Sarah Whitelaw
Gelykfontein Stud has long been part of the fabric of the South African thoroughbred industry.
In 1934, JC Van Der Walt (whose son Schalk currently manages the farm) began breeding thoroughbreds.
Gelykfontein sold their first yearlings at Newmarket, with one yearling being leased and the other fetching 150 guineas. Schalk, who was born in 1948, took over the farm following his father’s death.
Since that time, Gelykfontein has produced its share of high-class performers. The farm has produced winners of the Metropolitan, Guineas, Merchants, to name a few.
The farm was named Gelykfontein as the homestead stretches on land which is flat and level, with Gelykfontein taking its name from the Afrikaans word gelyk. (In Afrikaans, the word gelyk translates to equal, level, even, or alike in English, depending on the context).
Currently, Gelykfontein stands the blue blooded Wild Coast, winner of the 2020 G2 World Sports Betting Guineas over a field which included Golden Ducat, Sachdev, and Frosted Gold.
By late champion sire Trippi and out of dual Equus Champion Beach Beautty, Wild Coast is a full-brother to G2 Western Cape Fillies Championship winner Amanzimtoti and half-brother to the remarkable Beach Bomb (by Lancaster Bomber). The latter won both the 2023 G1 World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas and 2024 G1 Cartier Paddock Stakes before going on to enjoy plenty of success in North America.
Wild Coast’s remarkable dam Beach Beauty, Broodmare Of The Year in 2023-2024, has produced six black type horses thus far.
In 2022, G1 King’s Bishop Stakes winner Visionaire joined the Gelykfontein stallion band, while champion sprinter Rebel King was another stallion to call the farm home in recent years.
The farm’s success, however, has not been restricted to thoroughbreds. Schalk Van Der Walt made history when he became the first farmer in the Karoo to breed Nguni cattle.Schalk believes that the smaller the animal are, but with good constitution, the better they cope on the Karoo veld.
Gelykfontein continues to offer high-class drafts at sales rings around South Africa. A fine example of this is the Kommetdieding filly out of Limpopo River, who sold to Sean Tarry Racing for R425 000 at the 2026 National Yearling Sale.
Schalk described the well bred filly (she hails from the same female line as Epsom classic winners Lammtarra, Snow Bride and Pour Moi) as a “very classy, racy filly who was very correct and deep bodied.”
Schalk has described the racing industry as a passion he was born with and clearly this passion shows no sign of abating.
