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Classic Flag wins the Durban July in 1998. (Picture: Gold Circle)
Peter and Jenny Blyth of Clifton Stud will be hoping Flag Man becomes the farm’s second Hollywoodbets Durban July winner and the name of the horse could be an omen for the superstitious, because their first July winner was called Classic Flag.
Flying The Flag gelding Flag Man burst in to the July picture when second to Green With Envy in the Daily News 2000 and by an amazing quirk of fate the dams of both horses used to be paddock companions, for at least three years, at Clifton Stud.
Peter explained that Lady Christine Laidlaw, who owns and bred Green With Envy, had about five broodmares she boarded in KZN, whom she was putting to her own stallion Capetown Noir, who was standing in KZN.
These mares included the dam of Green With Envy, Miss Coco, who is an Irish-bred by Galileo, and the dam of Flag Man, Irresistable Chris, who is a Brazilian-bred by Mark Of Esteem.
Both mares boarded at Clifton Stud.
When Lady Laidlaw later withdrew her operation from KZN she decided to sell all of the aformentioned mares except for one, Miss Coco. Ske kept her because she was so well bred and it turned out to be an intuitive decision because she has gone on to produce the now twice Gr 1 winner and current Hollywoodbets Durban July favourite, Green With Envy.
Peter was interested in one of the mares and bought Irresistable Chris from Lady Laidlaw.
He thus also inherited two of Irresistable Chris’s Capetown Noir foals, Admire Me and Capetown Beauty. She had the former at foot and was in foal with the latter.
Admire Me and Capetown Beauty are now not only both four-time winners but they also both won three-in-a-row. The former Gavin van Zyl-trained Admire Me reached a merit rating off 99, while Capetown Beauty reached a merit rating of 101 when trained by Wayne Badenhorst. Capetown Beauty is presently trained by Garth Puller and will have a couple more runs before returning to Clifton Stud as a broodmare.
Flag Man has followed in his half-sisters footsteps by also winning three-in-a-row, although he has since outstripped them with his superb Daily News 2000 performance, which saw his merit rating soaring to 126.
Peter explained the reason for sending Irresistable Chris to Flying Flag, “At that stage we in KZN thought we had a bomb of a stallion – here is a horse who is by Galileo and is a full-brother to Rhododendron, who is now the dam of Auguste Rodin, and Flying The Flag was also a full-brother to Magical! He didn’t fire, but wouldn’t it be a joke if Flag Man wins the July and everybody will be saying ‘why aren’t we using this Flying The Flag?!’”
So, Green With Envy and Flag Man not only have a common link to Clifton Stud, but both also have Galileo close up in their pedigrees.
Tragically, Irresistable Chris had a birth complication with her last foal and this ultimately led to both her and the foal  passing away despite all efforts to save them.
However, the benefit of Flag Man’s success will still be reaped by Clifton Stud to some extent, not only through Admire Me and Capetown Beauty, but also through a Canford Cliffs colt who will be at the BSA KZN Yearling Sale on July 4. Canford Cliffs is on a phenomenal run at present and that should also help.
Peter has been in the thoroughbred breeding game his whole life and the farm he was originally on in Mpumalanga, near Lothair close to the border of Swaziland, had been in his family for nearly 100 years when he was forced to move due to it looking likely to be absorbed by a government concern.
He and Jenny then moved to the KZN Midlands in 2008.
Peter’s father Tim started breeding thoroughbreds in 1945 and was not a commercial breeder. He leased most of the horses he bred and was closely associated with Felix Coetzee’s family, including the latter’s father Hennie, who later became a Summerveld trainer. However, Tim’s chief trainer was Hennie’s brother Loekie, who trained in Johannesburg.
Tim and Loekie had many winners together and the former’s  black and white quartered silks with red sleeves and a cap are still used by Clifton Stud today.
Tim also had his professional training license for a bit, but he  chiefly trained horses himself for bush racing. In 1950 he won the Mbabane Gymkhana Club trophy over eight furlongs for the third time, on that occasion with a horse called Black Banjo. He was thus awarded the floating trophy permanently and it is proudly displayed in the Blyth household today.
Peter began breeding commercially in about 1984, which was the first year he sent horses to the sales.
Classic Flag was a 1994-born son of Clifton’s resident stallion Allied Flag, who was by Danzig and came from one of the best families of the major Kentucky USA breeding farm, Lanes End.
Classic Flag gave trainer David Ferraris a second successive July victory in 1998 and Anthony Delpech a first. He was also named Horse Of The Year.
Peter misses his old farm near Lothair a lot and spoke of the magnificent stable blocks his father built out of sandstone.
However, right now the Blyths are dreaming of more July glory. Can Flag Man join Classic Flag as a kingpin in the farm’s long and illustrious history?