Drakenstein Stud suffered a sad loss with the passing of their resident stallion Kingsbarns.
The latter, who was just eight years old, passed away from colic last night –a sad loss to the Cape stallion band.
The impeccably bred Kingsbarns was one of the very best two-year-olds of his generation. Timeform of 2012 rated the colt at 120, placing Kingsbarns above the likes of G1 winners Reckless Abandon, George Vancouver, Olympic Glory, Flotilla, Loch Garman and subsequent star miler Toronado.
Kingsbarns, described by Timeform as “he was a revelation….establishing himself as one of the leaders of his generation…most imposing physically, a rangy attractive colt.” , won both his outings at two, with a seven length maiden win being followed up by a facile 1.75 length victory in the G1 Racing Post Trophy.
The latter race saw Kingsbarns account for runner up Travel Brother as he liked, with pattern race winners Steeler, First Cornerstone and Irish Derby winner Trading Leather among the beaten runners.
An injury plagued havoc with Kingsbarns’ subsequent career, but the bay did finish third, beaten by four time G1 winner Olympic Glory in the 2013 G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, where Kingsbarns beat such outstanding performers as Dawn Approach, Elusive Kate and Gordon Lord Byron.
Kingsbarns was a son of the world’s premier stallion Galileo, who has a remarkable nine GB/Ire General Sires titles to his credit, with Galileo’s 260 plus stakes winners including such standouts as Frankel, Soldier Of Fortune, Was, Minding, Winter, The Gurkha, Magician, Gleneagles, Highland Reel, Churchill, Ruler Of The World, Australia, Found, Red Rocks, and Golden Lilac.
Galileo has already made a splash as a sire of sires through the likes of Frankel, Teofilo, New Approach, Nathaniel and Intello –making Kingsbarns’ sad loss all the more tragic.
The young sire’s first South African crop are yearlings in 2018, with Kingsbarns, from just a handful of representatives, responsible for a colt who made R425 000 at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale.