The King is dead, long live the King. True, we must still wait a while to discover which of his heirs might actually accede to his crown. But those grieving the death in August of Trippi, foundation sire at Drakenstein Stud, can console themselves that his legacy seems guaranteed.It already unites hemispheres. At the time Gaynor Rupert brought Trippi from Florida to her glorious farm in the Cape in 2008, his first crop were 5-year-olds. Among them was a sprinter named Miss Macy Sue, winner of half a dozen stakes. Even as her sire emigrated to the Western Cape, Miss Macy Sue also ventured to pastures new–as a broodmare. Her second foal was Liam's Map, followed a couple of years later by Not This Time.So it turned out that Trippi had left a breed-shaping gift to his native land. And it may well prove, in now leaving us for good, that he has similarly made a bequest to South Africa that will only grow more precious in the years ahead.That's because he waited until relatively late in his career to come up with two sons of blatant eligibility as potential successors. Both, indeed, have only lately joined the roster Trippi headed until pensioned in 2024. He was 19 when conceiving five-time Group 1 scorer Jet Dark (SAf); and 21 when coming up with the homebred Charles Dickens (SAf), likewise winner of the farm-sponsored G1 King's Plate.Charles Dickens, son of Drakenstein's foundation stallion Trippi, is a three-time Group 1 winner | Chase Liebenstein photoAs a result, Trippi's final crop of 3-year-olds will be handing the baton almost directly to Jet Dark, whose first yearlings went through the roof at the sales; and then Charles Dickens, whose first foals evidently look equipped to do the same.So while Rupert is naturally heartbroken by his loss, at 29, she can only be gratified to reflect on the momentous day she first set eyes on Trippi at Ocala Stud. She inspected around 30 possible recruits during that tour of Kentucky and Florida, but none matched his thunderbolt impact.To Kevin Somerville, manager of Drakenstein Stud, Trippi is the ultimate example of South Africa's potential as a reciprocating resource for different gene pools.“With Not This Time and also Liam's Map putting such a mark on American racing and breeding, there's now an opportunity to tap into probably Trippi's two best ever racehorses,” he says. “There's no doubt in my mind that both Charles Dickens and Jet Dark would have excelled, if they'd raced in America–perhaps Charles Dickens in particular, with the natural speed he had. Jet Dark was a horse that built up into a race, whereas Charles had that turn of foot to quicken really well in sticky situations.”According to Rupert, it took local horsemen a little time to understand how to get the best from Trippi's stock, who responded best when not handled aggressively; and also how to draw out the speed he had himself best deployed round a single turn, notably in winning the GI Vosburgh Stakes. But he gradually worked his way to the pinnacle, as champion sire in 2015-16, and ultimately delivered 13 elite scorers. His global aggregates include 857 winners, 94 of them at stakes and 47 at graded/group level.“If I had to choose one word to describe the progeny that he's left us, having obviously dealt with a lot of them, I would say 'brilliance' comes most easily to mind,” Somerville reflects. “A very natural brilliance, which he certainly imparted to Jet Dark and Charles Dickens. And he was such a gorgeous horse, who left such beautiful stock.“I've worked in a lot of places and was very privileged to do the Darley 'Flying Start,' so I've seen lots of stallions and their progeny. And one thing for sure is that Trippi absolutely stamped his stock with those exceptional looks that appealed to Gaynor so much when she first saw him in Florida.”There is an equally specific satisfaction among the Drakenstein team in welcoming even fresher blood to the roster in Snow Pilot because he, too, is charged with a very special legacy. Lancaster Bomber, a Group 1 winner for Ballydoyle, had only just started his career here when dropping dead in 2021, aged just seven. Yet from his only two crops, he mustered five elite winners, including Drakenstein graduate Eight On Eighteen (SAf), who recently added the Champions Cup to his Group 1 collection. Snow Pilot, winner of the G1 Cape Guineas, was moreover homebred from Snowdance (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}), herself a dual Group 1 winner.“We're incredibly fortunate that Lancaster Bomber has the chance to leave a legacy,” Somerville agrees. “He had fewer than 100 foals, so it was long odds against. But we really did give him a chance. We sent him some lovely mares and he delivered the goods for us, including Beach Bomb, who we sent to America to win a couple of graded races.Jet Dark is one of two sons of Trippi at Drakenstein and is a five-time Group 1 winner | Chase Liebenstein photo“Obviously it was a great loss to the farm, but now we get to stand this beautiful son of his and we should have a lot of fun with him. At our stallion day, Gai Waterhouse was really impressed by Snow Pilot, as a physical. She said he looked a horse that could get stock to get up and go early. His bloodlines will be a complete outcross for European mares.”And that, indeed, remains a potential springboard for the South African breeding industry, now that equine traffic has finally been unshackled by protocols regarding what was always considered highly marginal exposure to African Horse Sickness. The model, with a respectful sense of humility, is Japan, where drawing on different gene pools has produced such a potent hybrid.“I mean, we're trying our best,” Somerville says. “I do think we've a unique product, on the southern tip of Africa, something appealing to a lot of countries outside of us. Because it's sort of fresh blood, an outcross to everything else.“We don't really push our horses to be early, either, and I think that plays out with the soundness and toughness. We don't have the issues of particular bloodlines dominating. We've kept some of the old ones going. Here on the farm, we have the Nijinsky sire-line, the Roberto sire-line, as well as obviously Mr. Prospector–Trippi was by End Sweep–and Northern Dancer.”The South African Thoroughbred has historically permitted no doubt of its ability to meet the highest international standards, from Epsom to Dubai. Beach Bomb picked up the thread even before restrictions were eased, while Gimme a Nother (SAf) (Gimmethegreenlight {Aus}) has meanwhile lit a path in recently winning a third consecutive graded stakes.“From the 1930s to the 1960s, South Africa was able to import some really wonderful racehorses,” Somerville reminds us. “Some of the highest rated horses in Timeform came here, because ours was quite a wealthy country. So the breed here was built on good bloodlines. But something more recent that could be really important is that we haven't been able to export many horses. If you look at Argentina or Brazil, for instance, a lot of their good race fillies are exported. And that can be quite destructive to your population. We haven't had that leakage here, during the years we haven't been able to get horses out. So actually how we cross this bridge, with exporting again, is going to be very important.”He cites the example of Via Africa (SAf) (Var), who found her way to Australia and whose filly by The Autumn Sun (Aus) topped the 2023 Inglis Easter Sale at A$1.8 million before duly emerging as multiple Grade I winner Autumn Glow (Aus).“For me, that's extraordinary,” Somerville says. “One of the great highlights of South African breeding. We've got wonderful breeders here that have retained really good families.”Not least through the influence of Trippi, Somerville believes that stock thriving in the local racing environment displays a genetic affinity for the U.S. theater.“We race on relatively tight tracks, relatively firm surfaces,” he notes. “And if you speak to somebody like Graham Motion, I think he was thoroughly impressed with the stock that arrived, especially after the journeys they had to get there.“But we're also realistic, in terms of where we are on the bigger stage. We're not naïve enough to think that we're breeding world champions. We just want to trade fairly, like the rest of the world; to have a fair shot and find out where our horses fit in. And then we can learn from that, and look to diversify our bloodlines further in areas that might be lacking.”Albeit he acknowledges the South African industry to be increasingly commercial, he does feel that breeders here remain less enslaved by fashion in keeping faith with the primary purpose of a Thoroughbred foal: to grow up as a runner. What luck, for instance, to import one of Danehill's most accomplished (and blue-blooded) performers, Duke Of Marmalade (Ire), at a time he was losing commercial luster in Europe. As a result, the farm was able to breed and raise triple Group 1 winner Rain In Holland (SAf).Unsurprisingly, given the impact of one of his daughters back home, Trippi himself also leaves an expanding footprint as a distaff influence. Trippi mares have lately delivered two elite winners, Gimme A Prince (SAf) and The Real Prince (SAf), to Gimmethegreenlight (Aus).Rupert reckons that she has no fewer than 38 of them strewn across the Drakenstein paddocks. While they can hardly assist Charles Dickens and Jet Dark, both dimensions of Trippi's legacy give her a great sense of fulfilment. For there had long been that nagging doubt, whether the King would sire a Prince.“He was breeding such wonderful racehorses, but just nothing that could quite go to stud,” Somerville recalls. “And then, very late in the day, he came up with, not one, but two. So we're going to give his progeny the best chance, both his mares and now his sons as well. Because he has left such a huge mark on this farm, as the first stallion that ever came here. To come here as a relative unknown, and do everything he has, it's an incredible story, really. So we're going to give them the best chance we can.”The post Drakenstein Cherishing Trippi Legacy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.