Special Edition of Taking The Reins with Rishi Persad and Craig Keiswetter 2024.
Find out more about the cricketing career of Craig Kieswetter, details about the success of Ridgemont Stud Farm and the aspirations of the Robertson breeding operation
Hello and welcome to a special edition of taking the Reigns alongside me uh former International cricketer Craig Keys wer who’s now making a Big Splash in the world of international horse racing but if I could just take you back to your first career your first Incarnation Craig um just looking at the
Success you had in a relatively short space of time how do you reflect on that yourself now my first career makes me sound very old the start of that though but well you did retire at 27 yeah 27 had a quite a unfortunate injury had to retire but was
Able to experience quite a lot in in that sort of relatively short um career so had a great time down in Somerset uh it’s side of country which is which is great um got to play with some incredible cricketers you know Lang or scoic KCK um and then was was lucky
Enough to be able to experience some of the the international stuff and the the travel and the competition which sort of culminated in the highlight of of winning um the World Cup the T20 World Cup in in Barbados which which was a bizarre 3 weeks to say the least you
Know it’s everyone it was sort of at the the the origin of 2020 cricket and you see how it’s How professional it is now and but back then it was a bit more un unknown the concept of the game so those three weeks were were great fun it was
Beach a bit of rum bit of cricket and sort of just keep going and we just somehow rolled into three weeks in a in a world cup trophy similar sort of life you just replaced Cricket for racing and rum with wine yeah um but similar yeah
Yeah it is similar I think the the highs are definitely higher in in in in racing right well for me uh and the lows are as well um because I suppose the in the cricket side of it the there’s more you can control and here in in the in the
Horse side it’s you know at ban or at ridgmont we’ll breed a horse and then it’s if we sell it it’s it’s gone you know it’s it’s out of our control and if we if we take horse into training you know we we we break it in and prep it
Ourselves and then we give it to the trainer and then it’s out of our control and then there’s a jockey on it which is out of our control and so I think the the unknown is what creates that that tension and then that that sort of
Release of um of joy when your horse does win it’s extraordinary to hear you say that considering the highs that you experienced you mentioned the Cricket World Cup and you played a pivotal role in England winning that tournament yeah we were it was sort of just a bizarre scene
You know we the whole team was built around we weren’t having any expectation to win and uh you know Andrew Flower who who was the coach at the time was very big on just going out and expressing yourselves and having no sort of uh regrets or or feeling you could hold
Back so and it just sort of clicked and jailed and we nearly got knocked out very early on by um irand and and the West Indies and we got through on a sort of duck with L sort of thing and and we thought well that’s our bit of luck for
The tournament and and let’s just give it a give it a go from there so we went in with that sort of aggressive very much a structured plan of how we would play but a very aggressive one which which sort of came to fruition tell me something during your Cricket career did
You keep a close eye on what’s happening in the world of horse racing I mean I often very lucky enough to work in other sports when I’m doing other sports I do keep a close eye on it because it’s a passion so has it always been a passion
And whilst you were busy traveling around the world did you maintain some sort of focus on the world of racing yeah I did you know the world got smaller and smaller obviously now with phones and social media and all that sort of stuff and um my my parents were
Involved in well my granddad was involved in in uh in horses um and he used to sort of ride amateur and my then my old man got into it and and Mom and Dad got into it and um with with very close friends of our the finches who
Sort of raced together um the girls raced it together in colors and we had some lovely horses and some very very quick Phillies and a couple of them are are overseas at ban but the the racing side it’s hard to not take you know heed of Frankle or caner Cliffs or you know
These these horses when they’re running but down in sumerset it’s a lot more sort of jumps and National hunt racing and a friend of mine was a um was a journalist in in Somerset and he said oh if you got a free morning why don’t you
Come along to um Martin and David pip so I said oh that’s great so we we we go down there and um he was sort of the the Forerunner in um training obviously Martin in terms of of Walkers and pools and his track and all that sort of stuff
And it was great did you see the lab yeah saw everything there it was great they put on a proper show and you go into a study and there’s 12 TVs and there’s horses everywhere and it’s you know it’s it’s all quite over overbearing and then he starts putting
On the champagne and I like Jo this is a great thing isn’t it um and after so Martin he’s now I think he was back then he was in his sort of mid 70s and he he says Craig why don’t we play some table tennis so I said sure let’s play table
Tennis and we knock a few balls and I’m sure you know that he’s probably done it with all his owners I’m shaking my head cuz I know what’s coming been hustled into this horse so he says right I’ll tell you what we played first to
21 um and if I beat you you have to buy a horse and and we train it and if I don’t beat you I’ll give you three years free training keep or whatever it was so I was like that’s a great great idea well needless to say the game was over
In a minute I lost 210 and had to then walk out the games we walk into the yard and had a choice of four horses to pick so we picked this horse called um called Citrus and then Nick Craven um from weather bees was was was helping us with
The communication and the chats and all that that sort of stuff and I drove around the country trying to watch this horse win had no chance in eight races and then I get down to Plumpton and it’s a field of 12 horses at the first uh at the first
Hurdle eight4 so it’s now a four horse race he’s got a three furong lead and he wins by neck so it was a one I mean look it was it was an extremely interesting experiment but it got us into um got us into the jump scene where
We’ve always sort of been in the in the in the flat so after the life in cricket how did you make the transition to committing to uh a career or the rest of your time in racing and was there any other distraction or potential distractions so that after Cricket you
Would have done something else I me so many cricketers now become pundits or commentators Etc the commentary thing you know or the presenting thing was sort of there and thereabouts and it was never quite sure I tried my hand to golf for a little bit um and then I think
Good the the timing have taken your money before went with didn’t need to mention prer no need to mention that but all right yes you did um but I think the the timing of my my um retirement and or the the injury and then the retirement
We we had a horse called um whisky Baron who won the Met it’s whiskey Baron who’s claimed the advantage no more from Leal legal and whiskey Baron goes on to win raced in with my brother our colors are the Scottish flag cuz our mom’s Scottish and that sort of then created this real
Excitement and passion and we won and you know I I was 25 and my brother was 20 and so there two these two young guys celebrating like Hooligans and spraying champagne on the on the the cameras and all sorts of stuff and then after that we had urban fox who then wins the
Pretty Polly and then we had um my sister Sarah and ELP who obviously the jumpers so we’ve been quite fortunate with some quite big horses that have helped us or enabled us to sort of travel the world and and race at aset and cheltam and the me and Dubai and and
Then from there it sort of just the love and sort of grew really you mentioned whiskey Baron Brett Crawford brw how did that relationship first begin um so we’ve known Brett for a very very long time and uh we used to train with Joey Ramon uh and then we sort of
Built up a very strong Rapport in relationship with Brett and and Brett sort of then started slowly taking most of the horses um and whiskey Baron was the real you know sort of well we’re mainly Phillies so he was the the big cult yeah um and he was the one that
Really got it started you know we’ve had we had some Phillies that um that won black top races and then he was the big one and the Met for for Cape tonian it’s sort of it’s the the Kings plate and the met and um for Jo for Joe Burgers it’s
The summer cup and for Durban it’s the Durban July you know the Hollywood bets Durban July so to be able to win to win the Met was unexpected I mean we were racing against some some incredible horses there uh legal eagle who was um four-time horse of the year and
Addictive NS and and these these proper proper horses so it was um unexpected but the celebration was was wild yeah well winning on the track is one thing breeding them to deliver on the track is another tell me the story invol how did you learn about breeding did you always
Know had you always had an interest in pedigrees Etc no so that sort of came after really uh Brian Finch and my old man are are close friends and the wives and moms raced together and Brian sort of got my old man into the breeding
Scene a bit more and I think it sort of coincided when Ross and I left left the house and they were you know Mom and Dad alone and do they talk to each other or do they start breeding horses you know so they they um they got into the
Breeding and started off very small with it it was three or four Mayes together in partnership with Brian and Kathy and then a farm called Highlands uh stud who was owned by Anthony Beck who’s gr Beck’s son who owns gainsway uh came up on the market and and Mom and Dad bought
Highlands and the whole sort of rebranding then came into into Ridgemont which is what it was always originally ridgmont but we then slowly started to get it under the banner of Ridgemont and tell me about the May’s stallions that you have there and the quality the
Breadth of that yeah I don’t want to tell you how many horses we got on the farm because it makes it sound a bit ridiculous but we we currently please no I want to hear ridiculous come on we we’re currently at about 13 40 mes wow yeah and there there’s
There’s room for expansion you know we’ve we’ve got a very a big project of of trying to challenge to be Champion breeder and that’s that’s definitely a goal of ours so that that’s all yours or are their borders there we have a few clients as well we have a few clients as
Well but uh you know we’re constantly looking for more land for more more pics um and over the years Highlands has been a very strong stallion farm and but when we took over the farm The Brood M BAND needed a lot of improvement and it was a
Fairly old brood M BAND and we bought it with a a stallion called dasty who’s obviously very well known in the country and we spent a lot of time and resource and energy on on upgrading the broodmare um The Brood band and and now that we’ve
Got the band into a bit of an area where we’re quite comfortable and happy with we made a push for for stallion you know so we we obviously we our first purchase was Canford Cliffs through Peter Anna and Ross Doyle uh rafif came in who was
Raced up in churg um we we’ve path Fork who obviously Jesse Harrington and um trained um a horse called palala Palace who won group one in jobber and um recently our two new additions are um malm okay who’s also um Shadwell along with rafif uh was was won the Triple
Crown up in in jaberg and a snitel cult called Real Gone Kid who we bred um and brought back and raced and very quick and very Speedy so we’ve uh we we’ve got a good little band and we’ve we’ve just bought along with a Consortium a
Stelling called Hit the Road uh by more than ready who raced in the in America who’s the same sire as give me the greenl who’s champion s here so he’s due to arrive in the next sort of 6 weeks to two months on the farm and um it’s quite
Exciting so we we’re trying to take on the other other breeders and give it a real go and how do you make those decisions is it a big team effort obviously you mentioned Ross your brother are there a few other people involved in planning the strategy of how
You do the turnover of mays which stallions you look to um recruit and and then the the crosses and the Knicks Etc yeah we’ve got we’ve got a very good team here and um in bonan you know here we’ve obviously got Mom and Dad my brother and I my brother’s wife Julia
She sort of is running we’ve got a little farm in Willington which is 40 minutes from Cape Town which does all the the pre-training the breaking and the spelling of horses um with its own track and the facilities there are really really really good so we we sort
Of keep it all inh house um and then we’re very fortunate to to have um Craig KY as as general manager who who’s comes with years and years and years of experience and um is passionate and has the same mentality and goal and idea that we have is to be Champions so I
Don’t want to just Bandy around random cliched words but Synergy seems to be one thing that seems to be working obviously there’s a relationship with Brett Crawford yeah uh Hollywood bets um and it all seems to be coming together how did that happen the Hollywood bets
Uh CU I think he’s obviously one he’s just been announced as one of the uh trainers that they’re supporting as well yeah so you know it’s Hollywood bets have have come on to the racing scene you know Owen heer and and Leslie um they’ve been in the game for 20 odd
Years um passionate as as anyone can be about horses and passionate not just about the horses but about the trainers and the Grooms and the yards and the and the race courses and and everything you know they’ve they’ve really sort of rejuvenated a lot of energy into the
Industry along as as a family and as a as a company and um we got to meet on and Leslie and and and the kids through Clinton Bender who’s a trainer and just sort of mom and dad got on well and the fam’s got on well and and so we were
Sort of leased them a few Phillies here and leased them a few Phillies there and um out of the last Cropper dynasties that we had we we’ve leased them um obviously make it snappy who last year won the the Phillies guines and The Paddock stakes and a Philly called happy
Chance who’s also who ran third in the in the paddock Stakes uh in early Jan so she’s running together with with make it snappy so um we’ve had a lot of success with the hea family and we’ve had U you know a some some success overseas as well there’s a Philly called bourjois
Who we raced with Richard Hannon um there’s a couple of jumpers with Willie Mullins um and uh it’s it’s going well so yeah you look you know um my old man and and own have have built up quite a strong friendship and uh there came an opportunity where together they they
Thought they could do something you know so Hollywood Hollywood is obviously purple and and and yellow and they will stay as Hollywood as their own racing um Division and then the hea family have come into Ridgemont with the KVA family under obviously the the the the blue and
Red and our racing silks as a as a two sort of two separate entities really um which is exciting you know it feels to me that Kate r in my short visit here so far Cape racing is right at the start of something very special everybody that
I’ve encountered all seem to be of the belief that it’s heading in the right direction which is an unusual feeling I have to tell you in the horse industry yeah it’s bizarre and you know the the cape racing you know about two two years ago three years ago was in a really
Really bad place um a couple of weeks ago weeks away from from shutting down and Hollywood bets along with um um Greg borts have have really come in and revolutionized uh not just the professionalism and and expectation of of uh excellence and class in this industry but the owner experience the
Trainer experience you know the general public experience um facilities have been improved um the day-to-day running has been improved communication has been improved the excitement is building incentives for for uh races and race days um and they they’ brought you know Greg and his team of Cape racing have
Brought a real excitement towards wanting to be part of Cape racing which is a hard thing to do but once you get that momentum rolling it’s then very easy for people to want to get involved because everyone wants to get involved in something that works and something
That’s fun um so you know it’s been I’m sure no doubtful for the cap racing team it’s been a really tough challenge um but the rewards are certainly reaping with in terms of the quality of horses that are coming to the cape um and the the the amount of people that are
Wanting to get involved I mean race race horse ownership you know syndication has come in um and race horse ownership is now growing and growing and growing and growing compared to where it was 3 years ago so it’s just a pleasure to be part of really and to be able to sell horses
At a at a cape sale as a cape breeder and and a mainly a cape racer is um is where we want to be now what’s the story with Megan Snappy you’ve touched on the fact that last year she obviously had that lovely run up until the cape met um
She I think she started favorite for that race didn’t she these punas are bizarre I don’t know how they get that I mean there was some phenomenal horses I think you know um in that race and I think just coming off that that run she had she was started off joint favorite
Which I never like anyway um and unfortunately you know she there was a little bit of a a wind issue she had to be obviously laid off for just over a year now or and had to have a a little bit of operation it’s been a you know
It’s been a tough road for Brett to get her and his team to get her back to where she is so you know it’s we’ve been seeing quite a lot of her recently at the yard she was at the beach this morning and she’s she’s a monster she’s
Properly a monster of a Philly that’s how yeah I mean that’s how she won the guine and and the padic and uh you know Lou the jockey I was quite surprised with how aggressive he was you know in in the in the padic stage she had a
Wider draw so he had to be fairly fairly sharp to get it out but I was quite surprised with how aggressive he was in getting it there but the way in which she won he obviously clearly knows what he’s what he’s doing but it’s quite a
Bully way of running yeah and it’s I don’t know which I prefers either coming off or or going going out the front you know because watching South African racing over the years you think they they Sprint at the end and the finishers have such a good uh or seemingly have an
Advantage but watching her race if if if this was the UK for example you’d say oh just let a bowl along yeah just let her just let her roll because she looks to have a really lengthy stride you don’t want to interfere with it as they as
Trainers often say yeah she’s a big girl and she’s she’s she’s got a great stride a big stride her recovery is very good and we’ve been monitoring her recovery recently as well so um she’s just one of those Phillies that you know everyone goes oh that’s such a feminine horse and
It’s so beautiful she’s not she’s just a monster was there ever option for her to travel abroad yeah but winning the the pic Stakes she can go into the Breeders Cup right but the problem is and it’s it’s a discussion a much longer discussion for another time is is the
Travel out of South Africa with African horse sickness and international acceptance and all that sort of stuff so um what without going too deep into discussion where roughly are we with I thought maybe a couple of years ago if not slightly further back that there was a movement to improve
Quarantine travel but that hasn’t there’s certainly uh uh there’s certainly been the Improvement on the South African side and the industry have done and tried everything that they can to get the acceptance internationally right um there’s still a few options available that that are being rumored about and and discussed and chatted and
Thrown around but at the moment it’s it’s not looking as enticing as as we believe it should be or or as easy as we believe it should be um and I think there’s a few political issues in terms of you know Australia being the market
It is so strong now they they not and the currency exchange the quality of horses you know International clients from Asia Hong Kong America can come and buy sou African horses with the exchange rated a lot cheaper than they could at in Australia so there’s there’s a whole load
Of divides which are not really favoring us even though we think that the protocol we’ve set up is acceptable um obviously we could carry on chatting about so many different topics but I suppose one thing I’d like to ask you about cuz you’ve had some wonderful days I mean I’ve seen you at
Royal aset you had a a winner at Royal aset candleford oh we shared a winner at royal aset royal aset winning owners yeah exactly welcome to a special episode of Royal aset winning owners taking the Reigns uh but you must so for a sportsman like you obviously achieving World Cup success with England
Etc what would be those successes on the race course the ones that you think exceeded well whiskey Baron winning the Met is definitely one urban fox winning the judon pretty poly Eko and Rain winning two grade ones with Willie Mullins El tomp who we own with the he
Family winning he beat F Fel Vega and obviously candleford at the uh the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes on the same meeting we both had a win at Royal ASA um and then there’s been there’s been a few small other ones you know we we not we didn’t battle with a Philly we
Had a Philly called Iris who was in training with Candace bass Robinson right who was a a really quick five foong th000 meter Philly and chatting to Candace and we decided we go raid there’s a a listed race up in Port Elizabeth and we went there not expecting anything to happen and she
Ends up winning and so makes makes me think I know what I’m talking about but actually I leave it to cig kry and the trainers really so um but it there’s you know and then the same it’s sort of it it’s taken in the breeding side has
Taken a turn where you know we sold out of urban fox we sold a duwi cult to Dary which was lovely and then you see Phillies that we’ve fall down and raised and have raced and have done well and now they’re back in Fall so that’s that
That Circle and the families and getting to know the families is also quite quite special so do you have any particularly burning Ambitions or are you living out the dream at the moment and just willing to make it last for as long as possible I know it’ll last long I hope well we
Set quite a strong precedent early on with um with the the amount of success we’ve had but I think we’ve been quite lucky to find the right people you know along with Craig KY or Brett Crawford or um Peter Ross and Anna Doyle and Patrick when Jones who runs the Irish side for
Us and you know and we’ve had a a lot of success with a lot of people who’ve all played their part you know and um to be able to do it with a group of people that are that are all equally passionate and equally driven it makes the success
A lot sweeter I suppose well it’s wonderful to watch you making a success of something different having watched you do it on the cricket field at the expense of the West Indies annoyingly in the West Indies as well um that was a painful experience but nonetheless this has been a very enjoyable experience
Craig thank you so much for your time look forward to seeing you again cheers
