Jacobs, in-depth about Maine Chance’s best
Dr Andreas Jacobs of Maine Chance Farms shared his thoughts on his acclaimed Robertson farm’s draft consigned to the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, powered by Tattersalls, at the CTICC this Thursday. He laid claim on the depth of quality in their female lines.
Jacobs suggested that Lot 107, Valley Ofthe Kings, is one of the jewels in Maine Chance’s crown for this auction and explained: “He is a Gimmethegreenlight colt out of a Listed winning Captain Al mare, Victoria Lavelle – I don’t need to explain the potency of Captain Al as a broodmare sire, and this colt has Western Winter below that as sire of the grandam. And what a beautiful name, Valley Of the Kings. If you go down further, his fourth dam is by Surumo, who is to Germany what Northern Dancer was to the United States. He is a well-bred, early born, well developed type, well-muscled with a dark bay colour. He has a fantastic walk. What is interesting, and not on the page, is that his seventh dam, Crape Band, was bought by my grandfather. We bred with her and she produced Caracol the first G1 winner for our family in 1972. He was a very tough horse who won two G1s in one week and later became a stallion. (Watch Andreas Jacobs interview about Lot 107, here).
“Lot 119 is a colt by super stallion Vercingetorix called Boundless. He is out of a Dynasty mare and as we know Dynasty is a quality broodmare sire. If you look down the page, this family has produced a lot of winners, has a high ratio of winners to foals. His three–quarter sister Bella Siccome (Silvano) just recently won the Listed Christmas Handicap and she now has five wins to her name. This yearling is not too tall, he is well framed and stands over ground. Very correct, walks well, has everything that makes him a very attractive prospect at this sale.
“Lot 89 is a wonderful colt by Lancaster Bomber. He is bred over Oratorio/Silvano which makes him 3×4 Danzig, but if you remember what John Magnier always said, ‘you can’t get enough of Danzig!’ so this is wonderful, especially over Silvano and his sire, Lomitas. They work fantastically well with Danzig sire Iines, like Daydream, the former Arc winner. The horse itself is well-balanced, looks very athletic and comes from the oldest and the best family of Maine Chance Farms, the Scented Royal family including Janoobi, Phillipa Johnson, Franny, Sweet Sanette and others. He looks like a true racehorse.
“Lot 78 is a filly called Praiseworthy, by Vercingetorix out of a Trippi mare, a mating that can result in legs that are not perfect. She doesn’t have perfect legs but as we know with progeny of Vercingetorix and Trippi, this happens and they run fast, regardless. Her full-sister Phedra is a six-time winner. This is another good old Maine Chance family, I actually bought her third dam Paraguya in Argentina, at about the same time I bought Maine Chance. This filly is closely related to Paraca, Punta Arenas and Pomp and Power. She looks very racy and I believe she will come early. A nice buy for breeders as there is not much of this family in South Africa. I am keen on her.
“Lot 96 is a colt by Erupt, a pretty head like his dad, and he has an interesting pedigree. Being Dubawi (Erupt) over Silvano/Galileo he would have been a £1-million yearling in Europe, the breeding is all there and with the fantastic start of Erupt, especially with two-year-olds, like last weekend at Kenilworth. I am keen to see this horse get to the track. He is a November foal, still growing, his walk is okay, but we all know the Dubawi’s don’t walk too well, Erupt is a better version of him, they walk better but not perfect. His X-rays are perfect, all is good with him, his dam has a black-type winning sister so this shows the family has quality. He’s wide in front, going to grow into a beautiful horse.”
“Lot 34 is Gregarious, a nicely bred filly by Vercingetorix out of a Horse Chestnut mare, and Horse Chestnut is a wonderful broodmare sire. If you go further back you will find Al Mufti, no need to explain value of that over Silvano/Vercingetorix. Her dam is a sister to Gothic (by Silvano), a Listed winner and G1 Derby-placed, so we have the same Silvano-Horse Chestnut cross. The breeder and former owner of the mare is Judy Brannigan, who is a very smart breeder in her own right. You are in safe hands when you consider this yearling!”
