Rabada is going home to Summerhill

Dual Grade 1 winner Rabada will stand at stud at his birthplace, Summerhill in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

Summerhill said the 2016 Daily News 2000 winner would be “championing the cause of the Northern Dancer story”, alluding to the farm’s legendary stallion who is part of Rabada’s bloodline.

The son of Brave Tin Soldier’s career was hit by injury but still registered five wins for earnings of well over R1 million.

His trainer Mike Azzie said: “Rabada was an absolute joy to train. He was my pick for the [2016] Durban July ahead of [stablemate] Abashiri. I just wish we’d been able to run him.

“He had brilliant two-year-old speed and the class to carry it over 2000m. Remember, he won the Daily News without the stick, which tells you that, besides his natural talent, he was as genuine as the day was blue.”

Summerhill stallion barn boss Richard Hlongwane said: “I’ve worked with several champion stallions in my 28 years at Summerhill, and I’ve seen Sadler’s Wells, Danehill and Galileo, Sunday Silence and Deep Impact during my stints at Coolmore in Ireland and more recently at Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley in Japan.

“I can honestly say Rabada was a standout from the day he was born; he ranks alongside the best of them for his physique, his power and his presence, and, like all of them, he could walk for England (or Ireland or Japan)!”