Trainer Sean Tarry said about his 2024 Grade 1 Gold Medallion winner, Proceed: “He had blinding acceleration and Grade 1 form that stood up in no uncertain terms. He was precocious, progressive and professional.”
Proceed has been retired to stand at Bruce le Roux and Tinus Gericke’s Blue Sky Thoroughbreds stud in Mooi River. As a young, lightly-raced entire with an outstanding pedigree and proven Grade 1 ability, he presents an intriguing option for discerning breeders.
Proceed had South Africa’s current star sprinter Buffalo Storm Cody five lengths behind him when winning the 2024 Grade 3 TAB Protea Stakes – and went on to defeat his since, well-accomplished Grade 1 winning stablemate Cosmic Speed in the Gold Medallion.
Laid off due to injury at three, Proceed’s record shows three wins from seven starts at two, a Grade 1 and Grade 3 success, and two Grade 2 places. He enters the stud arena with his reputation fully intact and, in what would be typical in the breeding barns of Europe but not always in South Africa, his early retirement protects his racetrack value and maximises the number of breeding seasons available to him.
Proceed is by Gimmethegreenlight – the fourth son of the multiple champion stallion to go to stud – out of Xplosive Kiss – a winning daughter of champion broodmare sire Captain Al. Her most recent running foal is Proceed’s talented two-year-old half-brother Turn It Up (Querari). He is three wins from four starts, and regarded as a potential star.
Just as importantly, Proceed joins a breeding operation that has quickly established an impressive reputation.
Blue Sky Thoroughbreds boasts a remarkable 45% strike rate of winners to runners, and they occupy seventh spot (out of 360 active breeders) on the National Log for Breeders in South Africa after just four full seasons in the business, with three graduates among the 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July hopefuls.
Bruce Le Roux, who is most excited about the revival of the breeding industry in KwaZulu-Natal, noted: “Proceed has been with us on the farm for a few weeks. He’s a lovely and athletic horse. He’s like a teenager, rising four, full of energy and enthusiasm. His going to let down into a beautiful stallion”
“We are very pleased to have a stallion from the potent Gimmethegreenlight/Captain Al cross and grateful to Laurence Wernars and Vermaak Equine for giving us the opportunity.”
Justin Vermaak said that Proceed will be syndicated, and that Laurence Wernars will retain a majority share. He will remain in KZN for a minimum of 10 years and will be receiving quality foundation support with some of Wernars’ well-performed race mares, including She’s a Giver (Philanthropist), already the dam of Graded performer Mount Pinatubo), Princess Blitz (What A Winter, an own sister to Master Archie), Grade 2 winner Netta (Where’s That Tiger) and the smart Grade 3 winning sprinter, Alula’s Star.
Wernars commented: “Proceed holds a special place in my heart because he is one of only two Grade 1 winners I have bred, the other being Fatal Flaw. There is nothing quite like leading in a home-bred horse after a Grade 1 victory.
“When Proceed arrived at Sean Tarry’s stable, Sean remarked that he was on the small side. Fortunately, that proved no obstacle once he reached the training track, where the early reports were that he possessed exceptional natural speed. The rest, as they say, is history.
“Sean reminded me recently that some of the greatest stallions the world has ever seen were not particularly big horses. We are excited to see what the next chapter holds for Proceed.”
Proceed’s fellow resident sires at Blue Sky are Chimichuri Run (Trippi), who has already produced five individual two-year-old winners from his first crop, and Double Superlative (Twice Over) who covered 74 mares in his first season last year.
Pics by Candiese Lenferna