Sound Of The Sea

When SOUND OF THE SEA won his maiden over a mile at Hollywoodbets Durbanville in late July, Pippa Mickleburgh did an extra jig. The adrenalin of being invested in a winner is difficult to describe, and even for someone who has been involved in the industry as long as he/she has, a winner puts air under your wings.

It must be extra special if you’ve bred and named that winner.

There was more sound of the rain than sound of the sea during one of the wettest Cape Julys on record, but Glen Kotzen’s colt got the job done when there was racing, and he came home at the sixth time of asking. His first five runs had been in stronger company than he was meeting here, and the step up to the mile would suit better. The market reflected that as he shortened from 3/1 to start 28/10.

SOUND OF THE SEA came into this world on 12th October 2021, at Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm. He was a foal by Talk Of The Town out of Sea Of Calm and Mickleburgh named him. She has named countless horses and creativity runs in her genes given that her father was an accomplished journalist.

“I always put a lot of effort into naming my horses,” she says. ”This is quite a long name for me as I prefer shorter names. I don’t like names that can’t be pronounced, or that have double meanings or are anagrams. That’s just my own preference. So, when it came to Sound Of The Sea, I looked at his mom – Sea Of Calm. She’s now in heaven and SOUND OF THE SEA was her second last foal. She’s previously produced the likes of Ripple Effect, Tide Is High, Storm Chase, Making Waves and so on.

“So, I thought of Talk Of The Town. I looked at my book of names but nothing jumped out of me. So, I focused on talk, noise, given my late dad’s background, newspapers, editors, so the noise played into it. Why not SOUND OF THE SEA? I have quite a few Talk Of The Towns at foot at the moment, so am looking forward to naming them as well!”