Bloodstock South Africa sold thoroughbreds have enjoyed an excellent year in 2025 thus far, and BSA’s great run continued over the weekend.
On Saturday, BSA purchases Gladatorian and Sail The Seas won the G2 Independent On Saturday Drill Stakes and G2 World Sports Betting Guineas respectively, while the following day saw the Bloodstock South Africa buy Garrix prevail in the G3 Legal Eagle Stakes.
Remarkably, Gladatorian, Sail The Seas and Garrix are all sons of outstanding stallion Vercingetorix, himself a R1 400 000 purchase from the 2011 National Sale.
Talented five-year-old Gladatorian, a R400 000 buy from the 2021 National Yearling Sale, picked up the ninth win of his career when he won the Independent On Saturday Drill Stakes (1400m) at Hollywoodbets Greyville. Under Sean Veale, the Stuart Ferrie trained gelding received a well time ride to get up and score by a short-head. In the process, Gladatorian (also victorious in the 2023 G2 Post-Merchants) accounted for such high-class performers as See It Again, Great Plains, The Real Prince, and champion Cousin Casey, among others. Bred by Erasmus Thoroughbreds CC, Gladatorian took his earnings to R1,771,650 with his Drill Hall Stakes success. The gelded son of Vercingetorix and the stakes winning Dynasty mare Harvard Crimson races for the Late Agasthamuni Gujadhur, E G Hart de Keating, M L Jean Hardy and Michel J L Nairac.
Classy three-year-old Sail The Seas provided his trainer Justin Snaith with a sixth win in the race when he won Saturday’s World Sports Betting Guineas (1600m). Under a well timed ride from Muzi Yeni, Sail The Seas, a R500 000 buy from the 2023 National Yearling Sale, picked up his biggest win to date when scoring a just over half length win. Bred by Drakenstein Stud, the colt, who stamped himself a potential stallion prospect with his Guineas win, races for Rurik Gobel, Dave MacLean, Countess S Labia & Kalinga. Sail The Seas, runner up in this season’s G1 SplashOut Cape Derby, has won five of ten starts for R1 091 212 in stakes. The Vercingetorix colt is out of the smart Philanthropist mare Sail, who finished second or third in six graded stakes races.
Progressive three-year-old Garrix, a R475 000 buy from the 2023 August Two Year Old Sale, made it back to back graded stakes wins when he landed Sunday’s G3 Legal Eagle Stakes (1800m) at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. Trained by Piet Steyn, the recently gelded sophomore provided Gavin Lerena with a third black type win on Sunday when he got up to score by a head. Remarkably, Bloodstock South Africa buys ran 1-2-3-4 in the Legal Eagle Stakes, with Otto Luyken, Mucho Dinero and Magic Verse running second, third and fourth respectively. Bred by Jagessar Limited, Garrix, who had won the G3 Variety Club Mile prior to his Legal Eagle Stakes success, has won four of just eight starts, with the gelding having finished runner up in the G3 City Of Cape Town Politician Stakes and third in the G1 SplashOut Cape Derby earlier in the season. Garrix, whose dam Makiwara is a Smart Strike half-sister to dual G1 winning sire Erupt, races for Mukund Gujadhur, Rikesh Sewgoolam and Laurence and Jarryd Wernars.
