Turkish owner/breeder and American businessman Cem Sevim took a big step in deepening his involvement with Thoroughbred racing when he purchased grade 3 winner and stallion prospect Beatbox during the recent Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
Since 2017, the former professional soccer player has raced 20 different runners in his native Turkey, France, Dubai, and Australia. His 20 victories to date include the Turkish One Thousand Guineas (recognized as a group 1 in Turkey) and the International Istanbul Trophy (G3) with Light of Darkness, whom he bought for $1,000 out of the 2018 Keeneland November sale.
Now he wants to do more.
"I want to have my own farm and my own mares, my own stallion. I want to be in it," said Sevim, who has seven broodmares in Turkey and a couple with Sancal Racing, which operates out of the Elmendorf Farm property near Lexington.
"It would give me more joy to see a horse win any Derby and know I bred that horse and raised it. I don't want to just sit in the audience and watch and not know anything about the horse. I want to see them train, I want to visit them. I want to have more control over my operation instead of taking my mares other places."
Sevim helps run Zingal Stud in Turkey, a farm owned by his uncle Yaman Zingal, who has been involved in Thoroughbred racing for around 40 years. The farm is where Beatbox will enter stud and also stands Alpha, a grandson of leading Turkish stallion Luxor, who has sired seven champions, including 2016 Horse of the Year and Gazi Derby (Turkish Derby) winner Graystorm.
Beatbox is a grade 3-winning son of Pioneerof the Nile and a stakes winner on turf and all-weather surfaces. While racing from 2 to 6, he won the 2022 Dust Commander Stakes on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park and the 2024 Fair Grounds Stakes (G3T) on the grass at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. He also was runner-up in two stakes on the grass at Fair Grounds—Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes and the Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes.
Sevim bought Beatbox for $50,000 at Keeneland from Lane's End's consignment.
"He has a rare pedigree for Turkey," Sevim said. "His sister won multiple grade 1 stakes and the family has grade 1 winners on grass. Most of the group races in Turkey are on grass and the top international races are on grass. That is what excited me. Also, Beatbox is young and so I believe he can be a stallion for many, many years."
Beatbox's half sister is Guarana (Ghostzapper) who won the Acorn Stakes (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) in 2019 and added another elite performance in 2020 when she won the Madison Stakes (G1). She retired with five wins from six career starts and earned $1,078,268. The siblings' second dam is 2005 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Pleasant Home, and the immediate family also includes Point of Entry , who won five grade 1 turf stakes and earned nearly $2.5 million.
North American stallions exported to Turkey have largely been successful. Among the top 25 stallions on the Jockey Club of Turkey's 2024 general leading sire standings, 16 were bred in North America. The highest ranked among them is Mendip, a second-ranked son of Harlan's Holiday bred in Kentucky by Jayeff B Stables and raced by Godolphin. He is a three-time group winner in Dubai.
The most successful imported North American-bred stallion by career results is Canadian-bred Victory Gallop, a son of Cryptoclearance who won the 1998 Belmont Stakes (G1) and was runner-up in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) for Prestonwood Farm. Victory Gallop is the third-leading Turkish stallion with lifetime progeny earnings of more than 274.5 million in Turkish lira (nearly US$8 million) and 402 winners.
Many of Turkey's top stallions are owned by the Jockey Club of Turkey, according to Sevim, which he said does an admirable job in its mission to raise the quality of Thoroughbred breeding and racing stock.
"They are very friendly with the breeders. They have the highest-quality stallions but the cheapest price," he said. "They do this to try to improve the racing world and have a good strategy on that. They are working like a nonprofit organization for breeders. You cannot get the kinds of services provided from individuals."
Sevim, who has owned a residential and commercial construction company called Buffalo Company in Washington, D.C., since 2002, said his goal in breeding and racing is not to make money. The goal is to raise horses good enough to compete at the highest level internationally—and win.
"I am in this business for the trophies. I am not trying to make money, I want to win all the cups and trophies that are possible," he said. "Money comes and goes, but the name on the trophy is history and stays forever. I will have two major goals to achieve until my lifetime is over. One, to win the Gazi Derby, with its trophy that of Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, on horseback. Second is the Kentucky Derby, which I don't think any explanation is needed for this one. I would easily die for these two."
