Following his spectacular breakthrough into the elite stallion ranks, one can safely say that Vercingetorix is fast filling the void left by his recently-deceased sire Silvano.
At the end of a stellar 2020-21 racing season, the Maine Chance resident found himself in fourth place on the General Sires List, a fine feat considering he had just three crops on the track!
Moreover, a punchy 53,9 percent of his runners found the winner’s enclosure, a figure which placed him at the very top of the stallion ranks.
Majestic Vercingetorix (Silvano (Ger) x National Vixen)
(Pic- Jeremy Nelson)
He also finished the season as the third-leading juvenile sire with 19 juvenile winners headed by Gr1 Gold Medallion winner Ambiorix.
Remarkably, Vercingetorix stamped his authority on that Hollywoodbets Scottsville dash as the sire of both the winner and third-placed Gallic Chief. Other prominent juvenile winners included Gr3 Langerman winner Pomp And Power and Honokalani, who ran second in the Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes.
Vercingetorix counted seven individual stakes winners amongst a total of 17 black type performers and to illustrate his versatility as a stallion, his progeny excelled at both ends of the racing spectrum.
While Ambiorix became his sire’s latest Gr1 winner at the iconic Hollywoodbets Scottsville meeting, daughters Vernichey and Gallic Princess finished second and third in the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint.
Globetrotting 4yo son Celtic Voyager displayed a fine turn of foot when he blazed to a first stakes success in the Listed Umngeni Handicap over the minimum trip.
Nebraas wins the Marshalls World Of Sport Gold Cup (Pic -Candiese Lenferna)
On the opposite side of the stamina scale, Al Adiyaat’s Nebraas ended the season with a fine Gr3 double in the Gold Vase and Gold Cup, a feat which earned him the Equus Award of Champion Stayer.
However, he is probably the exception to the rule, as the majority of Vercingetorix’s progeny show their best form up to a mile, a prime example being three-year-old Seeking The Stars. A frontrunner of note, he proved lethal in both the Gr3 Byerley Turk and Cape Classic over 1400m, yet despite being out of a Winter Oaks winner, he ran out of puff in the Gr2 World Sports Betting Guineas.
Stable companion Rascallion also proved a fine advert for his young sire. Successful up to a mile, he has yet to join the ranks of stakes winners but was runner-up in both the Gr1 Cape Derby and Daily News 2000, and as he is out of a Jet Master mare, will no doubt reach his full powers as a four-year-old. For the pedigree pundits, those bred on the Vercingetorix x Jet Master cross also include the earlier Gr2/3 winner African Warrior, as well as Gr1 Daily News 2000 runner-up Padre Pio. Furthermore, Silvano’s champion son Hawwaam and the Gr1 winners Silvano’s Pride and Kilindini are also out of Jet Master mares.
Vercingetorix’ son Ambiorix wins the Gr1 Gold Medallion
(Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
Vercingetorix sired Gr2 winner Ikigai from a mare by Al Mufti and that cross was also responsible for the stakes winners Mount Anderson and Seehaam. The former claimed the Listed Christmas Handicap, while Seehaam, a three-part sister in blood to Silvano’s Gr1 SA Derby winner Al Sahem, displayed her ability with a powerful win in the Jacaranda Handicap where she put all of five lengths between herself and her field.
Denied victory in the final stride of the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes, juvenile Party Time likewise is out of a daughter of the former Ascot champion. Interestingly, Al Mufti’s champion stallion son Captain Al is the damsire of Vercingetorix’s Gr1 winning daughter Vernichey, while Astrix was runner-up in the Gr3 race named for his short-lived damsire Victory Moon, also a son of Al Mufti.
Vercingetorix has been immensely popular since his retirement and has enjoyed continued support from breeders, to the extent that the demand for his services has far outstripped the number available.
Success has also brought with it a steady increase in his service fee and while he was still available at R35 000 in 2019, that increased to R50 000 in 2020 and this season, he will stand for R80 000.
Even at that price, he is guaranteed to cover another high-class book of mares and whilst those already include the Gr1 winners Bilateral, Imperious Star, Pine Princess, Sommerlied and Viva Maria, the most prized name amongst the list is that of three-time Broodmare of the Year Halfway To Heaven, the dam of his paternal half-brother Hawwaam and of course, the newly-crowned Horse of the Year Rainbow Bridge.
Vercingetorix’ five lots at last week’s sale went for an aggregate R1 420 000, an average of R284 000.
His three colts outstripped the two fillies in terms of price. Topseller was #299, the Millstream Farm colt out of the Thunder Gulch mare, Delta Lioness, who was purchased by Warne Rippon for R725 000.
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