No one can dispute the dominance of blue chip stallions Vercingetorix, Gimmethegreenlight, Trippi, Master Of My Fate and What A Winter – after all, they have access to the cream of the broodmare population.
The latest Sire statistics are therefore quite illuminating.
Underrated stallions Elusive Fort, Legislate, Pathfork and Capetown Noir may not receive large numbers of quality mares, yet all are currently punching well above their weight.
Elusive Fort, the seventh leading stallion of 2020-21, is enjoying another fruitful season with progeny earnings of just over R10 million, good enough to make him the country’s sixth leading active stallion.
Elusive Fort
Already sire of the Gr1 winning fillies Siren’s Call and Lauderdale, and Gr1 SA Derby hero Out Of Your League, Elusive Fort’s crowning moment came when his popular son Kommetdieding captured the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July in 2021 to which he subsequently added this year’s Gr1 Cape Town Met.
Yet, notwithstanding this success, Elusive Fort’s support from breeders is akin to a rollercoaster.
Having covered as few as 25 mares in the dreaded fourth season, the first flush of success saw that increase to over 100 mares in each season from 2015 to 2018. That dropped to 56 in 2019, and wait for it, to just 13 and 19 mares in 2020 and 2021, a sad state of affairs, considering he has cemented his place amongst the country’s top ten stallions!
When it comes to representation on the track, Legislate may lack the numbers necessary to make a huge impact, but boy, he certainly makes up for that in quality. At the time of writing, he has had only 29 runners, of which 19 have won.
That’s a punchy 65% winners to runners. His average earnings per runner (AEPR) of R92,895 also places him in the exclusive company of some of the stallion ranks’ biggest names, those of log leaders Silvano, his son Vercingetorix and the evergreen Trippi.
It is no secret that Legislate’s fertility issues account for his paucity of runners, yet this season’s 19 winners include a quartet (or almost 25%) of stakes winners in Airways Law (Gr3 Cup Trial), Zimbaba (Gr3 Flamboyant Stakes), Hoedspruit (Algoa Cup) and So Flawless (Ladies Mile).
Legislate
The former Horse of the Year initially started his stallion career at Drakenstein Stud, but when he failed to stop his mares, he was returned to training, albeit unsuccessfully. That’s when Cheveley Stud master Vaughan Koster stepped in and Legislate returned to his birthplace.
“My initial decision to take him was purely emotional, as he was the first champion I bred and I was going to give him a good home in his retirement.” Prophetic words!
Vaughan set about trying to get to the bottom of the horse’s problems. Turns out, a sore back was probably the key cause.
“I could see he was in tremendous pain,” Vaughan said.
“We did x-rays, scans, and this is where we picked up the problem. Legislate suffers from ossification of some vertebrae. We manage his pain with medication which seems to have worked. His fertility was 77% last season from 54 mares covered. We will continue to limit his books to 50 mares, a number he can comfortably cope with.”
On the flip side, Legislate’s services are taken up by shareholders only.
As Vaughan explained: “I’ve had to turn outside mares away. There is currently a waiting list, such is the demand for him, which is deserved. Never did I think it would turn out this way!”
While services to Legislate are hard to come by, not so for Pathfork, a stallion who has largely flown under the radar. With a seasonal strike rate of almost 58 percent and average earnings of R71,978, this son of Distorted Humor continues to deliver in his own quiet way.”
Pathfork
The sire of this season’s stakes winners Bingwa (Gr2 Onamission Mile), Marchingontogether (Racing Association Stakes) and Chollima (East Cape Derby), Pathfork exchanged Ridgemont Highlands for Sandown Stud in 2018. At that stage, he already had a Gr1 winner to his name in Allan Robertson victress Mighty High.
Needless to say, his achievements since continue to impress Sandown stud master James Armitage, who remarked: “He’s so underrated. If you take the top 20 sires by earnings, he’s ahead of some pretty decent names. Sadly, he’s never had the number or quality of mares, I think his biggest book was his first season, when he covered 72 mares. The only downfall is that he may lack a big horse, but I can tell you, there are certain trainers who love his progeny and so do the Mauritians. He’s entitled to more mares and at R5000 a jump, he’s a steal.”
Another underrated stallion is champion miler and former Summerhill stallion Capetown Noir, who this season, has been represented by 22 winners from just 47 runners, whilst returning a healthy AEPR of R78 682. In addition, he clocked up a second Gr1 winner when Bohica claimed the Cape Flying Championship. His first, last season’s Gr1 Allan Robertson winner Under Your Spell, added the Gr2 WSB Fillies Guineas and has been exported to Australia.
Capetown Noir
Capetown Noir now stands under the Piemonte banner but is not receiving the sustained numerical support necessary for a stallion to remain commercial. As stud owner Lee Scribante reflects: “It’s most disappointing, especially as he is a proven Gr1 sire.”
A contributing factor could well be the fact that the KwaZulu-Natal breeding ranks have shrunk alarmingly in recent years, with only a handful of die-hard breeders still active.
Be that as it may, given his accomplishments, the son of champion sire Western Winter and Broodmare of the Year Akinfeet surely merits more respect and support from KwaZulu-Natal breeders.
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