London News dies of Colic

Sad news--->>> Article on Racing web

Very sad news, I see its 12 years since he won in Hong Kong, a giant step for SA racing!

" HE'S DONE EVERYTHING THEY SAID HE WOULD..."

R.I.P

Sad news of a great stalwart

oh no.....rip

What Year for SA stallions. So many dying young or youngish.

He was an ambassador for this country and our sport!!!

RIP

RIP

FREEMANSTALLIONS by email

A massive storm brewed in my home town last night, the gods went mad and unleashed unfamiliar bolts of lighting across the Cape Town skies with fierce winds and buckets of hail all night long. This was not just the case in Cape Town; we are told that the heavens wept right across South Africa – in sympathy of South Africa’s sad loss.

London News died yesterday.

Terry Silcock called on Sunday to inform me that Dr Rous was summoned on Saturday evening. It seemed that London News was showing signs of colic. They did not know then that he was riddled with cancer. They treated him well into the early hours of Sunday morning and again some time later. He seemed to rally and even to make progress but eventually at 11am he gave up the fight. The autopsy revealed that he was full of cancer – tumours on the intestine with signs of cancer on his liver and even in his heart which Dr Rous said was clear evidence of why he was such a Champion. It was, he reported, the biggest he has ever seen.

London News was bred by Wilfred and Shirley Koster at Cheveley Stud Farm near Ceres and Jean selected him with Alec Laird as her dream horse at the yearling sales – she wrote a glowing tribute to him in her book – “and away they go”. London News became an icon of our industry as he carried Laurie and Jean Jaffee’s famous red, white and black silks to international fame under the diligent care of Alec Laird as the first SA-bred champion to win abroad in over 50 years. In fact it was the invitation to race in the QEII in Hong Kong that got our industry off its proverbial and set the plans in motion, far too long just talked about, to establish international export protocols.

So many people have to be credited for eventually establishing the links that made it all possible. However, it is an irrefutable fact that London News was the catalyst that made it all happen – he opened the doors for our horses to race overseas – almost as if the world suddenly realised that we could send our horses abroad without risking the health of their horses because; London News did it. He gave our Southern Hemisphere competition such a fright when he shattered the Southern Hemisphere 2000m record in the Gr1 Daily News and then shed an unbelievable 1.5 secs off the Hong Kong course record that they rushed home and have kept their doors double bolted to our horses ever since. Everyone that was ultimately involved felt they’d won the race with the Jaffee’s, Alec and London News in the end. He became a much needed boost to our industry’s national racing pride. It was probably the most significant event in the history of SA racing and one of our finest sporting achievements – he made front page news.

If there was anyone in SA racing at that time who did not watch the race and make a call to a pal to enthuse about the result, they were not serious about racing. Such was the impact of the event.

He made light of the impossible, but Hong Kong was not enough. His connections decided to by-pass the Cox Plate in Australia and sent him on an even more gruelling flight – this time to England. Another round of unnatural stabling in sterile air-conditioned quarantine units to take on the best in the world on more unfamiliar underfoot conditions. He finished 3rd behind Bosra Sham, went to Ireland and came home to race again as a 5yo. He won the Gr2 Drill Hall and placed in GR1 races 3 times more before everyone agreed – it was time to send him to stud. In all he won 11 races (5 of them Gr1) and he was twice Equus Horse of the Year and twice voted by the Equus panel as the best of his generation. He is one of only two horses ever to win the July/ Met double (in that order).

Such was his popularity that when we got the nod to offer shares for sale he syndicated within a matter of 24 hours and there was a waiting list for shares. He stood at Cheveley from 1998 until 2006 when Terry and Barbara and their clients acquired a block of shares and took him to Starston where he lived out the rest of his days.

He was well supported by Terry and his clients and covered over 150 mares in the next 3 seasons. He turned 17 this year and though he was not going to cover a full book again he was still being supported and covered a few mares in the week before he died.

Tributes have poured in since the news of his death. It is spine chilling that Laurie and Jean and Wilfred all died as a consequence of that dreaded disease all within a short space of time and that London News followed so soon after. They are all surely reunited at that big racecourse in the sky – reliving the glory of those magnificent races. We are eternally grateful to all who have helped London News in his career, to all of the owners, trainers, jockeys and connections that supported his progeny. Being the product of South African champions and from a distaff line that produced more stakes winners than 95% of the stallions at stud, the name London News will live on through his daughters.

As we honour London News we praise our late chums Wilfred, Laurie and Jean for giving us all so much fun and excitement and to Shirley and Vaughan, Barbara and Terry and all of the London News Syndicate shareholders.

If you want us to send you copy of the chapter from Jean’s book which deals with London News please email us.

A sad day indeed and a heartwarming piece by John Freeman, once again illustrating the incredible highs and the devastating lows of this game.

devastating, a true SA racing legend.

Thanks for all of the wonderful tributes and messages we have received about London News.

Just thought I should share the following information and links with you:

1. We have opened a page for London News on Facebook. A great place to record all of our tributes to the champ. Just search for London News (Saf) to add any comments you wish to record or to view what others have had to say. Some really emotional material there.
2. Attached is a tribute written by Jimmy Lithgow on the European Bloodstock News

I called Dr Gavin Rous yesterday to thank him for the effort he put into London News’ last hours and to discuss his findings. He told me about the grapefruit sized tumours he found in his intestines and how badly these had poisoned his system – said he had been very brave not to show signs of extreme pain long ago. But then he also said that he had never seen such a large heart before. He unfortunately did not weigh it for posterity but he did say that the aorta was so big that he could fit four fingers into it. Imagine a heart tube that big. If only we could see that much of them when we buy them.

We have had many suggestions about tributes to the horse. So many of you want to see some sort of memorial to him. I have good news; there is a really fitting tribute to him in the TBA museum at the Sales Complex in Germiston – Jean Jaffee donated a beautiful bronze statue crafted by Stella Shawzin. There are also wonderful pictures on the walls of some of his most memorable wins. The TBA is where he made his first public appearance and it is appropriate that this is where he should be remembered. When you visit the Ready to Run sale in November take a look.

Georgina Jaffee and Vaughan Koster are going to erect a memorial for him at Cheveley as well. I suggested that it would be good to put a huge rock in the rose garden in front of the stallion barn and then put a suitably engraved stone on top of that. Vaughan is also going to put a brass plaque on the wall of the box he lived in while he was there.

Vaughan read me the notes that his late father made shortly after London News was born:- big foal, poor head (roman nose), good bone, strong all round – k-knee off-fore, near-fore off centre. True to form he produced these characteristics in many of his stock but we are yet to find one that inherited his incredible heart. He covered three good size books at Starston, the earliest of which are now yearlings – every stallion will get a really good one, his is most likely to be amongst these. We can only hope.