Cornerstone Stud SA

09/08/2025

The morning mist still clung to the grass at John Oxx’s training yard, and the stable hands moved quietly, whispering among themselves. There was something different about this c**t. Even as a two-year-old, Sea the Stars carried himself with an air of quiet confidence. He wasn’t the biggest, nor the flashiest, but when he moved, it was like watching a secret unravel—graceful, effortless, and powerful.

Born in 2006, he was bred for greatness. His dam, Urban Sea, had already produced the mighty Galileo. His sire, Cape Cross, had speed in his veins. But pedigree alone doesn’t make legends. It takes something more—heart, intelligence, and the will to win. Sea the Stars had it all.

At two, he won his maiden race, but it wasn’t until his three-year-old season that the world would truly understand what they were witnessing.

The Rise of a Champion

The 2000 Guineas at Newmarket was his first test of the season, and it wasn’t an easy one. The field was stacked with top-class c**ts, all hungry for glory. But as soon as jockey Mick Kinane gave the signal, Sea the Stars surged forward, his long, smooth stride eating up the ground. He won with authority.

Then came the Epsom Derby, the ultimate test of stamina and class. Doubters whispered: Can he handle the extra distance? Sea the Stars answered with a resounding performance, gliding past his rivals as if they were standing still. He wasn’t just winning—he was rewriting what was possible.

But he was far from finished. Unlike many Derby winners who are retired early or aimed at longer races, Sea the Stars took on the best in the world across different distances, defying convention. He went to the Coral-Eclipse, brushing aside older, battle-hardened horses. Then the Juddmonte International, where he made even the toughest challengers look ordinary.

By the time he reached the Irish Champion Stakes, people were running out of superlatives. He makes good horses look average, they said. And yet, he still had one final mission—the greatest prize of them all.

A Night to Remember

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, held in Paris in October, is the race that crowns legends. It’s where champions prove their immortality. Sea the Stars had already done the impossible, but could he do it one more time?

The race was brutal. The early pace was relentless, the competition fierce. Trapped in a wall of horses as they entered the final stretch, it seemed as if even he might be beaten. But then, like a king rising from battle, he found a way. Mick Kinane gave him a nudge, and Sea the Stars responded with a burst of speed so electric that the crowd gasped. Within seconds, he swept past the field, surging ahead with the kind of power that made time stand still.

He crossed the line—victorious. Six Group 1 races in six months. The Guineas. The Derby. The Eclipse. The International. The Champion Stakes. The Arc. No horse had ever done it before. No horse has done it since.

The Legacy of a Legend

Sea the Stars never ran again. He had nothing left to prove. He retired as one of the greatest racehorses of all time, a champion who didn’t just win—he dominated across every distance, every track, and against every rival.

Now, his name lives on in his progeny, just as his heart and courage live on in the memories of those who watched him run. Some horses are fast. Some are strong. But Sea the Stars? He was the perfect racehorse, the one who conquered the world.

07/08/2025

WHERE DO SILVANO AND VERCINGETORIX GET THEIR PREPOTENCY FROM?

David Thiselton

German thoroughbred breeding has been massively influential in Europe, while South Africa has now had two champion sires that originate from German bloodlines, the German-bred Silvano and his phenomenal record-setting son Vercingetorix.
Silvano and Vercingetorix were and are respectively based at German breeder Andreas Jacob’s Maine Chance Farms, who also stand the German-bred Querari and did stand the German-bred Quasillo.
When researching where the class of German bloodlines originates from a certain stallion keeps on cropping up and it is amazing this horse, a German Derby winner called Alchimist, is no more than a footnote in thoroughbred history.
The Prix de l’Arc de Triompe is generally regarded as the pinnacle turf flat race in the world and it will be a rare occasion that Alchimist does not appear in the pedigree of the winner, the reason being he appears twice in the pedigree of Urban Sea, who is dam of Galileo, the most successful sire in throughbred history.
Galileo is the only sire in history to sire over 100 Gr 1 winners.
Urban Sea is one of the greatest broodmares in thoroughbred history as she also produced Sea The Stars, who is regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time having won the 2000 Guineas, the Eclipse, the Derby, the Juddmonte International, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc in the same year. His progeny have won classic races including the Derby, Irish Derby, and the Oaks.
Urban Sea’s third dam is by Alchimist’s German Derby-winning son Birkahn.
Urban Sea’s damsire is Lombard, whose sire Agio is out of an Alchimist mare.
Last year’s Arc winner Bluestocking was the first Arc winner to have no copies of Alchimist in her pedigree since 2015 winner Golden Horn.
Of course one can take any top stallion in history and find an arbitrary horse in his pedigree and point to him or her appearing in a long list of champions.
However, where it gets interesting with Alchimist is the many Arc winners who have him in their pedigrees without the trace back from Urban Sea.
The 2023 Arc winner Ace Impact, for example, has four copies of Alchimist. He is by Frankel’s son Cracksman, so has the two copies of Alchimist from Urban Sea, but what is fascinating in this case is that Ace Impact’s damsire is in**ed 5X4 to Urban Sea’s dam Allegretta, who is by German-bred Lombard out of German-bred Anatevka. Allegretta is in**ed 4X4 to Alchimist.
Where it gets really interesting with Alchimist is that he appears no fewer than five times in the pedigree of the 2021 Arc winner, the German-bred Torquator Tasso, and that horse does not have Urban Sea in his pedigree.
Interestingly, Almyra, the third dam of Urban Sea, is a bottom line female on the pedigree of both Torquator Tasso’s sire Alderflug and his dam Tijuana (Toylsome). Almyra is by Alchimist’s son Birkahn.
Alchimist also appears five times in the pedigree of the 2019 Arc winner Waldgeist, who is by Galileo and from a German female line.
Alchimist is the granddam sire of Germany’s first Arc winner in 1975, Star Appeal, and appears in the pedigree of the 2011 German-bred Arc winner Danedream.
The German-bred Silvano was by the Nijinsky sire Nininski and was out of a dam by Surumu, who was a six-times champion sire and twice Champion Broodmare sire. Surumu was bred by the Jacobs family’s Germany-based stud Gestüt Fährhof and is a son of Literat, who is a son of Alchmist’s son Birkahn.
Querari is a regular top six stallion in South Africa and his dam also hails from the Surumu-Alchimist sire line.
Quasillo had three copies of Alchimist as his sire was Sea The Stars and he is a half-brother to Querari.
Their dam was by the Gestüt Fährhof-bred champion Acatenango, who won seven Gr 1s and whose progeny include Lando, who was ridden to Japan Cup glory by South Africa’s Michael “Muis” Roberts. Acatenango is a son of Surumu’s.
The Jacobs family-bred Surumu appears twice in the pedigree of 2019 Arc winner Waldgeist and Acatenango is sire of his third dam.
2011 Arc winner Danedream is a paternal half-sister to Silvano, being by Lomitas.
Silvano is not only a six-times Champion sire, but also the most successful Hollywoodbets Durban July sire in history, as is well documented.
Vercingetorix is the current champion sire and smashed numerous records to get there, his progeny accumulating the most stakes ever in a season and he produced the most stakes winners ever in a season, not to mention his Sales prices obliterating previous records.
Alchimist must have had some influence on their strong bloodlines.
And yet he is just a footnote in history.
In the Graham Sharpe book “Classic Horseracing Quotes” the following insert appears:
German Derby winner Alchimist became an unusual casualty of World War II. The grooms at Gradiz, where the highly valued stallion was at stud, fled the advancing Russian troops who relieved their starvation by tucking into what must be one of the most expensive meals ever consumed.
Other accounts put it a bit differently and states the Gradiz staff took the stallion with them when fleeing, but were not allowed by the Americans to cross the border. The Russians, who were aware of the value of thoroughbred stallions, only killed the horse as a last resort after he refused to load on to their truck.
Alchimist has nevertheless been a major influence despite his untimely demise as a fifteen-year-old, but he gets scant recognition.

Image: The German-bred 1933 German Derby winner Alchimist could well have had a major influence on the thoroughbred breed, although he is not given much credit

07/08/2025

05/08/2025

Read more on Oasis Dream To The Fore on Sporting Post, bringing you the latest in Horse Racing News, Previews and Reviews.

04/08/2025

Congratulations to Ormond Ferraris and Mike de K**k, both inducted into the Hall Of Fame. From Bloodstock South Africa, we salute you!

03/08/2025

03/08/2025

They laughed at his pedigree.
Called him a “cheap Cal-bred.”
Said his bloodlines were nothing special.
But California Chrome wasn’t built in the barns of royalty .
he was born in a backyard dream.
Out of a mare named Love the Chase, bought for $8,000, and sired by a stallion standing for just $2,500, Chrome was never supposed to wear the roses.
But destiny had other plans.
In 2014, the flame-colored c**t silenced the doubters.
He won the Kentucky Derby in brilliant style, then powered through the Preakness, igniting a nation’s hope for a Triple Crown.
He didn’t claim the Belmont , but he claimed something rarer: America’s heart.
And Chrome wasn’t done.
He returned , older, stronger , and captured the Dubai World Cup in 2016, becoming the richest North American racehorse at the time.
He won on dirt, across continents, under lights and pressure. Always with a flash of that signature blaze and a defiant flick of his tail.
His name became more than a headline.
California Chrome stood for the underdog, the working-class hope, the belief that greatness can come from anywhere.
From a modest barn to the world’s richest races,
he ran like he had something to prove.

And he proved everything.

03/08/2025

A blast from the past,

He was more than a racehorse. He was a phenomenon. A ghost in motion. A champion born for television, draped in silver and thunder.
Native Dancer, foaled in 1950, wasn’t just fast , he was mesmerizing. Nicknamed The Grey Ghost, he captivated millions during the dawn of televised sports. With his striking coat and near-flawless record, he became one of the first horses America truly watched in real-time.

He won 21 of his 22 races. Let that sink in. Only one horse ever beat him ,Dark Star, in the 1953 Kentucky Derby , by a narrow nose. A controversial bump early in the race likely cost Native Dancer the win… and the Triple Crown.

But he didn’t let it define him.

He stormed back to take the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes with a fury that echoed across headlines. No one ever passed him again.

He wasn’t just dominant , he was a sire of legends. His bloodline runs through Northern Dancer, Mr. Prospector, Raise a Native… and yes, even Triple Crown winners like American Pharoah and Justify carry the fire he sparked.

Native Dancer wasn’t just a racehorse , he was the blueprint for brilliance. The grey shadow behind generations of champions.

He ran with grace. He lost with fire. And he left behind a legacy that shaped the future of the sport.

The Grey Ghost never truly vanished , he simply became part of every great horse that followed.

01/08/2025

🎂 Happy Birthday to our Southern Hemisphere Thoroughbreds 🇿🇦

As they officially turn a year older today, we celebrate the champions of the past and the promise of the future. Here's to another exciting season of racing and raising stars!

Wishing all our breeders a safe and successful 2025 foaling season, may your foaling boxes be filled with bright beginnings and future champions.

21/07/2025

Mike De K**k to be honoured with South African Hall of Fame Induction.

"The Hall of Fame recognises extraordinary South Africans, with past inductees including Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Gary Player — icons whose achievements have shaped the nation’s history.

“Mike de K**k is a true icon of South African horse racing,” said SA Hall of Fame Chairman Johnny Burger. “He is a pioneer whose legacy has elevated the sport and South Africa’s sporting reputation both locally and internationally.”

https://news.4racing.com/off-the-record-83

Your team, family and friends are all so proud of you Mike, Congratulations and thank you for all you have done and continue to do for South African Racing 🐎

📸 Mike with Horse Chestnut and connections after the 1999 SA Derby (image: JC Photos)

09/04/2025

09/04/2025