Ridgemont, who enjoyed an extraordinary day on The Championships Finale raceday at Turffontein last Saturday, will welcome dual Gr1 winning sprinter Thunderstruck as a new recruit to their illustrious stallion barn in the Robertson Valley this coming breeding season.

A brilliantly fast son of Ridgemont’s resident standout Rafeef, the four-year-old Thunderstruck most recently emulated his sought after sire when he claimed top honours in the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint.

Remarkably, Thunderstruck will be the third member of the Redoute’s Choice clan to stand at the historical Robertson nursery, as Rafeef is by the revered former Arrowfield champion, whilst barnmate Real Gone Kid is by his champion son Snitzel.

Thunderstruck’s wide spectrum of appeal will lie in the fact that he is a third-generation winner of the Computaform Sprint, given that he is by 2017 winner Rafeef, whose own dam National Colour dominated the Turffontein dash in 2006. Incidentally, he is also Rafeef’s second Computaform Sprint winner, his grey son Master Archie having preceded Thunderstruck in 2022.

“As a stallion prospect Thunderstruck ticks all the boxes – he is tough, sound, and ultra-consistent. He has won graded stakes races in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban and we are delighted to add a dynamically talented next generation dimension to our stallion barn. Rafeef has had a remarkable start to his career as a stallion, having sired a range of graded sprinters and stayers, and therefore showing the industry he is extremely versatile. Thunderstruck has fantastic qualities as a thoroughbred and his mental strength to provide consistency throughout his career is a very encouraging sign as a trait for him to pass on. Our thanks, as always go to Mary Slack and Jehan Malherbe for facilitating this opportunity, and of course to the shareholders for their interest and commitment,” said Ridgemont’s Craig Kieswetter.

Image: Thunderstruck / Candiese Lenferna