Champion racehorse is a success in his new line of ‘work’

Endless pampering, idyllic surroundings, daily meal deliveries and unlimited sex.

It doesn't sound like the worst lifestyle in the world, but the young stud who's leading it cannot comment, because he's a horse.

Those who know him well, however, say the secret to What a Winter's success is his laid-back demeanour.

"He wants to fall asleep all the time. That's why he was such a good racehorse. He never wasted his energy on anything he didn't need to," said Ross Fuller, manager of Drakenstein Stud in the Franschhoek Valley.

"As long as he gets his food he doesn't give a damn about anything else."

What a Winter retired from life as a top racehorse at the age of five, and now he is a star performer at stud, with nine of his yearlings under the hammer at next weekend's Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

Since his retirement in 2013, What a Winter has consistently improved on the number of mares he's covered, raking in a R20,000 fee each time.

And Dutch Philip, one of his offspring, which collectively brought in R3-million at two yearling sales early last year, recently won his debut race.

"I've seen his crop and he doesn't seem to have a bad one," said veteran trainer Mike Bass, who worked with What a Winter early in his career.

"How good they'll be they still have to prove, but they all look like they could win a race or three."

What a Winter's exceptional genes have secured him an enviable existence in Drakenstein's lush paddocks on L'Ormarins wine estate, surrounded by towering mountains.

"They are essentially treated like kings," said stud racing manager Kevin Sommerville. "Every horse receives individual treatment in terms of food, exercise and handling."

While stud staff did their best with each stallion, there was an element of luck involved. "There's no guarantee of success. There's about a one in 20 chance of succeeding as a stud," said Sommerville.

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One tool breeders may make use of is the "speed gene test".

"The speed gene is the myostatin gene," said Max Rothschild, professor of agriculture and life sciences at Iowa State University in the US.

"A mutation in this gene is associated with the ability to predict which animals can race better at shorter or longer distances. It also helps to predict if young horses are more likely to race earlier in their careers."

Rothschild cautions that the test is a prediction and not a guarantee of performance.

Genomic testing was high on the agenda at this week's International Thoroughbred Breeders Federation congress in Cape Town but an informal vote signalled scepticism for now.

Rothschild said this may stem from breeders who believe animals with certain genotypes will be less likely to be bought by those who race horses at certain distances.

One of the organisers of the congress, veterinarian Bennie van der Merwe, said: "To say the federation is opposed to it is simply not accurate. It's not useful at this time as more tests are needed."

The Cape Premier Yearling Sale, for which the Cape Town International Convention Centre is turned into a vast airconditioned stable for a week, brings together 237 of the best yearlings from South Africa and abroad.

"It's the flagship sale of the year," said Adrian Todd, MD of Cape Thoroughbred Sales.

"It's been growing over the years both in quality of horses, number of horses and international participation."

Inspectors criss-crossed the country to score the pedigree and physical characteristics of 400 entries before a committee made the final selection for the sale. The first of the horses move in tomorrow.