Birch Bros - Vogel Vlei Stud
Contact Details:
Contact: Colin or Syd Birch
Tel: 087 5501 398/9
Mobile: Colin – 0828287055 / Syd – 082 4153 910
Email: vogelvleistud@nokwi.co.za
Birch Bros – Vogel Vlei Stud was formally established in 1910 and has been involved in the South African racing industry for well over a century. Not many can stake a claim of being around for that long! Syd and Colin Birch, a father and son combination run the stud today – Colin being a 5th generation Birch on the farm – “Horse breeding is in our blood and runs thick through our veins, we have a very proud history of success!”
Based at the foothills of the Stormberg Mountain Range near Dordrecht in the North Eastern Cape. The climate is warm summer days with cool evenings, and the winters are extremely cold with temperatures reaching as low as – 20 degrees celsius with snowfall at times. It’s a very healthy climate for animals – The cold sterilises the country side.
Stud Highlights:
A few famous racehorses of the past : Sea Cottage, Wolf Power, Colorado King, Bold Tropic , Evening Mist, Royal Chalice etc
The farm Vogel Vlei lies in a valley of many thousands of acres on which horses, cattle and sheep are bred commercially. Mares and foals run in huge paddocks of natural and planted patures, including lucerne, barley, oats, rye grass and other
cereals. Paddocks are placed in nutrient rich soil perfect for horse breeding and our method has literally “stood the test of time!” Our paddocks are of the highest quality and situated on limestone rich soil which is excellent for young thoroughbred foals and broodmares. Yearlings and young stock are kept in these paddocks up until sale preperation time where they are conditioned on a specialised feeding program and stabled at night.
At Vogel Vlei our Mission and Philosphy is to to breed hardy, quality race horses. They are raised tough and certainly not wrapped in cotton wool here! Horses grow up in large spacious areas where they run free and are given every chance to develop good skeletal structure. Conditions are condusive to breeding and raising tough/sound thoroughbreds that can stand up to the demands of racing.
Birch Bros – Vogel Vlei Stud continue to upgrade the broodmare band and the stud is home to 30+ broodmares of which some still hail from the potent foundation mare Drohsky, in addition to some top class current performing pedigrees.
Careful planning is done for matings to some of the country’s top stallions.
These lands have bred and raised countless top class thoroughbreds and have recorded many big race winners in South Africa. The fires continue to be stoked and there’s no reason why the Birch bred thoroughbreds will not continue to run like
they have for generations!
The stud is extremely proud of the breeding achievements and records which include:
Record winners of the Breeders Championship more than 40 times.
Record 34 x Grand Slam victories – The Durban July, The Met, The Summer Cup, The Queen’s Plate etc
Breeders of a record 8 x Durban July winners, including a famous dead-heat between Sea Cottage and Jollify in 1967 (both
bred by Birch Bros)
A few famous racehorses of the past : Sea Cottage, Wolf Power, Colorado King, Bold Tropic , Evening Mist, Royal Chalice etc