Saturday’s Gr3 Tony Ruffel Stakes (1400m) at Turffontein winner William Robertson is the first SW for Rafeef.
That aside, the win is also significant as it makes Rafeef (picture: TSA) the 31st son of Redoute’s Choice to sire a stakes winner.
Bred by Arrowfield and Klawervlei Stud, Rafeef is out of the South African Champion National Colour (National Assembly), South African Horse Of The Year in 2005-6 and a three-time Gr1 winner including the Computaform Sprint and Mercury Sprint.
From five foals to race by Redoute’s Choice, National Colour has four winners, two of them at Gr1 level in South Africa with Mustaaqeem rated the Champion 2YO Colt of 2016-17 when his wins included the Gr1 South African Nursery and now at stud in Chile.
Racing for Shadwell Stud and trained by Mike De Kock, Rafeef is 3×3 Danzig and was at his best as a four-year-old, emulating his dam in winning the Gr1 Computaform Sprint over 1000 metres at Turffontein and the Gr2 Hawaii Stakes over 1400 metres at the same course.
Retired to the Kieswetter Family-owned Ridgemont Highlands Farm in the Western Cape, Rafeef has two crops of racing age and currently has 28 winners with three stakes performers and was South African leading first-season sire in 2020-21, advertised at R30,000 last season.
William Robertson is out of a mare by Trippi, a son of End Sweep (Forty Niner) who shuttled to Arrowfield Stud for three seasons from 1999 through 2001.
Redoutes Choice sired Gr3 winner She’s Clean out of an End Sweep mare while his sons Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt also have stakes winners out of End Sweep mares.
William Robertson’s granddam Pacific Lights (Al Mufti) is inbred 2×2 to the brothers Roberto and Mullineaux and Redoute’s Choice and his sons have enjoyed good success with mares carrying Roberto in their pedigree.
Redoute’s Choice has Gr1 winner The Autumn Sun with Lear Fan (Roberto) as his maternal grandsire while his son Fast ’n’ Famous got Gr1 winner Quintessential with her maternal grandsire Darby Creek Road).
Redoute’s Choice’s Champion sire son Snitzel has Gr1 winners Trapeze Artist, Yearning and Estijaab out of mares by sons of Red Ransom (Roberto).
Not A Single Doubt has Gr1 winner Secret Agenda out of a mare by Red Ransom and in reverse, Redoute’s Choice is the broodmare sire of Victoria Derby winner Extra Brut, a son of Domesday (Red Ransom).
This Redoute’s Choice / Red Ransom combination is also seen in Gr1 winner Sunlight as well as Gr2 winners Time To Reign, Arcadia Dream, Vavasour and Lightsaber.
In reverse Redoute’s Choice is the broodmare sire of dual South African Gr1 winner Linebacker, a son of Captain Of All, a grandson of Al Mufti (Roberto).
Roberto and Mullineaux are 5×4 Mumtaz Begum through three-quarter brothers Nasrullah and Royal Charger and Rafeef’s maternal grandsire Mr Eats carries two strains of Mumtaz Mahal through his sire Nishapour (Zeddaan) and with his granddam by Abernant (Owen Tudor).
Royal Charger’s brother Madara as well as Nasrullah appear in the fifth generation of Trippi’s pedigree.
Returning to Rafeef and there some interesting patterns already recurring in his winners with his Gr2-placed son Aragosta is out of a Galileo mare like The Autumn Sun and his Listed-placed Whafeef is similarly bred out of a mare by Fort Wood (Sadler’s Wells) and his dual winner Zambaq is out of a mare by Horse Chestnut (Fort Wood).
The three-time winner Franca is out of a mare by Red Ransom while he has winners Secret Oasis out of a mare by Al Mufti and Civil Rights has Al Mufti as her maternal granddam.
Al Mufti is present in the pedigree of five-time winner Bella Chica and the winner Our Emily and Rafeef also has the dual winner Dockofthebay bred on the same Trippi cross as William Robertson.
Interestingly last season’s juvenile winner Mounia is 2×3 Redoute’s Choice with her granddam the Australian-bred Modellista.