Vercingetorix to stand at Maine Chance Farm

Dual Group 1 winner Vercingetorix (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}), who was forced into early retirement after suffering an injury in the G1 Jebel Hatta Mar. 7, will take up stud duties at Maine Chance Farm as a result of a deal brokered by Form Bloodstock’s Jehan Malherbe.  Acting on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Malherbe paid R1.4 million ($205,660) at the 2011 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale for the Klawervlei Stud-bred, a half-brother to the multiple Group scorer and G1 Cape Fillies Guineas S. runner-up Trinity House (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}), from a very solid South African family.

Sent to Mike de Kock, Vercingetorix remained unbeaten in his home country with three wins as a 3-year-old, culminating in the G1 Daily News 2000. Among the rivals he defeated on this occasion were subsequent G1 L’Ormarins Queens Plate winner and stallion Capetown Noir (SAf) (Western Winter), as well as G1 Durban July first-past-the-post Wylie Hall (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}). The prestigious victory earned Vercingetorix Equus Champion Three-Year Old accolade. 

Shipped to Dubai on the back of this effort, Vercingetorix extended his unbeaten record to five, including an impressive display in the 2014 G1 Jebel Hatta. He first encountered defeat at the hands of Longines ‘World’s Best Racehorse’ Just A Way (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) in the G1 Dubai Duty Free (now Dubai Turf), and rounded off his 2014 campaign with a third to Hong Kong champion Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. He returned to winning ways first-up at Meydan this year in the G2 Al Rashidiya, before managing sixth in the Jebel Hatta despite pulling a sesamoidal ligament in the race.

Andreas Jacobs, owner of Maine Chance Farm and Gestut Fahrhof in Germany, commented, “[Vercingetorix] is the best son of Silvano, a horse that has always been close to my heart, who became a record-breaking Champion Sire in Germany and in South Africa. Both were Champion racehorses, each  with a phenomenal race record in their respective home countries, as well as abroad.” Bred and raced by Fahrhof, like his own sire Lomitas (GB), Silvano (Ger) won a pair of Group events in his native country aged three and four, before embarking on a successful international career, highlighted by victories in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin and G1 Arlington Million. Retired to Gestut Fahrhof, he sired the German classic winner Mi Emma (Ger) as well as Group winners Proudinsky (Ger) and Fair Breeze (Ger) in his first two crops. 

Silvano was first sent to Maine Chance with the plan to shuttle him between the two properties owned by the Jacobs family, yet was forced to establish residence in South Africa an account of an outbreak of African Horse Sickness. He proved an instant success there, his first crop lifting the Classic-winning duo King Gambit (SAf) and Happy Spirit (SAf). Now aged 19, he has 15 Group 1 winners to his name, also including Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s Bold Silvano (SAf), who scored in the 2010 G1 Durban July and also took the G3 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2. On the back of his color-bearer’s achievements, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bought a share in Silvano in 2011.

Vercingetorix is currently being syndicated and a stud fee will be announced at a later stage.