Redoute’s Choice’s champion son Rafeef is due to arrive at his new Western Cape home base at Highlands, Part Of Ridgemont, on Tuesday, to commence the next phase of his star-studded career.
Rafeef in the famous blue and white – champion racer
Labelled by racing fans as ‘The Thunder From Down Under’, Rafeef is a champion by a champion out of a champion. The handsome athlete is the newest addition to one of South Africa’s most powerful stallion rosters and has fired the imagination of local breeders.
Sheikh Hamdan has retained the majority share in Rafeef through his local breeding arm, Shadwell South Africa, with the balance of the shares held by Highlands and four other leading breeding establishments. The Gr1 winner’s placement at the iconic Highlands Stud is a further demonstration of Sheikh Hamdan’s commitment to and support of the South African racing and breeding industry.
The multiple award winning Rafeef will cover a limited book of mares in his first season, and stallion manager Jehan Malherbe of Form Bloodstock confirmed this week that there were still services available at R50 000 a live foal.
Rafeef letting down at his De Kock home base in June
The lightly raced son of sire-of-sires Redoute’s Choice won 6 of his 10 starts (achieving a rating of 116) from 1000m to 1400m in the care of Mike de Kock. He grabbed the limelight at the recent Highveld Feature Awards, where he swept the boards, being crowned Horse Of The Season, and also acknowledged as Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Horse.
Rafeef is out of the former SA Horse Of The Year National Colour, who won 8 races from 1000m to1200m in SA, UAE & UK.
Redoute’s Choice’s Gr1 winner roll has surpassed every other active sire in Australia, and is behind only Galileo and Giant’s Causeway among the world’s current leading stallions.
The breeding season opens on 1 September and with spring in the air, Rafeef would have settled into the magnificent surroundings of his new home by then.
Enquiries: Mike Sharkey – +27 82 372 2682 or Jehan Malherbe – +27 83 252 8146
