In 2010, John Penny set up Heart of the South’s first ever breeding syndicate, with a group of 10 people already owners with us in various partnerships.
Our mare, Aunt Ruby, was one of only 30 mares sent to the legendary sire Green Desert – the sire of Cape Cross and the grand sire of See the Stars as well as our own South Cape.
At 27 years old, the sire was only allowed to cover a limited book of 30 mares in his final season at stud and as the breeder of South Cape, John was offered one of these 30 places. Pairing Aunt Ruby with Green Desert, meant that the offspring would a ¾ relation to South Cape, a winner of 11 races.
On 16th February 2011 Aunt Ruby gave birth to a big bay colt foal ‘Bobby’ at the National Stud in Newmarket. Aunt Ruby suffered some internal bruising after giving birth to such a large foal, so the pair had to stay indoors for the first couple of weeks. On 8th March 2011 they had their first outing in the paddock – see the pictures below – and both enjoyed a bit of spring sunshine!
‘Bobby’ matured into a lovely strapping yearling with plenty of scope. He did have a slightly offset knee (an exact conformation trait to Green Desert himself!) and this ‘unfortunately’ prevented him making big money at the 2012 Tattersalls Book 1 Sale. However maybe everything happens for a reason because we kept the colt, put him in training with Marco Botti and he went on to win nicely as a 2-year old. He continued to run well as a 3 year old, reaching a very respected rating of 94. To say we are delighted to have kept the horse would be an understatement!
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