There seems to be no stopping the juggernaut that is Vercingetorix. The Maine Chance stallion registered yet another stakes treble over the past weekend as he continues his utter domination of the 2024/25 racing season.
Erasmus Thoroughbreds bred Vercingetorix’ IOS Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes winner Gladatorian out of the Dynasty mare, Harvard Crimson (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Hot on the heels of the previous week’s spectacular stakes quartet comprising Mia Moo (Gr2 Camellia Stakes), Quickstepgal (Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes), Elegantrix (Gr3 Godolphin Barb Stakes) and O’Tenikwa (Listed In Full Flight Handicap), the Maine Chance powerhouse enjoyed yet another 48 hours of relentless black type success.
On Saturday, the KZN winter season kicked off on a high at Hollywoodbets Greyville, where the locals drew first blood in the Gr2 Independent on Saturday Drill Hall Stakes, victory going to Stuart Ferrie’s Vercingetorix son Gladatorian, who just held off Michael Roberts’ See It Again by a head.
Drakenstein Stud bred Vercingetorix’ WSB Gr2 Guineas winner Sail The Seas out of the Philanthropist mare, Sail (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
While Vercingetorix three-year-old Spumante Dolce had to settle for second in the Gr2 WSB Fillies Guineas on her first appearance at the city track, paternal half-brother Sail The Seas righted the ship by claiming the notable scalp of WSB Gr1 Cape Met winner Eight On Eighteen in the Gr2 WSB Guineas. It was sweet revenge, as he turned the tables on his stable companion, who had beaten him in the SplashOut Gr1 Cape Derby.
Twenty-four hours later, the Vercingetorix treble was rounded out at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth when three-year-old Garrix justified favouritism with his defeat of older rivals in the Gr3 Legal Eagle Stakes.
Needless to say, this extended purple patch further cemented Vercingetorix’s position at the top of the national Sires log, where he tops virtually every category.
Jagessar bred Vercingetorix’ Gr3 Legal Eagle Stakes winner Garrix out of the US-bred Smart Strike mare, Makiwara (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
He currently enjoys what looks to be an insurmountable lead of more than R7-million over second-placed reigning champion Gimmethegreenlight and he leads the way by number of winners on 117, while none of his rivals have been able to match his strike rate of 53,2% winners to runners.
More impressively, the son of Silvano is fast rewriting the record book as far as seasonal black type winners is concerned. His current tally of 20 individual stakes winners sets a new benchmark and is way superior to the dozen of Gimmethegreenlight, who held the previous modern-time record of 13.
He also is the leading sire of three-year-olds, no surprise, given that he boasts eight sophomore stakes winners compared to three each by One World and Lancaster Bomber, who fill the next two places on the log.
It is scary to think that there are still three months to go before the end of the current racing season, by which stage he may well have raised the bar even higher!
Maine Chance boss Dr Andreas Jacobs – ‘we are blessed in SA to have him’ (Pic – Hamish Niven Photography)
In the meantime, Vercingetorix is churning out the winners at a rate of knots, as not a race meeting goes by where one or more of his progeny features amongst the winners.
As befits a top five stallion, Vercingetorix has had access to top broodmares, consequently, he will not suffer from a lack of firepower for the remainder of the racing season.
Maine Chance owner Dr Andreas Jacobs is clearly in awe of his prized stallion standout and remarked: “Silvano was a dream and now Vercingetorix, what can I say. We are blessed in South Africa to have him.”
Vercingetorix looks virtually assured of a first champion stallion’s title, well deserved, given that he has been runner-up twice over the past three years.
It constitutes another piece of history, as he will follow in the footsteps of his own revered sire who garnered the coveted title no less than five times.
That feat has only been achieved once in modern times, when Captain Al landed the 2014 title, thereby emulating his sire Al Mufti, who was the country’s champion sire in 1999.
