Nureyev was bred by Seth Hancock at Claiborne Farm. Like his father and grandfather before him, Hancock had an impressive stallion roster of his own to choose from at a time when his barns were decorated by the likes of Mr. Prospector, Nijinsky, Secretariat, Round Table, the former South African champion Hawaii and Forli, but also like his ancestors, he acknowledged a good horse on another farm’s roster. Nureyev’s mother, Special, who was bred to Northern Dancer in 1976

Capetown Noir... byword for precocity, class and desirability everywhere else.

For the time being, the KZN Racing Awards for 2016 were concluded on Friday evening with a spritely affair from Gold Circle in the cavernous Ilanga room at one of Durban and Solly Kerzner’s oldest landmarks, the Elangeni.

Summerhill Stud CEO Mick Goss presents the farm's stallions standing for the 2016/17 breeding season.

With the word “plagiarism “very much in vogue in American politics at the moment, let me start with an acknowledgment: the article you are reading is the work of our old friend, Andrew Caulfied, one of the foremost authorities on bloodstock and pedigree analysis, and a regular contributor to the world’s most widely-read e-daily, the Thoroughbred Daily News.

Capetown Noir’s first four sires were all national champions. He ran like he knew it. His pedigree carries three strains of Northern Dancer. The scenario is typical of Sadler’s Wells, Nureyev and Lyphard.

The day after South Africa's most prestigious race, the Group 1 Vodacom Durban July, was captured by Australian-bred The Conglomerate at Greyviille Racecourse on July 2, racing journalists from nine countries joined breeders and racetrack officials to raise a toast at Summerhill Stud in Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal.

The old adage “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”, has never been truer. Breeding racehorses is as competitive now as it’s ever been, which means that to play a winning hand, you need to hold the aces. All of them.

Our prime focus this weekend will be the Ready To Run Cup of course, where 13 of the finalists going to post were graduates of our entry at the same sale in October a year ago.

One can see why Mick speaks so passionately about his farm when you wake up to the view of the Giant's Castle. If that and a Hartford breakfast aren't enough to chase you out of bed, then the prospect of the 2015 Stallion Day, and the 5th annual Winter Workshop was sure to do the trick.

Mick Goss, of South Africa's Summerhill Stud in KwaZulu-Natal, fizzes with an energy that finds time for interrogation by a trio of journalists from the UK, USA and New Zealand before leaping in his car, racing to the farm and donning his master of ceremonies' hat.