Death shall have no dominion

Something comfortingly constant in the mercurial world of racing ended with the passing of Fort Wood and his finest son, Horse Chestnut, in the past month.

These two horses were beacons of unshakeable quality in an infernally unpredictable, complicated game.

Fort Wood was one of the very best sires to have graced South African paddocks, having been imported from the UK by the Oppenheimers for their Mauritzfontein stud after a brief, injury-blighted track career.

Similarly, in debating this country's best racehorse, the name Horse Chestnut is always on the table. Lenin, Mowgli, Sea Cottage, Hawaii and Sentinel might be mentioned, but the big chestnut who won the first Triple Crown and the Met at three years old - and simply annihilated peers everywhere - always dominates.

It's a father and son double combo for the ages. Suddenly they're gone - dead within weeks of each other, at 25 and 19 years. Thinking of these heroes, my mind kept churning the words of Dylan Thomas:

And death shall have no dominion.

Dead man naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon;

When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;

Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion.

The boozy Welshman was talking about not letting fear of death get to us, but his poem applies nicely to the legacy of outstanding racehorses.

Fort Wood won't cover any more mares, but his blood will be a factor in calculated matings for many a decade.

Indeed, his second-best racing son was Dynasty, winner of the 2003 Durban July and currently leading sire in the country.

Dynasty is father to Legislate, the reigning July champ, and Futura, winner of the 2015 Queen's Plate and Met double. He also sired the fabulous mare Beach Beauty and a clutch of other crackers.

So it's no surprise to see a yearling by Dynasty, called Playboy Prince, being sold this week for R1.2-million - on a minor auction at Val de Vie. This followed the R5.2-million national record paid for Dynasty's son Shining Knight at the Cape Yearling Sale last month.

Horse Chestnut first went to stud in the US, where dirt track racing predominates, and was treated as a turf specialist. That meant he didn't get to consort with the best mares. Yet he still turned out a Group 1 winner in Lucifer's Stone. After returning to his homeland, he did OK as a stallion without quite matching his sibling.

But the best may be yet to come - with three Horse Chestnut generations yet to hit the track.

The great one has also shown promise as a broodmare sire: grandson Ocho Ocho Ocho has been named as a leading contender for the 2015 Kentucky Derby.

As the poet said: ".They shall have stars at elbow and foot ."

SELECTIONS

Turffontein tomorrow:

Guineas (Race 8) - 8 Zambezi River, 1 Harry's Son, 11 Mutamakkin, 3 Anjaal

Fillies Guineas (Race 7) - 4 Siren's Call, 8 Tamaanee, 1 Same Jurisdiction, 5 Smart Call