Gitano Hernando
I recently came across an advert for the forthcoming Novisara Dispersal Sale on 23 May 2013 at Kleinplasie in Worcester. It was a beautiful ad, but didn’t give a lot away.
A little detective work led me to Robin Bruss, who explained that the sale is the dispersal of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s South African breeding interests as well as a sort of official introduction of Gitano Hernando to the South African breeding scene.
Gitano Hernando
Gitano Hernando first flashed across my radar before the 2011 Dubai World Cup, when he famously changed hands to the Chechen President. A quick bit of delving into his history reveals an interesting story. He was bred by the Jacobs family’s Newsells Park Stud Ltd and sold as a yearling in Deauville, France, for $53,964.
Gitano, the Spanish word for “gypsy” certainly lived up to his name, but while his name sounds foreign and exotic, his breeding is very solidly constructed German stamina onto hard-knocking American speed, boasting the likes of Nijinsky, Cure the Blues, Danzig and Miswaki. Gitano Hernando is also inbred to Buckpasser and Hail to Reason.
Racing campaign
The flashy chestnut originally campaigned in the colours of Renata Jacobs and following a promising maiden victory by 4 ½ lengths on Wolverhampton’s all-weather track in early 2009, he was purchased by Team Valor International’s Barry Irwin and partners, including Hollywood film producer Gary Barber with an eye to running in the Belmont Stakes.
Consummate talent spotter Barry Irwin commented “I liked the rhythm he established and I particularly like the beautiful action he was able to display on a track that makes that sort of athletic display difficult to achieve”. Irwin spent nearly two months trying to complete a deal to buy the son of Hernando and his relentlessness paid off in the end.
“When I want something really badly, I don’t let go too easily,” he laughed. “I used to own his fourth dam, Hanina, a big stamp of a mare, probably the best looking I ever owned. She was the dam of Mrs McArdy, winner of the One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket.”
Gitano Hernando remained with his conditioner, ex-Italian jockey Marco Botti and son of leading Italian trainer Alduino Botti, and he followed up his Wolverhampton win with another victory on turf at Doncaster in March.
With an eye on the Belmont, the team sent him out in the Gr3 Addleshaw Goddard Dee Stakes at Chester in early May. The race was far from trouble-free and the colt showed real grit to be narrowly beaten home by a nose.
The going, deemed “abominable” by Barry Irwin, resulted in the colt sustaining a fetlock injury which put paid to his Belmont hopes and he was rested while the team re-thought his career plan.
Real Heart
Back in action at Wolverhampton in September, Gitano Hernando chalked up a very nice 2 length victory in the hands of Kieren Fallon and then it was off to America.
Kieren Fallon crossed the Atlantic to partner the colt in the Gr1 Goodwood Stakes on the synthetic track at Santa Anita in October.
He started an 18/1 longshot and far from having things easy, Gitano Hernando showed real heart in besting five multiple Gr1 winners, including Colonel John and Richard’s Kid, with Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird finishing down the field in 6th place.
Kieren Fallon was prompted to comment “I have never been on a horse that did what this one did today. He was plenty tired at the eighth pole, but he swelled up, dug in and he simply would not let that other horse get by him. He is a better horse than Dylan Thomas.” High praise indeed from the charismatic jockey. The colt then returned to England for the winter where Marco Botti worked to prepare him for the Dubai World Cup.
In February 2010, Gitano Hernando appeared in the Listed Winter Derby, over a mile and a quarter on Lingfield’s polytrack. The colt announced his World Cup credentials in no uncertain terms, romping home by 4 ½ lengths and sparking talks as the possible favorite for the $6-million desert fixture in March.
Unfortunately World Cup glory was not meant to be – traffic and a rather puzzling ride from Kieren Fallon resulted in a 6th place finish behind Gloria De Campeao.
Back in England and a decent rest under his belt, Gitano Hernando reappeared at Ireland’s Gr3 Diamond Stakes on the Dundalk all weather in October, making short work of his 6 rivals.
His trainer was so impressed with effort that he sent him out again 2 weeks later, this time over turf in the Gr1 Champion Stakes at Newmarket. The colt put in a creditable run, finishing 3 ¼ lengths 4th to Twice Over.
Back in the UAE, Gitano Hernando had two tapeta prep runs for Team Valor to set him up for the World Cup. Then, in a fairly high profile transaction, Gitano Hernando was purchased by Ramzan Kadyrov in mid-March for a rumoured USD 3 million.
The Dubai World Cup was one of the slowest on record at 2:05 and was a muddling race with the field crawling at the start and then sprinting to the finish.
Under the demanding conditions, Gitano Hernando’s 6th place finish perhaps does not do justice to his valor and the fact that he finished only 2 ¼ lengths behind the winner.
After campaigning bravely and consistently for his new owner, finishing 6th in the 2011 Dubai World Cup and 8th in Ambitious Dragon’s Gr1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong, Gitano Hernando justified his purchase price by winning the $3million Gr1 Singapore Airlines International Cup in Kranji. It was a proud moment for South Africans as the colt had been conditioned by Herman Brown and piloted home by Glyn Schofield and Gitano Hernando paraded round the winner’s enclosure with the South African flag draped across his shoulders.
After one last start in the UAE, Gitano Hernando said goodbye to the racetrack and made his way to South Africa. With our (in)famous import/export protocols, it was an arduous journey and he finally touched down on South African soil in late 2012.
Although not always popular for his political career, the Chechen president has a love for horses and has been a major international horse racing supporter.
He owned the talented and versatile Bankable (who earned over USD 2mil in prize money in his career) and Mourilyan, who wrote South African history when Herman Brown campaigned him in the AUS $6 million Gr1 Melbourne Cup where he finished 3rd.
Breeding ambitions
When Bankable retired to stud, President Kadyrov chose Summerhill to stand his favourite horse and purchased 25 mares to support him in his first season. Unfortunately Bankable only stood for one season, dying suddenly of colic on Friday, 13 January 2012, leaving the President with a 25 strong broodmare band and no stallion, so it seemed logical for Gitano Hernando to follow Bankable’s footsteps to South Africa.
With his strong connections to the Jacobs family, it seemed fitting for the gypsy to find himself at Maine Chance Farms. He arrived rather quietly and got on with his new job with minimal fuss, covering the band of mares he inherited from Bankable as well as being enthu-siastically received by the local breeders canny enough to learn of the stallion’s arrival in South Africa.
Having proved a tough, consistent performer over multiple surfaces, countries and continents with a groaning Gr1 trophy cabinet to match, Bruss laughs at his stud fee of R15k and jokes “he’s standing for a ham sandwich!”
Dispersal
The loss of Bankable has proved terribly painful for President Kadyrov, who decided he would prefer to focus on his racing interests and enlisted the help of Bruss to assist with dispersing his South African breeding interests. For a chance to view Gitano Hernando, make sure you get down to the Cape Breeders Club annual stallion evening and auction at Highlands on Wednesday, 22 May 2013.
The imposing chestnut stallion is beautifully made in the classic English mould, he has a beautiful temperament and his CV speaks for itself, but he is well worth seeing in the flesh. The Cape Breeders Club evening is always an event, so get your RSVP’s in fast – it all kicks off at 5pm sharp.
The stallion evening and auction will be followed by the Cape Mare and Weanling Sale, scheduled for Thursday, 23 May at Kleinplasie in Worcester. The Cape sale kicks off at 10am and includes the sale of Thunder Dance to dissolve the partnership of Klawervlei and Ian Longmore. The Novisara dispersal is scheduled to commence directly afterwards at 3:30pm.
The Novisara consignment are currently housed (and are available for viewing) at Veronica Foulkes’ Normandy Stud and the entire consignment are being sold without reserve.
Bruss confirms that the Bankable weanlings are strong and attractive and that the Novisara mares (all currently in foal to Gitano Hernando and being sold with a free service for 2013) contain a spread of well-performed and well-related mares as well as daughters of Gr1 mares.
The consignment offers a mix of speed and stamina and there is something to suit every taste but the 2YO champion speedball filly Madrisa should prove of particular interest.
