Silvano: A Casanova with the Midas touch

20 July 2015 - 02:02 By Mike Moon

An old horseman loaded mare after mare onto horse trailers before despatching them on a 20-hour, 1 500km journey southwest - from the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands to Western Cape. It was covering season, so the brood mares had to travel to meet their intended beaus. That's how it works in the racehorse business - the guys stay home, eat well and watch from their paddocks as trucks roll up with girls for shagging.What's that? You want to be reincarnated as a stallion? You had better hope you're a good one or a somewhat unkinder fate might await.Why was the old geezer sending his best mares far away, at expense, to a newly imported German stallion when there were plenty of likely lads near at hand?"Because this one's special," replied the wizened one. "He's got blood; he's got heart."Back then in 2003 one had barely heard of Silvano. There's decent racing in Germany, but it's not renowned as a breeding country.But now Silvano is a South African legend. He didn't race here, but he did win races on five other continents. There's the "heart". As much as he was cheered on racecourses elsewhere, his greatest legacy will lie in silent history books of South Africa.The first three horses in the 2015 Durban July were all sons of Silvano. No dad has managed that before.The winner, Power King, was Silvano's third July victor in six years, the other two being Bold Silvano and Heavy Metal.Clearly the July track, distance and tough physical challenge are suited to the Silvano brood.And the blood? He was bred from English stamina bloodlines at the Gestüt Färnhoff by the Jacobs family, a dynasty of Bremen coffee makers and mainstays of German racing.Silvano roamed the world in search of fortune, winning in Europe, Australia, the US, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore and collecting trophies for the Arlington Million in Chicago and QE II Cup in Hong Kong, among other big races.The Jacobs family, with breeding operations in Germany and the UK, bought Maine Chance in 2002 - one of the great thoroughbred stations of South Africa. They brought Silvano along to get things started.He was not considered ideal stallion material by the purists as he had been a late developer and was at his best over ground. These days buyers want quick results.But his kids are not exactly plodders. Jockey Stuart Randolph speaks in wonderment of Power King's acceleration as the whips were cracking in the July."I've never felt a horse quicken quite like that."It's not only July winners that have carved Silvano's name deep on local racetracks. Consider too Kings Gambit (Classic and Derby) Aslan (Summer Cup and Gold Cup), Martial Eagle (Met), Flirtation (Summer Cup), Seal (Derby) and Vercingetorix (Daily News and Jebel Hatta) - and that's just some of the Grade 1 winners.Silvano has won just one sires' championship, in 2012, which tells you about the ferocious competition in mating barns in the quiet countryside.He currently lies third on the championship table with two weeks to go until the end of the season. Ahead are reigning champion sire Dynasty (winnings of R15.25-million) and Captain Al (R15.01-million). Silvano is on R14.62-million.I don't mind which great sire wins, but I cannot help thinking back to that clever git packing mares off to a männlich from Germany. Blood and heart.You'd like a Silvano offspring? A well-rated one at sale will be at least half a bar. If you have your own mare ready for breeding purposes, you'd better also have at least R150000 handy for the pop...

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