OFF THE RECORD #14

Above:  2024 Gauteng Guineas Day, lead-in

Sandringham Summit: Redefining Success and Changing Futures

Sandringham Summit, with his speed, agility and remarkable turn of foot, has emerged as the strongest Triple Crown candidate since Malmoos in 2021. He stepped onto the track in impeccable condition for last Saturday’s first leg of the 2024 series, the Grade 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas, and crossed the finish line in eye-catching triumph.

Sandringham Summit’s shiny, black coat and his bright demeanour was a testament to the care and attention of trainer David Nieuwenhuizen and his Turffontein team. Dressed in suits and bowties themselves, they acknowledged the significance of the moment and presented the colt with pride and reverence for his new owners, Varsfontein Stud. The Paarl establishment is the primary partner in a syndicate of high-profile owners and breeders assembled recently by bloodstock supremo, John Freeman.

Above:  Daniel Ciuane and Sandringham Summit after the Premiers Champion Stakes

Sandringham Summit’s groom, Daniel Ciuane, donned the same snazzy outfit on Gold Cup Day at Greyville last July when his horse won the Premiers Champion Stakes. A R100,000 bonus was awarded to the groom of the winner as an initiative to celebrate the World Pool Moment of the Day. He used some of the money to finish building his house. He also bought a bakkie and assisted his unemployed father.

"Sandringham Summit has had a transformative presence. He is changing lives," remarked Nieuwenhuizen earlier this week. The 59-year-old trainer has faced challenges, losing key supporters due to the recent relocation of one, and the departure from the sport of another. With just 18 horses under his care, the arrival of this champion has revitalised the stable.

He explained: “I’ve experienced a paradigm shift because Sandringham Summit has brought me to a circle of individuals who are major players in racing. In this sport it helps to get the support from the top-level owners and breeders of the racing community. I am now training Sandringham Summit for the renowned Kalmanson family and Varsfontein Stud, who celebrate 50 years in business this year and are the standard-setters in our breeding industry. I am truly grateful for this.

“Last Saturday I lead Sandringham Summit into the winner’s enclosure with Laurence Wernars and Dave Shaw, who are two of the partners in the new Sandringham Summit ownership. I have been amazed by everyone’s support. I have a star colt in the yard and Carl de Vos of Varsfontein has sent us an unraced filly that looks promising. I am also proud to be sponsored by Hollywoodbets.”

Every stride and strategy can make or break a champion, and there were critics who wrote off Sandringham Summit after his narrow defeat to Main Defender in the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes and his third in the Dingaans, beaten two lengths by Purple Pitcher.

Nieuwenhuizen commented: “When winning on Saturday I heard a few times, ‘he’s back… Sandringham Summit is back…’. But he was never gone, at all. He fought an extended battle in the Graham Beck with a distance specialist in Main Defender and lost by the bob of a nose. It looked like we had the race in the bag, but we lost it on the line, still truly a great run."

“In the Dingaans, there were two incidents that were recorded in the stipes report. Just 200m into the race, Sandringham Summit had to be steadied between Mexican Pete and Fire ’N Flames. He was awkwardly placed, lost his momentum and dropped back. There may have been some traditional tactical race riding there from Gavin Lerena’s rival jockeys. Gavin reported that Sandringham Summit wasn’t travelling well after he’d lost his position. Then, on the bend, the back marker Sovereign State, on our inside, shifted out from the rail and carried Sandringham Summit out."

“The replay shows it all. Just after they’d turned for home and straightened, Sandringham Summit was three lengths behind the second last horse. He was one of the first to come off the bit. Going through the 500m, the race caller noted that our horse had 13 lengths to find. He was still last with 350m to run, then found his stride again and stormed up late for third. Considering the troubles he encountered in the race, it was a cracking run!”

Will Sandringham Summit stay the 1800m of the SA Classic for a chance to bag the second leg of the Triple Crown on 2 March? And what about 2450m for the third leg, the SA Derby?

Nieuwenhuizen assessed: “I think, on his style of running, the speed and finishing efforts he has shown, there is little doubt that Sandringham Summit will enjoy the 1800m of the Classic. He returned very well after the Guineas and our sole focus is now on the Classic. We’ll take it race-by-race, see how he completes the Classic and then consider the Derby. Naturally the Triple Crown is a tempting consideration, but we’ll let the horse show us what to do when he runs in the Classic."

“Gimmethegreenlight’s son Got The Greenlight was narrowly beaten in the Derby as a three-year-old and he finished second in the Durban July. Sandringham Summit’s full brother is The Green Gallant, who has placed up to 2400m. While his half-brother Eden Roc (VAR) was a top sprinter and is now a sire, his half-sister Yamoto (Dynasty) won over 2400m. His pedigree supports his staying prospects.”

His Derby hopes aside, Sandringham Summit’s stud promise is all right there in his blood. Sporting Post reported this week that his dam Townsend (Captain Al) is closely inbred to the accomplished French import Jamaico, who won up to 2100m, finished second in the 1968 Prix D l’Arc De Triomphe over 2400m and later sired three Durban July winners. As a broodmare sire, he produced the likes of Home Honey, South Africa’s Broodmare Of The Year in 1990, and the dam Gr1 OK Gold Bowl winner Honey Chunk (Hobnob).

Before his Guineas win, The LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings for three-year-olds and upwards which raced in 2023, rated Sandringham Summit at 115 – the only three-year-old South African-based runner in the world's top 200 horses. Locally, he is rated 123 by the NHA.

Varsfontein, knowing all this, has already mailed their beautiful Sandringham Summit stallion brochure to prospective breeders, an indication that he may well be called to stud after his three-year-old career.

Nieuwenhuizen said: “Carl de Vos jumped at the opportunity within minutes after he was put up for sale last year. When Gimmethegreenlight retires one day, there will be massive shoes to fill at Varsfontein and Sandringham Summit looks like the one that could do it. But again, his career from here on is a step-by-step thing; everything will be carefully considered. We have the Daily News coming up during the KZN season and the Durban July is always at the back of one’s mind. For now, however, we want to take him to the SA Classic and win it. That’s all that matters.”

In racing, some say, good horses find you. That goes for trainers and breeders. Sandringham Summit was the second choice for Nieuwenhuizen, Zeyn Kirsten and Rakesh Singh when they attended the 2022 National Yearling Sale. Their first pick was Forest God, a grey colt by Silvano that passed through the ring moments before Sandringham Summit stepped in.

“That was crunch time for us in a period of 20 minutes. We badly wanted Lot 226, Forest God, who had a strong stallion’s pedigree and was a super specimen. But we were bidding against the powerful Form Bloodstock and Jehan Malherbe eventually secured the fall of the hammer at R3,3-million."

"We were not disheartened after trying so hard but failing to match or surpass that bid. When Lot 227 entered the ring, we once again immersed ourselves in the excitement and secured him after another spirited tussle on the TBA’s buyer’s bench, for R1.7 million. This price is beyond what I imagined we would pay for him, but it happened, and here we are. Two years have passed, and much has transpired since then."

As the paradigm reaches its summit and destiny unfolds, we anticipate fireworks. Let it be.