Star 4yo Charles Dickens has been retired and will take up stud duties at his place of birth, Drakenstein Stud, from the 2024 season.
Drakenstein’s Kevin Sommerville confirmed the decision by Gaynor Rupert to retire her champion to the breeding barn at the magnificent farm.
He is a horse Mrs Rupert recently labelled the ‘future of Drakenstein’,
Aldo Domeyer and Charles Dickens are in full flight to win the 2024 L’Ormarins Gr1 King’s Plate (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The market showed an enormous appetite for a horse that has all the credentials to be a future champion sire, when a notice of syndication for stud saw all shares snapped up in record time recently.
History will show that the smashing chestnut champion retired from an illustrious track career that captivated the public, and went out in a royal blaze of glory after his scintillating victory in the 163rd renewal of the L’Ormarins King’s Plate at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on 6 January 2024.
Watch the supreme performance again:
The Sporting Post reported recently that the R2 million L’Ormarins Gr1 King’s Plate became the Charles Dickens show as the colt’s electrifying late burst from midfield made it three wins in the prestigious weight-for-age mile from four renewals for his retired champion sire Trippi.
In the process, Charles Dickens gave delighted multiple champion breeder Gaynor Rupert and her high-riding Drakenstein team their maiden success in twenty years of sponsoring the summer drawcard.
Charles Dickens was registering his third Gr1 success in the process, having also claimed the 2022 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas and 2023 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge.
Crowned Champion 3yo and Champion Miler, he is out of Equus Broodmare Of The Year Demanding Lady, and has won his ten races from 1000m to a mile, only beaten thrice in thirteen starts – that when second in the 2023 L’Ormarins King’s Plate as a 3yo, and in the SplashOut Gr1 Cape Derby, and a third placed finish in a Grade 2.
Charles raced 13 times, which compares favourably with the track exposure of the likes of Horse Chestnut (also 13 starts), Dynasty (12), and Frankel (14).
The news of the decision has naturally shaken up the World Sports Betting Cape Town Met betting market, with Michael Roberts trained See It Again – another Drakenstein bred star – firmly positioned at the top of the boards.
The final field and barrier draws for the Cape flagship contest will be broadcast via Cape Racing and Gallop TV from 18h30 on Wednesday evening.
