Breeders are dream makers, and the tears we see from owners after winning the biggest races often mark the realization of a dream that started years earlier. These dreams often begin with a pencil and paper, jotting down potential matings for the mares on farms. Some matings are determined by location, others by commercial viability, and many by sheer determination to pair a mare with a stallion. The hours spent studying pedigrees and matches can go on for weeks before a final decision is made. When a Grade 1 victory is achieved, it's a pinnacle moment, one to be savored, as it took more than three years to come to fruition.

Peter and Jenny Blyth have been breeding horses for many decades and experienced their July moment with Classic Flag, a horse they bred at Clifton Stud. Now, they have another shot at July glory with the lightly raced Flag Man, an unlikely story of achievement.

SAHorseracing.COM caught up with the stud's owner, Peter Blyth, who shared insights into his breeding ventures, particularly the Flag Man story. "I purchased a mare who had a foal at her side and another on the way, both sired by Capetown Noir. Those foals, Admire Me and Cape Town Beauty, each won four races, with three victories in a row," he began.

"The KZN Breeders acquired Flying The Flag, a horse once trained by Aiden O'Brien. Flying The Flag has a full sister called Rhododendron, both out of a Galileo mare named Halfway To Heaven by Pivotal. She also produced the great mare Magical. Rhododendron went to Deep Impact, producing the Derby winner, Auguste Rodin. I bought Irresistible Chris (by Mark Of Esteem), a Brazilian mare, from Lady Laidlaw. I was boarding four or five mares for her, and since Capetown Noir was in KZN, she sent her mares to him. Eventually, I bought all her mares except one—the dam of Green With Envy. That first foal after she relocated to the Western Cape by Gimmethegreenlight was the star horse."

Peter Blyth will be running against a colt by a mare he boarded at the farm, with a horse he bred, making his interest in the race extra special.

Blyth continued, "We bred Irresistible Chris to Flying The Flag, and Garth Puller bought the resulting foal for R100,000. There's also a half-brother to Flag Man by Canford Cliffs at the sale. We sent the mare after Flag Man's birth to Cape Town, which was an expensive endeavor. Sadly, we lost the mare and the foal due to a ruptured artery at birth last season. We got the Canford Cliffs foal but lost the Act Of War one at birth."

Currently, Blyth has two fillies by Capetown Noir—Admire Me and Cape Town Beauty—on his farm. Both are by the late dam, so the family line continues. "Admire Me is in foal to Eden Roc," he added, a stallion he stands at Clifton Stud.

Speaking of another star Gr1 filly they produced, Blyth said, "Mrs. Geriatrix was bred at Clifton. I decided to send her dam to Vercingetorix when the stud fee was R30,000, which was affordable at the time. Now, he’s quite expensive."

"I still have the mare; she produced a horse sired by Act of War, now with Dean Kannemeyer. She’s currently in foal to Danon Platina after taking a break last year."

The long journey to July glory has many roads. The one traveled by Peter and Jenny Blyth is just one of many tales to be told. There wouldn’t be a dry eye in the Blyth household if Flag Man pulls off the win, while Flag Man's late mother watches from above.