Sunday`s stallion day at Arc en Ciel Stud afforded me the opportunity to pay a visit to our two Guineas winners of a few years ago, Kapil and Rei-Rei. Both looked fantastic! Kapil was grazing in a large grass paddock with one of his former rivals, Something Else. They seem to be good pals nowdays. Totally relaxed, he has filled out a bit and is clearly thriving in his new home. He certainly has got lucky; but then, he surely deserves it! Rei-Rei was more than happy to show us her first foal, a very correct son of Captain Al to be called Captain Rey. I well remember when she first arrived in our yard. She was one of those horses that was special from day one, accepting any new task without hesitation, as if she`d been doing it all her life. Fast forward to her breeding career and things seem no different. In foal early after one covering, no problems giving birth, feeding and seeing to her foal as if it was her 10th. What a superstar! Long may it last. She is to be covered by Jet Master this season.

Up and coming stable star Badger Lake has unfortuneately been lost to our yard. After each of his last 3 wins he had attracted enquiries as to his availability. The last offer was one which we were not in a position to refuse and as such he has been sold to a partnership and transferred to trainer Mike de Kock. Sad as we are, we wish his new connections well with him. We will follow his future successes with pride!

Racing at Dbv yesterday did not provide us with any winners, but it did see former Winter Derby winner Market Cap return to something like his best form with a short-head 2nd in the day`s feature. He has been beset by problems for sometime now and it has taken a tremendous amount of hard work and considerable cost to get him to be competitive again. A big thank you is due to my team, particularly physiotherapist Amy Nash, who have tackled his problems with passion!

Racing at Kenilworth on the 14th provided us with our first winner of the new season. Badger Lake once again came from the tail end of the field to win going away over 1800m (See our Stats & Videos section), a distance probably a little short of his best. Badger Lake was recording his 3rd win on the trot, and his 4th from his 9 outings to date. Congratulations are due to partners Billy Steele, who had much to do with Badger Lakes's purchase as a yearling, and Philip Zurnamer, who only bought into this gelding a fortnight or so before this run. May Badger Lake stay sound and continue to provide pleasure!

The 2yo sales were held in Gauteng last week. We managed to buy 2 lots at very reasonable prices, and also brought a filly back to train for breeder Peter Cowley. A buyer's market persisted throughout the 3 days of the sale.

News from Arc-en-Ciel Stud is that our KZN Fillies' Guineas winner of a few seasons ago, Rei Rei, has produced a handsome Captain Al colt as her 1st progeny! Grandparents Butch, Mike, James and Leanne are reported to be ecstatic!

July Day ended off the 2009/2010 racing season. From our point of view, the 7 year old Mighty Atom did us proud, chalking up his 9th win (see our Stats and Videos section) under a typically strong, driving ride from Bernard Fayd'herbe. Bradley and Bevin Steele were on course to lead in their wonderful old soldier! Just short of top class, he has been an absolute delight to train. Hardly an unsound day and all the courage in the world. He will remain in training for the time being.

The 2 year old sale is being held in Johannesburg on the 13th, 14th and 15th of August and is widely expected to be a buyer's market. We will be attending should you need us.

The 2009/2010 racing season has not been a great one for us. Following on our most successful season yet, I suppose a backward step was almost inevitable. There were highlights: Kapil's fluent win in the Merchants, his terrific 2nd in the Queen's Plate, and then our treble a month or so ago spring to mind. But overall, the stats speak for themselves. The biggest concern is that too many of the younger horses did not come up to scratch. This has led to a drastic reduction in stable numbers, as our policy has always been that horses must be earning, or have the potential to earn, otherwise they must go. We will stick to this policy, no matter how small our string ends up. Keeping racehorses has become too costly to do otherwise. Current stable strength is 28, with at least 10 of these likely to have left by the end of the year. On the plus side, we have 9 yearlings (2 y.o.'s on the 1st August) on the farms, and they are generally a better bred and scopier group than last years. Hopefully we can pick up another 6 or 7 at the remaining sales etc.

More generally, racing in the Western Cape is at the crossroads. To say there is a crisis down here would not be far from the truth. The recession has not helped, but the problems are more deep seated that that. My feeling is that the situation is fast coming to the boil, as Cape Racing cannot continue as is. When I write this end-of-season report in a year's time, I hope and expect drastically different structures to be in place. We live in interesting times!

Stan + Boffin

Kapil has retired. He left Clairwood about a week ago and arrived back at his place of birth, Arc-en-Ciel Stud, the next day. All things being equal, he will spend the rest of his days in retirement out there. He leaves racing with a record of 7 wins and 10 other cheques from 21 starts in this country. He also raced a few times in Dubai, U.K. and Hong Kong for 1 other win. A racehorse of the highest calibre, I will remember him for an abundance of reasons, but his triumph in the KZN Guineas of his year must surely rank as his finest moment. With everything against him that day, he produced a truly devastating finish from last to win going away from a future July winner, a Derby winner and a Cape Guineas winner. He has left wonderful memories for all associated with him. We wish him a happy retirement! He surely deserves it!

Stan