sa horseracing convention road to the future glory - PARADE ...

uy the disused Zuinguin coal mine in Vryheid. This started a
remarkable career in coal in which he either developed or
acquired 18 coal mines until the ultimate consolidation of his
interests in Kangra Mines, which now produces 3 million tonnes
of steam coal per annum. During his Vryheid days, he met the
late Walter Grindrod who also had coal interests in the area.
It wasn’t long before Walter, who was then a steward at Greyville,
introduced Graham to Greyville and how to punt a favourite!
It was a few years later that Graham bought his first horse;
something he said he only did when he could properly
afford it. Bought as a yearling for R7 500, FOREIGN
PRINCE encountered problems and only raced for the
first time when a few months short of turning four. His
trainer, the late Willie Kleb, thought he was a good thing
but he only finished second on this outing. But he was
obviously special as he then proceeded to win the next
eight in a row! This was to start a remarkable period
in horse racing with the familiar brown and white Beck
silks, or those of his partners, winning most of the major
features. Some of his most successful horses included
MARC ANTONY, BIG SWINGER and more recently,
FREE MY HEART.
Graham has had a huge influence on the breeding industry in
South Africa and more recently overseas as well. His first foray
into the industry came when he was asked to help out the then
owner of the STORMBERG STUD in Dordrecht. He had no
knowledge of farming or breeding but he was willing to help
and to learn and acquired the farm with 25 mares. He borrowed
Sydney Birch to get the stud straight and to educate him in the
game. Years later and with the confidence of the first success,
he acquired MAINE CHANCE STUD. With a reasonable
injection of capital and new blood he was able to make the
studs successful again, or by his own admission “to have made
a go of it”. Thereafter he acquired HIGHLANDS from the late
Jack Stubbs. This was 18 years ago. Since then he has disposed
of both STORMBERG and MAINE CHANCE while
HIGHLANDS has been expanded by the acquisition of the
adjacent NOREEN stud from the Gorton’s. His successes in this
field have been legendary and he has bred the winner of just
about every major stakes race in South Africa.
At present he runs 125 mares on 480 ha under the watchful eye
of stud manager Mike Sharkey. As Mike says most of the
foundation line mares of PERSIAN WONDER have been replaced
and the strongest line is probably that of ENCHANTING, the
dam of HARRY’S CHARM and ENCHANTRESS and the
family of NATIONAL CURRENCY. The stud is diversifying its
mare lines by importing younger lines from the USA. Some of
the fillies are already racing in South Africa and although they
are bred to Northern Hemisphere time, are doing well. In total,
52 will arrive for this draft. The philosophy of the stud is
“Quality rather than Quantity” and the first step towards this
has already been taken by reducing the average age of the mares
from 19 to 11 years.
The stallions at HIGHLANDS include NATIONAL ASSEMBLY,
JALLAD (2002 Champion Sire and owned in partnership with
Laurie Jaffee), JOSHUA DANCER, WEST MAN and
WINDRUSH a young son of SEEKING THE GOLD which was
imported from the Beck’s USA farm, GAINSWAY
THOROUGHBRED STUD in Lexington, Kentucky. Further
synergy can be expected with the USA enterprise which is
operated by Graham’s son Antony.
Graham foresees further consolidation in the industry
as it is extremely capital intensive. It is tough to breed
good quality horses consistently and there is a
constant need for capital for new blood and imported
stallions. As a result the small breeders and new
entrants with limited capital will find it difficult to
succeed.
Just as Graham got into breeding by accident so too did he get
into wine making. Twenty-two years ago, after the Laingsburg
floods had caused flooding and destruction of farms in the
Robertson area, his attorney recommended he help out the
farmer on which the GRAHAM BECK wine farm now stands.
Graham had to start from scratch and he admits to making
69