And Milkwood King Julian

This past month, the Ocean Blue Cup took place in Plett at Robberg Equestrian Park, and one particular combination stole the spotlight – Caleb Seton-Smith and Blue Steel Equestrian’s Milkwood King Julian claimed a hat trick of wins in the big (1.35m/1.40m) classes. We not only love his trusty steed’s name, but also the fact that this is Julian’s second career, and he is still winning! We caught up with Caleb after his victories to hear more, and hopefully provide some tips on picking your next  OTTB Champion!

“When you call upon a Thoroughbred, he gives you all the speed, strength of heart and sinew in him. When you call on a jackass, he kicks.” –Patricia Neal

HQ: Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Caleb: I am 23 now. I am studying law and I’m in my third year LLB. I’ve been riding horses since 2016 when we moved to a small holding in Port Elizabeth, Sardinia Bay, which is called Milkwood Stud. We moved here from Cape Town, and I’ve been riding since then. We breed a few Warmbloods a year, and the odd Thoroughbred, which it turns out has been really good for us.

HQ: Clearly! So, if our maths is right, you’ve only been riding since you were 13?

Caleb: Yes. We started at a small riding school in Cape Town, riding once a week, at that stage.

HQ: Did you compete in Pony Riders, or go straight to Juniors?

Caleb: I went straight into Juniors. I was quite big already at 13, and I haven’t really grown much since then!

HQ: Well, that’s not the worst thing for riding! Are you family horsey?

Caleb: Yeah, so my dad grew up on a small holding, riding his whole life and then when he turned 18, he stopped. He moved to Cape Town, got into business, and then, when we picked up the riding lessons, that’s when the bug bit him again, and he decided we would move to a small holding. We packed up and left our townhouse in Cape Town, and he got back into the horses. My two younger brothers rode, but they stopped after ponies. My mum also rides, but just for fun; she helps keep the horses fit and has her own hacking horse, but she doesn’t compete. My dad competes as well; he’s also in the 1.40m on a Thoroughbred, and he has a couple of young Warmbloods.

HQ: That’s awesome; we love that it is a family affair. Is your father full time with th horses?

Caleb: No, he has a law firm and runs a couple of other things, too. It’s what led me to go into law.

HQ: At least you’ve got an idea from him of how you can fit working and riding into a schedule! Is the plan to keep riding?

Caleb: Yeah, exactly, and 100%!

HQ: Good to hear! Tell us about your partnership with King Julian…

Caleb: I got Julian in February 2022. His brother, Incandescence, was my Junior horse, whom I jumped in the 1.35m. He wasn’t as good as Julian, but he was phenomenal for where I was at the time.

HQ: Well, you only need to jump 1.35m as a Junior as well?

Caleb: Exactly, and to be honest, back when we got him, we had just moved to PE. We didn’t know anything about breeding at all, so it was just by luck that he turned out to be really good. I then saw Julian advertised by De la Ranch on Facebook, a small dealer that specialises in second-career Thoroughbreds. He had just come off the track, and they were advertising him as a flashy gelding that would be available soon. I saw he was by the same sire as Incandescence, ‘Just as Well’, and I had never seen another one, so I convinced my dad to go try him.  When we went to try him, he was very cute! He was probably just under 16 hands or maybe just 16 hands with shoes, so on the smaller side, and we decided we would fetch him the next day, subject to vetting, which he obviously passed.

So, off we went to fetch what was supposed to be a little project, because we were moving more towards the Warmbloods as well. Then my younger brother had finished ponies, and Julian was quite nice, small and smart, and had a promising jump, so we thought this could be nice for Asher to get onto after ponies. I already had him in the 1m classes by then, so I gave him over to Ash. He rode him for a couple of months, and then he decided he didn’t want to ride anymore. So, I took him back, continued to produce him, to see what happened.

He got to either 1.10m/1.20m, and Anthony Kay came to me and said, “Name your price; I’ve got a buyer for this horse”, and I gave him a ridiculous number because I didn’t want to sell him. He said it was out of the budget, which I was fine with! I have no regrets about that at all.

We moved up to 1.20m, and I realised this horse is quite nice, and then we got to 1.30m, and I was like, ‘Yes! this horse is actually really nice’. Then last year, in November, we jumped our first 1.40m. It was in the Biogen Gold Tour Grand Prix at Robberg. The final class was actually 1.45m, and he jumped a clear in that, and I was just absolutely blown away. We have quite a partnership going; I love that horse.

HQ: What are your goals with him?

Caleb: To be honest, I want to jump 1.50m with him.

HQ: Well, we watched you guys, and he skipped around it like nothing.

Caleb: Yeah, and he’s so fast, and then he is very quick and sharp with getting his feet out of the way. It’s amazing.

HQ: And we assume he has not grown since you got him as a six-year-old?

Caleb: Yeah. He hasn’t grown since we got him. Still, 16 hands with shoes on.

HQ: That’s amazing! Clearly from the videos he has no shortage of step or scope?

Caleb: In all honesty, the bigger it gets, the better he gets. He has plenty of stride, so there is no issue with his step. He’s also so smart that he can almost see his own stride.

HQ: What about his racing history before you got him?

Caleb: He was doing well in Durban, and then I think they decided to send him down to end off his career here at Fairview racetrack in PE, and then I think he was a donkey, so they just retired him. But he raced until he was six, so I assume he must have been decent, and he did quite a few races.

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FACTS:

• King Julian had 1 Win (5%) and 9 Placings (53%) from 19 starts!
• He won ZAR R182,250 in his racing career.
• His dam was Princess Julietta, who was a granddaughter of Sadlers Wells; she won ZAR R269,550.

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HQ: Impressive that he’s gone on to be such a good jumper after racing so much?

Caleb: And he is as sound as anything! He’s just incredible

HQ: Can you tell us about the rest of your string?

Caleb: I have a 7-year-old Warmblood that was actually our first home-bred horse; he’s in the 1.20m classes now, and I think he’s going to be a big-time horse as well. He’s got huge scope. He’s not a novice ride, though; he can be a bit quirky, but I love him as well. I’ll hopefully get him to the 1.30s in the next few months.

I’ve also got the ride on Hannah Campbell’s Thoroughbred mare, Place du Marche (Philanthropist XX x Doneraile Court XX). She’s in the 1.20m classes, I will also get her to the 1.30s in the next few months.

Then, I’ve got another sibling of Julian’s… Well, I’ve got two now. I bought another one today. We got ‘Judgement Day’ last year. He is a ‘Just as Well’ out a ‘London News’ mare. He’s resting now, but we’ve jumped him up to the 90s. He’s also super talented, and then we got the call yesterday that the other brother is done racing so we went to fetch him this morning and he’s gorgeous, so we’ll see what he can do.

HQ: Sounds like you have the sole mandate on the ‘Just as Well’ progeny in SA!

Caleb: We bought shares in this one on the basis that he would come to us when he is done racing. I’m not sure how many more are coming through.

HQ: It’s interesting to look at the blood, and see where the jumping influence comes from, and we see Northern Dancer and Sadler’s Wells…

Caleb: You also have A.P. Indy there, Just as Well’s sire, and he’s also been a brilliant jumping sire.

HQ: Can you tell us a bit about the Warmbloods your family is breeding?

Caleb: We have four broodmares. Last year, we had three fillies. One by Pegase van’t Ruytershof, and two by Ivan van der Sidje’s Oceanco D’or. They all look very nice.

Then we have two that are rising two, the one is by Cyrus M53, the other by my dad’s Stallion Pacino (Parco x Cosmic Z). Then we have a three-year-old by Legend, and he’s quite nice.  Then two of the mares are in foal now, one to Ermitage Kalone, the other to Pegase.

HQ: Are you breeding for yourselves or to sell?

Caleb: For ourselves, what we like we keep, and what we feel doesn’t suit our programme, we move along.

HQ: Your father was riding another Thoroughbred in the same classes you won; can you tell us about him?

Caleb: I think my dad bought Wish to Land five or six years ago; he was already jumping lower levels, and he’s taken him and promoted him up the grades. He’s the horse that got my dad back into it, and he jumped his first opens on him. He’s competitive in the 1.40m now and he is planning to do his first 1.50m on him this year.

HQ: You guys often travel up for Derby. Is ‘Big’ Derby on the cards for either of you this year?

Caleb: Not for me; I want to do the 1.40m first this year, but hopefully next year. My dad will train for the Big Derby and see how that goes.

HQ: What advice would you give to people who were looking to buy a Thoroughbred to jump?

Caleb: I’m big on the bloodlines; if they don’t have well-known showjumping bloodlines, I won’t look at them. My dad (Grant), however, will look at a horse based on confirmation. If he likes the way the horse looks, he’ll investigate further, but for me, if they are bred for it, they generally have the jump.  Obviously, they also need to be sound, and they must at least look well put together.

I like it when they are light on their feet; you can also see when they carry themselves well. They must be calm-minded too; you don’t want them too hot.

HQ: There were two other thoroughbreds in the 1.40m class with you, and they have both raced quite a bit too, which is nice to see, as sometimes people are put off with horses that have raced a lot?

Caleb: Well, if they’ve raced that long and are still sound, it’s a good sign. A lot of them will break down by the time they are five years old, and those ones you steer clear of. The ones that are still racing strongly and moving well at five or six years old; those are sound horses. Obviously, you still have to get the vetting done to make sure there are no issues you should avoid.

HQ: With your breeding programme at Milkwood, it sounds like your focus is on full Warmbloods rather than OTTB’s or crosses; is there a reason for that?

Caleb: My father and I have discussed this, and we feel that if you breed a Warmblood into a Thoroughbred you are breeding the speed out of the Thoroughbred and a Thoroughbred into a Warmblood you’re breeding the jump out. That being said if I could get my hands on a Just as Well mare, I would definitely be keen to breed that to a Warmblood.

HQ: You and Julian won all three classes at the Ocean Blue Cup, on top of a very successful year so far. Can you talk us through the competition and how have you attained such consistency?

Caleb: Julian is just incredible. At Robberg, he won the first two classes, and I was like, ‘Oh, well, that’s a great show already’. I went into Champs Day, and it was big, but I was just grateful to be jumping there, and I felt that whatever happened, happened. He felt great in the warm-up, and I figured if I rode decently, we had a shot. Then he jumped clear, and the jump-off featured fast, competitive combinations. I wanted to win, so we just had to do what we could and leave it all out there, and that’s what we did. Julian was incredible, and I was shocked, to be honest. You dream of a hat-trick, and obviously you can get in your own head, expecting luck to have run out, but Julian is always the same; he’s consistent, always tries his best. We keep the same programme at home. We keep it easy and keep him confident and fit. He also knows when it’s a big show, and he’s just a bit more careful. He’s really got big-match temperament.

HQ: One last question, what would you say are the key differences between Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods?

Caleb: I would say for a young rider, a Thoroughbred is definitely the way to go; they give you so much confidence. Warmbloods often need good riders to be great, but Thoroughbreds are great either way. They have the blood; they take you to the jump; and they are brave for the most part. They are also willing to work and generally more forgiving. Thoroughbreds are just special.

HQ: We certainly agree! Thank you for sharing your insights, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for you and Julian’s debut in the 1.50s! All the best!