Highlands Stud part of Ridgemont’s exciting young stallion Jackson (bred by Highlands) was represented by his second first crop winner on Saturday when his son Mr Crumford scored an eye catching victory at Kenilworth.
Ridden by Greg Cheyne, the Morne De Villiers bred colt made most of the running to break his maiden by an impressive three lengths, leaving the regally bred favourite Frank Lloyd Wright well beaten in second.
Mr Crumford is the first Jackson sired winner to be trained by Brett Crawford, who trained the triple G1 winning Jackson himself.
Saturday’s winner, who follows Bountiful Strength as the second winner for his sire, was a R90 000 purchase from the 2017 March Yearling Sale.
Jackson, who emulated his outstanding sire Dynasty by winning both the G1 Cape Derby and G1 Daily News 2000, has made a most encouraging start to his stud-especially given the fact he himself never raced at two.
To date, Jackson has been represented by five first crop runners who have won or placed, including Dynamite Jack –who ran third in open company over 1200m on Saturday.
A full-brother to G3 Byerley Turk hero Heartland and half-brother to high class sprinter Jade Bay, Jackson is out of the winning Cozzene mare Moonlit Prairie.
His full-brother, Grab The Light, was the top lot sold at the 2017 Emperors Palace Select Yearling Sale, where the son of Dynasty fetched R3.8 million.
This is the same family as multiple US champion sire Smart Strike, whose champion son Curlin currently ranks as one of North America’s hottest stallions.
Jackson, who earned over R2.3 million during his racing career, will be represented by eight lots at this week’s April Yearling Sale and 11 lots at the 2018 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.