One of the most exciting equine athletes of his generation, and only the fourth horse in history to win the South African Triple Crown, former Mike de Kock champion Malmoos will join the exciting Ridgemont Highlands stallion roster in advance of the new season.
With parallels to Horse Chestnut’s facile victory in the Grade 1 South African Derby more than two decades earlier, Malmoos galloped his way into South African turf history on 3rd April 2021 as he registered his seventh victory from his first eight career starts, taking his earnings to over R3,5 million on that memorable Turffontein afternoon.
In the course of that emphatic victory, Malmoos effectively signed his paddock passport as he enjoys the distinction of being the last Grade 1 winning colt sired by former champion sire, Captain Al.
“He’s the real deal. He has the looks, the pedigree and thankfully he will go to stud in South Africa,” said multiple champion trainer Mike de Kock.
An athlete in every respect, the handsome Malmoos was the second top lot sold at R4,4 million off the 2019 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.
Racing in the internationally recognised silks of the late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, Malmoos possessed the eclectic hallmark of natural speed and stamina, winning seven races from 1200m to 2450m, including two Grade 1 races, a Grade 2, and a Grade 3.
A son of the late South African multiple champion sire Captain Al, the regally pedigreed Malmoos is bred on the same Captain Al/Fort Wood cross as Grade 1 winners Captain America and William Longsword.
Ridgemont Highlands’s Craig Kieswetter said that Malmoos would dovetail perfectly with the champion farm’s exciting stallion band of Canford Cliffs, Potala Palace, and Rafeef.
“Malmoos ticks all the boxes of blue blood, physical conformation and elite level race performance. I must also extend sincere thanks to Sheikha Hissa Hamdan Al Maktoum and the Shadwell Team for facilitating what will inevitably be an exciting and popular addition to the thoroughbred breeding industry in South Africa,” concluded Craig Kieswetter.
