It's that time of the year when big bucks are spent in getting horses to mate. Picture: iStock
Thoroughbred horses don’t get to choose partners for the annual big romantic day out – their human owners do the matchmaking. This might seem a bit sad, cruel even, but vast amounts of money and centuries of curated equine blood are at stake and such decisions cannot be left to the whims of a couple of lovelorn nags.
This is the time of year when the owners of broodmares are doing intensive research into suitable coverings. For those not familiar with the term, it means matings, and getting the right match for your mare is truly a sliding-doors moment.
The covering season runs from 1 September to 31 December.
The price of stallion coverings range from R250,000, for reigning champion sire Gimmethegreenlight, down to free for little known stallions in need of some reputation enhancement.
Actually, even if mare owners can whistle up a quarter-mill, they’re too late for the service of Gimmethegreenlight as he has a “Book Full” sign hanging on his stable door at Varsfontein Stud in Western Cape.
There still appears to be availability for former champ Vercingetorix, down the road at Maine Chance Farms. His fee is only R220,000.
How does one calculate if this price for a brief carnal interlude is a good investment?
Well, Gimmethegreenlight’s average earnings per runner (AEPR) over the 2022/23 season were R102,086 – so it might be a risk worth taking if the offspring perform above average or have several average seasons on the track. Vercingetorix’s AEPR were R91,815, so the third-placed sire on the championship log he might be a bigger gamble.
Runner-up in the champion stallion race was speed horse What A Winter at Drakenstein Stud. His AEPR were R87,131. Yet his coverings cost a mere R70,000.
Stallion numbers in South Africa have fallen dramatically in recent years, so there is less choice than in days gone by. But picking the right mating is still a daunting prospect. When experts start talking about genes, nicks, kinbreds, dosage index and distaff lines, amateur owners can feel a bit dof.
Luckily there’s plenty of help at hand. Raceform’s annual breeding handbook is a mine of information about the local breeding scene, while computer programs such as the famous Tesiopower will point you in the right direction in terms of “affinity”.
If you’re not shopping in the rarified atmosphere of the sires mentioned above, there are appealing-looking deals to be had.
Durban July-Cape Met hero Kommetdieding is a newcomer to the breeding shed, but is sure to prove popular at R20,000 a pop – the same fee as his dad Elusive Fort. Kommetdieding’s great racecourse rival Jet Dark is also gearing up for his new career, but will cost you R30,000.
If you’re looking for some intriguing new blood, Mauritzfontein’s striking grey Danon Platina, a regally bred import from Japan, might be the ticket at R30,000.
In the bargain bin is a stallion called Summa Cum Laude, a five-year-old who never raced due to injury.
He is by champion sire Vercingetorix, who is by champion sire Silvano, who was by German champion sire Lomitas. Summa’s mum is First Arrival, a champion race filly and noted dam of Grade 1 winners, who is by the mighty Northern Guest – one of the very few sons of legendary Northern Dancer to come to South Africa.
You can have that blood at Hadlow Stud in Mooi River for just R5,000.
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