Phumelela‘s CEO resigns
Shareholders are advised that David Attenborough has resigned and will be leaving the company at the end of April 2010. David has accepted a position with Tabcorp Holdings Limited in Australia and will, with effect from 1 May, become the managing director of Tabcorp‘s wagering division. Phumelela take this opportunity to thank David for his hard work and valued contribution to our business and to wish him and his family all of the very best for their future with Tabcorp and in Australia. We have a very strong working relationship with Tabcorp and look forward to working with David in his new role. Consideration will be given to David‘s replacement in due course

Record Entries for 2010 Dubai World Cup
Over 1,900 international entries for March 27 event at the new Meydan Racecourse Owners and trainers worldwide have embraced international horse racing’s iconic new venue; Meydan Racecourse, with Dubai Racing Club announcing record entries for the 2010 Dubai World Cup to be held on March 27.
At the closure of the free entry stage on January 13, a total of 1,951 entries have been received from 23 countries for the revamped eight race programme, highlighted by the 15th running of the US$10 million Dubai World Cup, the first to be held at Meydan Racecourse.
The Dubai World Cup, run for the first time on an all weather surface, Tapeta, attracted the highest number of nominations in its history, dual Eclipse Award winner GIO PONTI and Japanese champion VODKA prominent among the 288 entries received. The latter leads a powerful contingent from Japan which also includes the dual Classic winner and champion three-year-old filly BUENA VISTA, Japan Cup Dirt winner ESPOIR CITY and SUCCESS BROCKEN.
GLORIA DE CAMPEAO also returns for a third Dubai campaign hoping to go one better than his second placing to Well Armed last year while Godolphin’s REGAL RANSOM is among 34 entries from the stable and aiming to become the first horse to win the Dubai World Cup 12 months after a UAE Derby success. Hong Kong Cup first and second VISION D’ETAT and COLLECTION are also among the early entries.
The Dubai World Cup’s 288 entries come from 82 trainers and 15 countries, Saeed bin Suroor (34 entries) with the most number of nominations and one of seven trainers having tasted Dubai World Cup success previously, the others being Kiaran McLaughlin (four entries), Bill Mott (two), Steve Asmussen (one), Bob Baffert (seven), Eoin Harty (one), Sir Michael Stoute (two).
Among this year’s entries for the US$5 million Group 1 Dubai Duty Free are the first three-over-the-line from the 2009 renewal; GLADIATORUS, PRESVIS and ALEXANDROS. The three, along with the highly rated COURAGEOUS CAT are among a massive 400 entries from 19 countries.
The Dubai Duty Free and the US$5 million Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic traditionally attract a strong level of international entries and this year proves no different. Like the Dubai Duty Free, those prominent in the 2009 Dubai Sheema Classic are again among the entries for this year’s renewal which has attracted 242 nominations from 17 countries. The first seven home in 2009 are all aimed at the race in 2010 as are PRESIOUS PASSION from the USA and Europe’s outstanding filly DAR RE MI.
The Dubai Golden Shaheen has long been the domain of horses from the USA since 2000 including Breeders Cup Sprint winner DANCING IN SILKS. The race has proven popular with the 205 entries coming from 16 countries. Japan’s LAUREL GUERRIERO and Australia’s unbeaten filly BLACK CAVIAR will be attempting to halt American dominance of this race. Richard Mandella, trainer of the 2004 Dubai World Cup winner Pleasantly Perfect also has his eye on this race, with his charge CROWN OF THORNS entered here. For the first time this year, the Dubai Golden Shaheen will be run around a bend.
The addition to the programme of the Group 3 Al Quoz Sprint is proving to be extremely popular, with the race receiving 202 entries from 16 countries. ALL SILENT, BLACK CAVIAR, TURFFONTEIN and GOLD TRAIL are among a powerful group of 15 from Australia while Singapore’s star ROCKET MAN and Hong Kong champion SACRED KINGDOM are also entered. Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner CALIFORNIA FLAG, the globetrotting CANNONBALL, Prix de l’Abbaye winner TOTAL GALLERY and the outstanding South African OUR GIANT are also included.
Bob Baffert and owner Mike Pegram have tasted Dubai World Cup success with Captain Steve and their LOOKIN’ AT LUCKY, winner of the Eclipse Award for Champion Two-Year-Old Male of 2009 heads the 173 entries for the US$2 million Group 2 UAE Derby. Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor and South Africa’s Mike de Kock remain the only trainers to have prepared winners of the UAE Derby and unsurprisingly, both are well represented again. Breeders’
Cup Juvenile winner VALE OF YORK heads Godolphin’s 18 strong entry whilst South Africa’s Champion Two-Year-Old of last season, MUSIR is one of six entries from De Kock.
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner FURTHEST LAND heads a 61-strong USA entry for the US$1 million Group 2 Godolphin Mile, those entries among a total of 370 received from 16 countries. GAYEGO, second in the race last year, and stablemate MIDSHIPMAN are prominent among powerful entries from the UAE.
The US$250,000 Group 1 Dubai Kahayla Classic for the Purebred Arabians has attracted a total of 71 entries, among them the winners of the two previous runnings in MIZZNA and FRYVOLOUS.

Jet Master’s Extraordinary Met Day
In the J&B Met (Gr.I), his son Pocket Power could do no better than third in his attempt to secure a fourth victory in this race, but in a reverse of the result 12 months earlier, the race fell to his sixyearold sister River Jetez. On the same afternoon, Jet Master added two new grade one winners for the price of one when his daughters Love Is in the Air and Gluwein deadheated for the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes (Gr.I), writes Alan Porter on www.pedigreepost.net
That flurry of activity brought the total of stakes winners sired by Jet Master in his first five crops to 29, of whom 12 are grade one winners, and 23 graded. Given the form shown by South African horses in Dubai – and some of those imported to the U.S. – one would have to give consideration to Jet Master as a potential worldclass sire. Indeed, his best runner to venture into the Northern Hemisphere, J J The Jet Plane, won a grade three at Nad Al Sheba, a listed race at Windsor in England, and was third in one of Europe’s top sprints, the July Cup (Gr.I).
So, who is Jet Master? Well the sire’s side of the pedigree is somewhat familiar. Jet Master is by Rakeen, a son of Northern Dancer out of Champion Glorious Song, a daughter of Halo, who also produced the extremely successful sires Rahy and Singspiel, and the useful Australia stallion Rivotious, and is a sister to Devil’s Bag and Halo). Rakeen won twice in three starts in England, and then was sold to South Africa, where he won two graded events including the Allen Snijman Stakes (Gr. II), and took third in the Rothman’s July Cup (gr. I). He was subsequently a very successful sire in South Africa, although a return to the U.S. for two years yielded little of note. Jet Master’s distaff pedigree is less impressive, at least in commercial terms.
His dam is by Rollins (by Damascus out of a sister to Roberto) from a South African line that had not produced a stakes winner for three generations. The pedigree of the dam is notable, however, for having the Lavendula II family through the threepartsbrothers My Babu and Joy (a leading sire in South Africa) and Turnto. Jet Master himself is inbred to Turnto’s son, Hail to Reason (through Glorious Song/Halo and the sister to Roberto, in a way somewhat reminiscent of the dam of Giant’s Causeway, who has Glorious Song/Halo and Roberto).
Physically, Jet Master seems to have taken more after Hail to Reason than Northern Dancer, standing 17.00 h. He captured 17 of 24 starts, winning seven grade one events. Horse of the Year, Champion Sprinter and Champion Middle Distance Horse he recorded his grade one wins from 1000m to 1600m. (five furlongs to a mile) switching up and down distance without any apparent difficulty. Jet Master was the Leading Freshman Sire in Southern Africa with his first crop, and has been Leading Sire there in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He’s tended to mostly sire sprinter/milers, but Pocket Power and River Jetez are both grade one winners at 2000m./10f. (and River Jetez, is also a grade two winner at 2400m./12f.), and he’s also sired Floatyourboat, winner of the Cape Derby (gr. I) over the same trip, and Ravishing took the South African Derby (Gr.I) at 2450m. (12f.). Pocket Power and River Jetez (TrueNicks rated A++) are an example of a 100% strikerate nick, as they are the only starters for their sire out of mares by Prince Florimund, and the only starter by Rakeen out of a mare by Prince Florimund’s sire, Dowdstown Charley is also a grade two winner.
Dowdstown Charley is by Our Babu, a son of My Babu, so Pocket Power has three crosses of My Babu or his threepartsbrother Joy. Prince Florimund’s broodmare sire, St. Cuthbert, is by Herbager (giving a double of that horse also found in Rakeen’s halfbrother, Singspiel) and out of The Veil, a threepartssister to Jet Master’s male line ancestor, Nearctic. Incidentally, in the strikerate stakes the cross that produced Jet Master’s South African Derby winner Ravishing, and grade two winner Royal Air Force – both our of mares by Royal Prerogative – isn’t far behind, with two stakes winners from three starters.
Jet Master’s weekend Grade I deadheaters, Love Is in the Air and Gluwein both have pedigrees with strong U.S. connections. Love Is in the Air (TrueNicks A++) is out of a mare by Jungle Cove, a stakes winning son of Bold Ruler. Jet Master has two graded winners out of Jungle Cove mares, and two other stakes winners out of mares by another Bold Ruler line horse, Complete Warrior (by Dewan out of a Damascus mare, and with a granddam who is halfsister
to Buckpasser). Talking of Buckpasser, he actually appears four times in Jet Master’s 12 grade one winners. Gluwein, rated A++ by TrueNicks is out of the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) third, Our Casey’s Boy, who is by Blushing Groom, out of a mare by Northern Dancer’s sire, Nearctic. The second dam is by Where to Dance (by Northern Dancer), a halfbrother to Blushing Groom’s son, Rainbow Quest, and out of Where You Lead (a reverse genetic relative to Northern Dancer). The third dam is by Golden Thatch, by Thatch, by Forli. Golden Thatch is in three of Jet Master’s grade one winners, and Forli in four. We can’t leave Jet Master’s grade one winners without mentioning Little Miss Magic. She is by Al Mufti, who not only brings in Buckpasser and My Babu, but is by
Roberto, so giving that horse and his sister, Glorious Spring, 4 x 3.
A lot of the cross that have worked with Jet Master were accurately predicted by South African authority Karel Miedema, a keen student of deep pedigree patterns, and genetic relatives (which he has christened “kinbreeding”), and is a good example of how genetic affinities can be predicted. The article can be found at http://www.pedigreepost.net/archives/JetMasterKarelMiedema.html