British venture opening up new avenues for top South African breeder Gaynor Rupert
Tom Peacock speaks to the owner of Drakenstein Stud about her latest stallion recruits
It is a great deal easier to bring a horse into South Africa than to take it out, as the country’s top breeders have been made painfully aware for the last decade.
While the laborious quarantine protocols to prevent the spread of African Horse Sickness robbed Gaynor Rupert of the opportunity for her champion Charles Dickens to compete abroad, her quiet expansion of bloodstock interests overseas is still providing international opportunities.
Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud, in the winelands east of Cape Town, welcomes not only Charles Dickens to its 2024 roster but the country’s very first Frankel. Sharp Frank is one of the graduates of the family’s Cayton Park Stud offshoot, a farm in Berkshire acquired from the late Khalid Abdullah a few years ago which also has a potential Classic prospect this year in the Futurity Trophy third God’s Window.
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- 'There's lots of money out there, we just have to get it here' - meet the new sales director up for the challenge in a competitive world
- Former Premier League player Ben Turner has more goals in store with star mare Marsh Wren and his syndicate
- 'When he gets them in foal, he's capable of getting very good ones' - how Darley and breeders are making the most of Farhh
- 'I like looking at stats and they definitely figure in my mating plans' - Hanshen Tham on his recent run of success
- 'It's been quite organic because I'd been part of a high quality stable' - presenter Lizzie Jelfs talks bloodstock