There’s no South African racing fan worth his salt, that doesn’t know Bankable. If you’re writing a press release announcing his arrival in this country, that’s probably all you have to say.
We all remember his imposing presence in the parade rings of Nad Al Sheba and Meydan, and we all have vivid memories of his destructive come-from-behind finishes for Herman Brown Jnr and Kevin Shea. But it was a measure of the man that he managed this at distances from six furlongs to nine, against some of the most accomplished racehorses in the world.
Those performances alone would earn a horse of his pedigree a place at the world’s top stud farms, yet that’s not everything Bankable brings to the table. From the Mr Prospector male line out of a Sadler’s Wells mare, he weighed in at a monstrous 560kgs in training. His trainer describes him as the best looking specimen of a thoroughbred he’s been associated with, so it’s worth recalling that he previously conditioned the stars Linngari and Jay Peg to international fame as well.
That he was a world class talent, was apparent some time before he returned to Dubai, as he demonstrated several times against some of England’s best racehorses of their era. A bob-of-the-head defeat against Mike de Kock’s Eagle Mountain, and a quarter length defeat to dual Group One winner, Passage of Time, were precursors to what might arguably have been his finest hour. Conceding six pounds to a World Champion in Raven’s Pass, is impossible enough, but to go down less than a length in the process in Goodwood’s Celebration Mile (Gr 2), is the mark of a hero.
“Like most of our breeding colleagues, we watched Bankable’s Dubai performances in awe. There can hardly be a soul in the stallion business, that wouldn’t have wished secretly that one day this fellow would wind up on their farm. He has everything: size, a flawless physique and lightning speed.” So said Greig Muir, stallion master at Bankable’s new home, Summerhill Stud, where he joins the Grade One ace, Visionaire, as the new “kids” to be introduced to their six hundred international guests on Investec Stallion Day, Sunday 3rd July.
