most disappointing, especially as he is a proven Gr1 sire.”
Willow Magic, an Australian-bred son of Dubawi, retired to Summerhill the winner of the Gr1 SA Nursery and Gr2 Dingaans.
Willow Magic (Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
When he made the move to Bush Hill Stud, his first foals were juveniles and from that initial crop have come the admirable MK’s Pride, a Gr1 winner of the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes.
Willow Magic now stands at Bruce le Roux’s Blue Sky Thoroughbreds, as does Hat Puntano, a dual Gr1 winner of the Argentinian 2000 Guineas and successful locally in the Gr2 Hawaii Stakes. The judges are still out on the Argentinian import, who was quick off the mark this season when his very first runner Givers Grace scored second time out.
Finally, there is Rabada, who is based at Bloomhill Stud near Wartburg.
Rabada at the beautfiul Bloomhill (Pic – Shannon Gilson)
Bred by Summerhill, the son of Brave Tin Soldier returned to his birthplace a dual Gr1 winner and by the time the stud was sold, his first foals had just hit the ground. Now three-year-olds, that crop includes the stakes-placed Zatara Magic, a half-brother to aforementioned Jaeger Moon.
Rabada has recently caught the eye with a steady trickle of winners, amongst which Tommy Crowe’s homebred juvenile Ermelo. He returned from a rest to score a cosy post-maiden victory at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on what was an auspicious occasion, as he is the 1000th winner for veteran trainer Doug Campbell.
“I was speechless, considering he was coming off a rest and defeated the stakes-performed Tarry favourite,” Doug remarked.
Rabada son Ermelo wins his maiden (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Elaborating on how the juvenile came into the yard, he said: “Tommy phoned me out of the blue and asked me to train Ermelo. He’s a nice, big horse, in fact, I gelded him in October and because of his size, he has to be loaded with a hood.”
At this stage, Doug has nothing definite mapped out for the strapping juvenile, but may consider one of the lucrative KZN Breeders races towards the end of June.
Clearly, the demise of Summerhill with its extensive broodmare band has changed the fortunes of its former stallions, the lack of support being a prime hurdle. Yet, as their accomplishments show, they somehow seem to have risen to the occasion.
