John Everett is a modest, down-to-earth horseman, but his results at Narrow Creek Stud tell a bigger story. Operating as a small breeder among the industry’s heavyweights, he has steadily earned a reputation for punching above his weight.
From the available NHRA statistics drawn over the last six racing seasons, Narrow Creek shows an excellent average of 45% of winners to runners, which compares favourably with South Africa’s major breeders including Drakenstein Stud (49%), Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein (48%) and Varsfontein (46%).
In the 2021/2022, Narrow Creek’s average was 60.3% in a season the farm also produced an astonishing nine stakes winners from just 58 runners for a strike rate of 15.5%, which was significantly the highest of the Top 20 log contenders by a long way.
In that period, Everett was honoured with a ‘Special Acknowledgement’ from the Cape Breeders, marking the beginning of Narrow Creek’s rise to wider recognition as a producer of quality thoroughbreds.
Everett said: “That was a terrific season in which things just came together perfectly with the exploits of Isivunguvungu (What A Winter), Catch Twentytwo and Big Burn (both by Elusive Fort), Homely Girl (Querari), Red Saxon (Red Ray) and others. Those figures will never be easy to match, we have more mares producing more runners now. But the exposure was good and put us well on the map.”
Founded in 2011 in the Wolseley district of the Western Cape, Narrow Creek was built from the ground up – brick by brick, horse by horse. The 25-hectare establishment was initially primarily used for farming onions and butternuts, and it had only one outbuilding – a makeshift cold room under a tin roof.
Everett recalled: “We used the area under roof to shelter our first few mares for a while. The rest of the farm was developed to suit mares and foals with paddocks and stables. I built 26 stables and renovated the house on the premises. We’ve come a long way in 15 years.”
Racetrack performances spin off in the auction rings, and a Narrow Creek-bred Rafeef colt was sold for R4-million at the 2026 Race Coast Cape Premier Sale, knocked down the Hong Kong Jockey Club. He is out of the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint-winning Potala Palace mare Singforafa, who is owned by Terry and Anabel Andrews and Denise Swart, whose late father started breeding with her granddam and her dam.”
Everett said: “I have always liked Rafeef and I was one of the few fortunates who managed to get hold of a share when they were offered after his racing career. Singforafa’s owners brought the mare to us for boarding after the Andrews family sold their farm, so while he was born and raised here, they deserve much of the credit. He was also a beautiful colt, a good mover. Nothing could walk like him.”
Narrow Creek’s sales averages reflect steady year-on-year growth. At the Bloodstock SA National Yearling Sale, their average rose from R288,000 per yearling in 2021 to R386,000 in 2025, and R422,000 at this year’s renewal.
At the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, the upward trend is even more striking – R266,000 in 2023, R575,000 in 2024, and a standout R852,000 earlier this year.
Narrow Creek has produced two champion sprinters in the past three years. Isivunguvungu was crowned Equus Sprinter of the Year in 2023, while Buffalo Storm Cody – currently the highest-rated horse in the land – is a long odds-on favourite to claim the same honour in 2026. Another graduate is Grade 3 Cape Nursery winner Red Spice, raised on behalf of Terry Andrews and Andrew Grey.
Like most other modern breeders, Everett breeds to speed, and he’s especially keen on mares by Querari to achieve the best results. He commented: “The various auctions dictate what the market wants, and as we know there is a worldwide demand for cheap speed. But one always hopes to get a top classic horse in every crop, like we had with Red Saxon, who was by the Western Winter stallion Red Ray out of a Casey Tibbs mare.”
Narrow Creek is presently chock-a-block with 60 mares, of which about 30% are from outside boarders, including the mentioned owners of Singforafa, Laurence Wernars, Colin and Lynn Stonebridge, Ian Levitan and Everett’s long-time friend, John Finlayson. Also in the group is recent formidable race mare Red Palace (Potala Palace), who has now retired and is owned in partnership with Terry Andrews.
Everett noted: “John Finlayson and I own 15 mares in partnership and he has a couple of his own including Written, the dam of Chronicle King, We’re hoping Chronicle King can give Johno Grade 1 success, we believe he is up to that standard.”
Everett attributes his success to hard work, and learning from the right people. He said: “A lot of hard hours went into building Narrow Creek, with sweat and tears and many bottles of rum. And nothing would be possible without the grounding received from top horsemen- and women.”
He spent three formative years in the 1980s with leading Highveld breeder Laurence Allem at the Allem Bros’ Viljoenskroon stud, followed by nine years with Lionel Cohen at Odessa, and a further nine with Mary Slack at Wilgerbosdrift.
“Aside from imparting some of his skills as a horseman, Lionel actually sent me several mares to board when I was starting out at Narrow Creek and he was in the process of selling Odessa. At Wilgerbosdrift I worked with Tiger Ridge after Jehan Malherbe and I had selected him as a stallion prospect in the US. Today, I am very fond of his daughters, who are wonderful broodmares. But there aren’t many left, I only have three to breed with.”
Everett has quality stock, strong support, and, by his own reckoning, plenty still to offer. “I’m 25 on a Friday and 70 on a Sunday!” he jokes – but buyers can be confident that many more top-class runners will emerge from Narrow Creek.