One Stripe was the top lot at last year’s Cape Racing Sales Breeze Up & Unbroken 2YO Sale (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Sarah Whitelaw
More than 120 horses have been catalogued for the upcoming Cape Racing Sales Breeze Up & Unbroken 2YO Sale on October 27 at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.
The sale includes the progeny of South Africa’s top stallions including Gimmethegreenlight, Master Of My Fate, One World, Querari, Rafeef, Vercingetorix and What A Winter.
A number of well performed mares are also represented here including graded stakes winners Bilateral, Freedom Charter, Goodtime Gal, Heaps Of Fun, Hollywoodboulevard, Imperious Star, Mighty High, On Her Toes, Pine Princess, Princess Of Light, and Sommerlied.
While it is difficult to pick out a single star of a sale which produced the classy One Stripe last year, below are four potential standouts of the 2024 Breeze Up Sale.
Lot 8: c Vercingetorix -Hollywoodboulevard
Vercingetorix is without doubt one of the top stallions currently standing at stud in South Africa. The erstwhile Equus Champion had another big season in 2023-2024, when Vercingetorix was responsible for 14 black type winners who picked up a total of 18 stakes races in South Africa. Vercingetorix’s numerous flagbearers last season included Oriental Charm and champion Cousin Casey, the first two home in the 2024 G1 Hollywoodbets Durban July, graded stakes winning two-year-olds Cymric and Little Ballerina, multiple graded stakes winner Double Grand Slam, G1 World Sports Betting Cape Town Met runner up Rascallion and G1 Mercury Sprint hero Surjay.
Vercingetorix has already enjoyed plenty of success this season, with his daughter Celtic Rumours landing the G2 Betway Joburg Spring F and M Challenge, and his son Call To Unite victorious in the Listed Settlers Trophy.
High-class galloper Hollywoodboulevard has a Vercingetorix colt on sale and he looks sure to attract plenty of attention. The classy Hollywoodboulevard, who earned more than R1.5 million in stakes, won five times including both the G3 Three Troikas and G3 Fillies Mile. The mare, who downed subsequent July winning Horse Of The Year Igugu when victorious in the 2010 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup, has produced five winners headed by Listed In Full Flight Handicap winner On That Boulevard.
Hollywoodboulevard is a daughter of outstanding stallion Street Cry, sire of such champions as Winx, Zenyatta, Street Sense and Oh Susanna. The late Street Cry, a son of breed shaping stallion Machiavellian, has become an outstanding broodmare sire with his daughters having produced such Breeders’ Cup winners as Rebel’s Romance and Vino Rosso, as well as Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior and G1 Golden Slipper winning sire Farnan to name a few.
Street Cry is also sire of successful South African broodmare Crimson Lane, the dam of six winners, three black type performers, including Listed Syringa Handicap winner Way Of The World.
Lot 10: f Gimmethegreenlight -Imperial Wish
For the past two seasons, Gimmethegreenlight has been South Africa’s Champion Sire, Leading Sire of 2YOs and Leading Sire of 3YOs respectively. Also Champion Sire in 2020-2021, Gimmethegreenlight had a fantastic season in 2023-2024, when his progeny won no fewer than 24 Graded or Listed races.
While Gimmethegreenlight has sired a host of top-class males, such as champions Got The Greenlight, Proceed and Sandringham Summit, he is no stranger to coming up with top-class daughters.
Among his ever growing list of high-class daughters are champions Bless My Stars and Gimme A Nother, G1 winners She’s A Keeper and VJ’s Angel, millionaires Green Plains and Gimme Six and this season’s G3 Baker/McVeigh Diana Stakes winner Gimmie’s Countess.
Gimmethegreenlight had some very promising two-year-old fillies last season namely the aforementioned Gimmie’s Countess and fellow graded stakes winners VJ’s Angel and Just Reckless, as well as Listed Irridescence Stakes queen Kinda Wonderful.
The well bred Silvano mare Imperial Wish has a blue blooded daughter of Gimmethegreenlight on offer. This filly, a half-sister to two winners including Listed Lady’s Slipper Stakes winner Luna Wish, is out of a twice winning full-sister to Listed Oaks Trial winner Inaninstant, herself dam of three winners including the useful Innamorare.
Imperial Wish is also a three-parts sister to the talented Silvano sired trio of Arissa, Arabian Air and Listed Storm Bird Stakes queen American Graffiti, while this is also the family of Silvano’s high-class daughter Crimson Princess.
A half-sister to G1 Golden Horseshoe/G1 Gold Medallion runner up Sovereign Circle, Imperial Wish is out of the stakes placed Northern Guest mare Imperial Guest, a full-sister to the G1 placed dam of globetrotting dual G1 winning filly Crimson Palace.
The filly on offer is bred on the same Gimmethegreenlight/Silvano cross as exported Equus Champion Bless My Stars, as well as the graded stakes winners Barahin, Cosmic Highway, Just Reckless and Let’s Go Now.
Lot 17: c One World -Lady Wylie
Champion One World will be looking for another big result at this year’s sale, with the Drakenstein Stud resident’s high-class son One Stripe the R1 400 000 sales topper of this auction last year. One Stripe went on to prove himself as one of the best of his generation at two, when victorious in both the G3 City Of Cape Town Cape Of Good Hope Nursery and G3 Winter Nursery. A good second on his three-year-old debut, One Stripe has already earned nearly R900 000 in stakes in his five start career.
One Stripe was one of 30 two-year-old winners to have emerged from One World’s first crop, with One World setting a new record for a number of two-year-old winners in a season for a South African first season sire.
Other notable members of One World’s first crop include Lion Rampart and Miss World -the first two home in the Listed Somerset 1200, G1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes third Grand Crescendo, and G3 Langerman runner up All Out For Six.
To date, One World’s first crop has produced 37 winners, with the promise of plenty more to come.
The Equus Champion Older Male of 2019-2020, One World is one of the best sons of Klawervlei Stud’s late champion sire Captain Al. The latter, South Africa’s Leading Sire of 2YOs on eight occasions, sired more than 100 stakes winners, including 25 G1 winners. Captain Al’s 25 top level winners included such champions as Captain’s Ransom, Celtic Sea, Carry On Alice, Captain’s Lover, Captain Of All and Kasimir. His tally of G1 winners also include the like of Captain America, Hill Fifty Four, Pine Princess, Malmoos and Sergeant Hardy. The latter was a real flying machine, with Sergeant Hardy winning eight times up to 1200m and earning more than R1.8 million in stakes. Sergeant Hardy, a stakes winner at two and four, won four black type races including the 2018 G1 Betting World Cape Flying Championship, where Sergeant Hardy accounted for the likes of Trip To Heaven, Live Life, Brutal Force, Attenborough, Bold Respect, and Talktothestars.
Sergeant Hardy’s half-sister Lady Wylie, a granddaughter of legendary Australian sire Redoute’s Choice, has a One World colt on offer at the sale. By a son of Captain Al, this colt, a full-brother to the useful Worldly, is very closely related indeed to the brilliant Sergeant Hardy.
Lot 31: Gallic King c Vercingetorix -Patricia’s Gift
Vercingetorix, poised once again to fight out the standings on the South African General Sires list, has sired some outstanding male runners. From Equus Champions Cousin Casey and Nebraas, to G1 winning sprinters Alesian Chief and Surjay, and 2024 G1 Hollywoodbets Durban July hero Oriental Charm as well as G1 winning two-year-old Ambiorix and G1 Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby victor Pomp And Power, Vercingetorix has more than proved his worth as a sire of high-class colts and geldings. Vercingetorix sons, Oriental Charm and Rascallion went close to providing their sire with a rare double last season when Oriental Charm won the July and Rascallion finished second in the G1 World Sports Betting Cape Town Met.
Blue blooded mare Patricia’s Gift has a Vercingetorix colt, called Gallic King, on sale, and he looks sure to prove popular. Dam of the useful Ideal Gift, Patricia’s Gift, for whom Vercingetorix appears a major sire strike, is a three-parts sister to globetrotting champion J J The Jet Plane as well as to G3 King’s Cup winner Jet Legend (the pair, like Master Of My Fate, were sired by Jet Master). One of the best sprinters ever bred in Africa, triple Equus Champion J J The Jet Plane won 14 races with this tally including six G1 triumphs. Not only did bargain buy J J The Plane win five G1 races in South Africa, he also downed star sprinters Rocket Man and Sacred Kingdom to land the 2010 G1 Hong Kong Sprint. (Further back in running came Ortensia, Kingsgate Native and Little Bridge -all of whom were G1 winners in Britain).
Remarkably, J J The Jet Plane won races in all of Dubai, Britain, Hong Kong and South Africa, with the star gelding’s other overseas successses including two wins in the (now G1) Al Quoz Sprint.
Patricia’s Gift hails from an outstanding female line, with the daughter of Master Of My Fate’s numerous top-class relatives including the likes of Oaks winner Amiable, Kentucky Derby winner Reigh Count, 2000 Guineas winner Martial, and the wonderful Brown Jack.
Lot 83: Top Division c Gimmethegreenlight -Mighty High
By triple South African Champion Sire Gimmethegreenlight, whose sons include such Equus champions as Got The Greenlight, Green With Envy, Proceed, and Sandringham Summit, Top Division is a colt with a hugely appearling female line.
He is out of the top-class galloper Mighty High, a daughter of Pathfork who was one of the best of her generation. Mighty High, a half-sister to 2022 G2 Prosport International Debutante queen Gobsmacked, won her first three starts, including the 2018 G1 Alan Robertson Championship, she accounted for multiple G1 winner, and dual Equus Champion, Celtic Sea, with the likes of Inverroche, Ghaalla and Ronnie’s Candy further back in running.
She would go on to land the 2020 G2 Senor Santa Stakes, beating such graded stakes winning males as Mr Flood, Rebel’s Champ, Warrior’s Rest and Rivarine.
Mighty High is out of Bold Nimph, a daughter of breed shaping sire and outstanding broodmare sire Shamardal. A son of Giant’s Causeway, Shamardal, whose progeny include the likes of Lope De Vega, Tarnawa, Pinatubo, and Blue Point, is damsire of more than 110 stakes winners including such G1 winners as Irish classic winners Awtaad (Irish 2000 Guineas) and Latrobe (Irish Derby), star sprinter and promising sire Hello Youmzain, and 2024 high-class gallopers Goliath (King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes) and Sosie (Grand Prix De Paris).
Bold Nimph, whose own dam Nimphidia is a G3 placed daughter of legendary racehorse and sire Nijinsky II, is a half-sister to two smart South African gallopers in the form of Sky Link (Betting World Somerset 1200) and Bluroute (2nd G3 Starling Stakes) respectively.
Mighty High is directly descended in female line from Pocahontas, the US Broodmare Of The Year of 1965 and dam of successful sires champion Tom Rolfe and Chieftain. Pocahontas’ daughter Lady Rebecca produced the high-class stallion Alzao.
