'He was a gentleman' - champion Jet Dark retired to stand at Drakenstein Stud

Jet Dark: five-time Group 1 winner will stand at Drakenstein StudCredit: Drakenstein Stud

The Drakenstein Stud-bred South African champion Jet Dark has been retired from racing and will return home to the Stellenbosch operation for the upcoming breeding season. 

By Drakenstein's stalwart champion sire Trippi, Jet Dark won nine of his 19 starts for champion trainer Justin Snaith, with Group-race wins at two, three, four and five, including the 2021 and 2022 Queen’s Plate and Champions Cup and the WSB Cape Met last month. He was also highly versatile as a winner from five to ten furlongs, while he was runner-up in the Durban July over 11 furlongs. 

Jet Dark collected an enviable number of titles during his racing career, including the 2020-21 Equus Champion three-year-old colt, 2020-21 and 2021-22 Equus Champion Miler, 2021-22 Equus Champion Older Male and 2021-22 Equus Champion Middle Distance Horse.

He is out of the winning Jet Master mare Night Jet, a half-sister to South African Listed winners Night Trip and Brown Penny. The trio are in turn out of a winning half-sister to French Listed scorer Pouvoir Absolu and from the family of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Peintre Celebre. 

Snaith, who helped select Jet Dark as a yearling, said: "Jet Dark was an incredibly easy horse to train. He was a gentleman with the most kind temperament which allowed me to get the best out of him while retiring him completely sound. 

"I will be sad to see him go as I believe he had a few Group 1s left in the tank, but I cannot wait to buy his yearlings!”

The five-year-old has been introduced at an opening fee of R30,000 (approximately £1,375/€1,545). 

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