Heversham farm takes a leaf out of Gary Player’s book

Racing Reporter

One of the quotes from golf legend Gary Player looks relevant as Heversham Park Farm — situated in the south of Gauteng — bids to make the stud a serious player as a stallion station and broodmare facility.                      

Player said: “Simply by making the effort to start something, you will be miles ahead of almost everyone else.”

Run by advocate Nigel Riley and his wife Katerina, Heversham is in Daleside Valley near Walkerville in Gauteng and recently hit the racing headlines when revealing they will be standing one of the best performing horses in the country, Capetown Noir.

In an illustrious career, Capetown Noir won three grade 1 races with victories in the Cape Guineas, Cape Derby and Queen’s Plate. Interestingly, one of the horses he beat in the King’s Plate was Jackson, who also stands at Heversham.

When Capetown Noir, a son of Western Winter, joined Mick Goss’s Summerhill Stud in 2014, the many-times champion breeder said: “This is the best racehorse to set foot on the property since National Emblem.”

Speaking to Sporting Post last week about the horse’s new home, Goss said: “Nobody will tell you it’s easy to get a stallion ‘back on the map’, as it were, but if Capetown Noir gets mares of decent quality and substance, I don’t see any reason why he can’t sire more top-level winners.”

Katerina Riley commented: “We are excited to give Capetown Noir a fresh start to his career. He’s a loving and intelligent type and he is making friends on the farm.” His stud fee is R5,000 (live foal).

One of Capetown Noir’s daughters, Capetown Beauty, a four-time winner, made a bold bid for another victory when collared close to home in the fifth race — the KZN Breeders 1900 — at Greyville on Sunday.

The four-year-old, trained by Wayne Badenhorst and ridden by Derryl Daniels, was bred at Clifton Stud and has proved a money-spinner for her owners. Her second place on Sunday netted R27,000.

The winner of the race, Pirate Prince, was chalking up his third win for trainer Alyson Wright.

Probably the most popular winner at the meeting was MK’s Pride, who captured the R600,000 KZN Breeders Mile for trainer Robbie Sage and owner Koos Nkale. This was the five-year-old’s 10th win and took his earnings to over R2.6m. The Rileys went shopping at last Friday’s Cape Winter Sale and acquired eight mares and two weanlings for R120,000.

“We came more or less exactly what we came for, including a mare by Trippi and Jet Master. We are very excited as we’ve been planning to boost our broodmare band for Capetown Noir and our other two stallions, Jackson and Moofeed.”

The Cape Winter Sale reached an aggregate of R12.47m with Jonathan Snaith forking out R1.31m on four lots. He bid R900,000 for Louvre, the dam of Durban July long shot Trip To Fortune. She was sold by Drakenstein Stud to Philaris Ltd.

Snaith was also the successful bidder for Blue Ribbon, a colt by The United States, for R500,000 and a Gimmethegreenlight colt out of Sabina Park for R450,000.

Commenting on the sale, Snaith said: “This sale showed a resurgence in the buyers bench. I saw old faces coming from the woodwork. It was encouraging and I believe the interest was revived as a result of Cape Racing’s latest incentives.”

VAAL SELECTIONS

1st Race: (1) Callmewhenuneedme (4) Francine (5) Gocekwithlove (10) Work Of Time

2nd Race: (3) Captain Wara (4) George Handel (1) Just Be Lekker (7) Policy Of Truth

3rd Race: (9) King Rahul (1) Magic Prince (10) Super Awesome (12) Tyson The Brave

4th Race: (9) Holocene (10) Mutarazi (2) Broadway (1) Uncle Lucky

5th Race: (7) Canford Rose (9) Lets Go Now (10) Micke Bomb (12) Villa Semaye

6th Race: (8) Silver Clock (4) On Cue (7) Samoa (3) Alabama Anna

7th Race: (5) I Am Giant (1) Assenkehr (8) Captain Dizzy (6) Goliath Heron

8th Race: (4) Pontiac (3) Captain Hindsight (8) Stormy Seas (2) Twice The Storm

9th Race: (1) Nothingelsematters (5) We Are The Logans (3) William Iron Arm (2) Gregor Macgregor