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The Thoroughbred Group - eNews
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On the morning that I left for the Breeders Cup in USA the news broke of the freak accident that caused the death of our promising young stallion, Eyeofthetiger. As I am not in office and have to use the power of Blackberry to report the sad news I asked Charl Pretorius if I may forward his report from Racingweb.co.za to our eNews list. Our sincere sympathies to Eyeofthetiger's shareholders and especially to Lofty, Phillip and their team at The Alchemy. Murphy’s law; now that he is no longer with us, we will have reason to lament his passing even more as the 3 crops he has left behind will give us reason to want more. We have made an offer to all that are yet to have mares covered by Eyeofthetiger or that have mares already covered that cannot return, to contact us to arrange special terms to transfer those bookings to other stallions in our portfolio – and depending on the circumstances, even a free replacement nomination. Eyeofthetiger was a truly smart looking individual, so much so that we had a waiting list of breeders who were ready to snap up any share that might have come onto the market. His first two crops of foals are so good looking that we had to close his book early in this 3rd season – he was booked to cover close on 100 mares this year again. For any 3rd season sire to be looking at such a large book of mares is a sure indication of the respect that breeders have for him. Breeding horses is not for the feint of heart. The rewards have to be great considering the risks one has to take. We should all remember this when inspecting yearlings at the sales. Those that are going to the Ready to Run Sale – I wish one and all rich rewards. |
Report follows... Another industry loss as Eyeofthetiger is euthanized charl on November 3, 2009 The South African Breeding Industry suffered its fourth tragic loss in the space of months when The Alchemy Stud’s resident stallion Eyeofthetiger broke his shoulder in a freak accident on Tuesday. He was euthanized after a thorough veterinary examination. The demise of Eyeofthetiger, who won the 2006 Durban July, follows the recent deaths of Mauritzfontein Stud’s Strike Smartly, Main Chance Farms’ Victory Moon and Starston Stud’s London News, and is a second blow in weeks to stallion manager John Freeman of the Thoroughbred Group. Philip Kahan of The Alchemy told Racingweb: "Our Stud Manager Johan Loftus was showing the horse in the paddock this morning when he broke loose, bolted and ran into a wooden pole and through a fence. He broke his shoulder, but was brave enough to step onto a float to Paarl, where he was examined by Professor Sybrand van den Berg. The X-rays showed multiple fractures, his shoulder had broken almost clean off. There was no way of saving him." Kahan, distressed, described Eyeofthetiger as "a real man who knew he was a man!", hence his friskiness. "He was a handful always, but had a gentle nature and we really loved him. I never thought I’d cry for a horse, but today a few other grown men and I shed tears. This was terrible to see and it is perhaps the biggest setback in the history of The Alchemy." |
Tel: +27 (0)21 418 0566 - Fax: +27 (0)21 418 0254 - Cell: +27 (0)82 7778117 - pegasus@mweb.co.za