NEWS
Horse Chestnut returning to South Africa
Posted: Friday, March 13, 2009 10:31 AM
Central Kentucky sire Horse Chestnut (SAf) will return permanently to his native South Africa this spring and join Grade 1 winner Trippi at Johan and Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud on the Western Cape.
The 14-year-old Fort Wood stallion out of London Wall, by Col Pickering, is scheduled to leave the United States on March 21.
The South Africa Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner in 1999, Horse Chestnut has stood at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, since beginning his stud career in 2001. His advertised fee was $5,000 this season.
“I feel honored to be part of the history of the great Horse Chestnut and can’t help but feel like this is like the return of the prodigal son,” said Robin Bruss, a bloodstock agent involved in the deal. “It was always meant to be.”
Horse Chestnut has sired nine stakes winners in six crops of runners, including Grade 1 winner Lucifer’s Stone, Grade 2 winner Spanish Chestnut, multiple Grade 3 winner Duveen, and eight-time stakes winner Smart Enough. His progeny earned $8,603,864 through Thursday.
Bred and raced by Harry and Bridgit Oppenheimer, Horse Chestnut won the 2000 Broward Handicap (G3) by 5 1/2 lengths at Gulfstream Park in his only start in the United States. A leg injury ended his career that winter.
Trained by Michael de Kock, Horse Chestnut won nine of ten career starts and earned $474,036.
