The SAF Connection

It’s been a great two weeks for South African racing, beginning with an international grade 1 victory by a filly and ending with records breaking at our premier yearling sale.

Irridescence in Hong Kong

I’ll begin with the superb performance by this four year old daughter of Caesour in the Gr1 QEII Cup at Sha-Tin. Following closely in the footsteps of her older full sister (Promise From My Heart) who won a Gr1 in Australia against the colts, this South African bred, trained, and ridden filly did the same in Hong Kong last weekend. She won under a perfectly judged ride, scoring narrowly from a flying Best Gift and the highly rated international race mare, Ouija Board.

Sim pedigree of Irridescence(Saf): Caesour x Dancing Champ x Elevation

Ilha Da Vitoria retires in style

Back on our own shores, Mike De Kock trained yet another filly to Gr1 success against the colts. In an interview during the sale this weekend, he said that he would choose Ilha Da Vitoria over Irridescence if he had to, showing how highly he rates her. Having done everything an owner could hope for, she will now be retired to stud where she is likely to be mated to Right Approach, a winner on the big night in Dubai last season. A future pairing with Fort Wood also seems likely.

Ilha Da Vitoria shot to stardom recently with a facile victory in the Summer Cup, then Africa’s richest race, coming from 17 lengths off the pace to win by five. On Saturday she won the Gomma Gomma Challenge which, at R3 million, takes over the mantle of the richest race in Africa. She cruised to victory under a hands ride and boosted her earnings to a South African record of over R5 million. She ends her career with a record of (26) 10 – 10 – 3.

Sim pedigree of Ilha Da Vitoria(BRZ): Candy Stripes x Equalize x Propicio

National Colour blitzes Gr1 field

This three year old filly ran such an incredible race in the Computaform Sprint over 1000 metres on Saturday that she must get a mention here. She shot out of the gates, took a clear early lead, had a breather mid race but still lead comfortably, was asked with the hands only to run at the 300 and scorched home by five lengths, fractionally outside the track record of 55.49 seconds. The second horse, also a three year old filly, was well clear of the rest of the field which was made up of the tried and tested top older sprinters in the country, multiple Gr1 winning colts included. National Colour, by the same sire as the top class speedster National Currency, now has a career record of (8) 5 – 1 – 1, and I would be surprised if plans aren’t being made for an international campaign.

Sim pedigree of National Colour(Saf): National Assembly x Mr Eats x Marazion

National Yearling Sale

Many records were broken at our premier yearling sale this weekend as 549 youngsters went through the ring. The aggregate and averages were up around 30%, as was the number of horses sold for a million or more, though the record price fetched by Wonder Lawn last year of R3.3m wasn’t threatened. In all, 472 lots were sold for a total of R136m at an average of R288 000.

The foals that fetched a million rand or more were:

R2.4m Officer Wales (c) => Fort Wood x Elliodor x Dancing Champ

R2.0m Sweet Allegra (f) => National Assembly x Complete Warrior x Northern Drive

R2.0m Tirade (c) => Western Winter x National Assembly x Instrument Landing

R2.0m Lubricator (c) => Jallad x Ringaro x Logical

R1.6m First (c) => Fort Wood x Secret Prospector x Peacetime

R1.6m Field Event (c) => Western Winter x Northfields x Stage Door Johnny

R1.6m Gaily Goes West (f) => Western Winter x National Assembly x Pompeii Court

R1.4m unnamed (c) => Al Mufti x Harry Hotspur x Alleged

R1.4m Cornucopia (f) => Fort Wood x Northern Guest x Averof

R1.3m Thomas Crown (c) => Rich Man’s Gold x Commodore Blake x Joy II

R1.2m Imperial Cossack (c) => Western Winter x Russian Fox x Royal Prerogative

R1.2m Petrus (c) => Rakeen x Al Mufti x Fair Season

R1.1m Sam Magee (c) => Western Winter x Kenmare x Taj Rossi

R1.1m Galaxy Glory (c) => National Assembly x Foveros x Capriole

R1.0m Honeysuckle (f) => Fort Wood x Royal Chalice x Super Concorde

R1.0m Da Vinci Code (c) => Fort Wood x National Assembly x Bold Forbes

The top sires by aggregate, with averages in brackets, were:

R17.4m (R697 400) Western Winter => Gone West (Mr. Prospector) x Vice Regent

R15.7m (R681 522) Fort Wood => Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) x Pretense

R13.3m (R339 744) Jallad => Blushing Groom (Red God) x Imposing

R12.8m (R355 972) Al Mufti => Roberto (Hail To Reason) x Buckpasser

R11.2m (R398 750) National Assembly => Danzig (Northern Dancer) x Buckpasser

R  7.7m (R351 591) Silvano => Lomitas (Niniski) x Beau’s Eagle

R  6.8m (R422 188) Rich Man’s Gold => Forty Niner (Mr Prospector) x Honest Pleasure