Variety Club (foaled 8 September 2008) is a South African Thoroughbred racehorse. Racing in his native country, the horse won numerous major races including the Cape Guineas, the Queen's Plate and two editions of the Rising Sun Gold Challenge. He was voted South African Horse of the Year in both 2012 and 2013. After a complicated and protracted quarantine procedure he was allowed to compete internationally and established himself as one of the best horses in the world in 2014 with wins in the Godolphin Mile in Dubai and the Champions Mile in Hong Kong. He was retired from racing in autumn 2014 to become a breeding stallion in South Africa.
Background
Variety Club is a chestnut horse with a white star and three white socks bred in South Africa by the Beaumont Stud. He was sired by Var, a horse who raced with limited success but improved after being transferred to Europe where he won the Prix de l'Abbaye in 2004. He later became a very successful sire of winners in South Africa. Variety Club's dam La Massine was a granddaughter of the South African Oaks winner Novenna, herself a descendant of the Hungarian mare Pompea who produced the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Crapom. During his racing career, Variety Club was owned by Ingrid & Markus Jooste. He was sent into training with Joey Ramsden and was ridden in all of his major races by Anton Marcus.
Racing career
2010/2011: two-year-old season
Racing as a two-year-old, Variety Club won the Langerman Stakes over 1500 metres at Kenilworth and finished second in the Champion Juvenile Cup at Fairview.
2011/2012: three-year-old season
As a three-year-old, Variety Club finished second in the weight-for-age Queen's Plate and won the Cape Guineas before finishing second to Jackson when moved up in distance for the Cape Derby over 2000 metres on 28 January. In April he won the Winter Guineas over 1600 metres at Kenilworth by two and a quarter lengths at odds of 1/5. In June he became the first three-year-old for eleven years to win the weight-for-age Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Clairwood Racecourse. Variety Club sustained a burst blood vessel in the race, which Ramsden believed was caused by dust in the racecourse stables. His other wins that season included the Selangor Cup, the KRA Guineas and the Matchem Stakes.
2012/2013: four-year-old season
As a four-year-old, Variety Club won the Green Point Stakes and started favourite for the Queen's Plate at Kenilworth in January. Drawn on the far outside he delayed proceedings by backing out of the stalls at the last moment and causing a false start. When the race finally started he took the lead immediately and maintained his advantage throughout, winning by two and a quarter lengths and a short head from Jackson and Pomodoro. After a break he returned to win the Pinnacle Stakes at Greyville Racecourse in May. In June, Variety Club recorded his eighth consecutive success when repeating his 2012 victory in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge, leading from the start and beating the filly Beach Beauty by a length. After the race Marcus said "Because of his high cruising speed I led more by accident than design but I think he would be even more effective against better opposition".
At the end of the South African season Variety Club went into quarantine, firstly in Mauritius and then in the United Kingdom to prepare for an international campaign in 2014. The extended quarantine period was considered necessary as many countries feared the importation of the African horse sickness virus.