The Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint is on the radar for the Drakenstein raced and bred The United States filly Sheela, after she took the top honours in her stride and remained unbeaten, winning the 4Racing Gr2 SA Nursery in the style of a class act at Turffontein on Saturday.
While trainer Adam Azzie surprised punters with an impromptu SA Idol performance, producing a unique rendition of Darryl Hall and John Oates’s hit Maneater in the post-race interview, it was the smashing chestnut filly who deserved the limelight.
Simanga Khumalo steers Sheela to victory over the obscured Smorgasbord (Warren Kennedy) (Pic-JC Photos)
After winning the Listed Storm Bird Stakes on debut at the Vaal in February, Sheela (11-10) produced a polished showing under Simanga Khumalo to beat the smart debut winning colt Smorgasbord (2-1) by a facile length under a hands ride in a time of 67,13 secs.
Corne Spies again had to be content with a Nursery third on the afternoon as the pacy Captain’s Run (20-1) was a further 5,25 lengths back in third.
For Khumalo this was a third fairer sex triumph over the males after Carry On Alice and Cloth Of Cloud in years gone by.
A daughter of exciting Moutonshoek stallion The United States, Sheela is bred and raced by Drakenstein Stud, and is out of the one-time winning stakes placed Trippi mare, Trip To India. The latter hails from the family of European Gr1 winner Continent, who struck in the July Cup and Prix de l’Abbaye, and Grand Prix de Paris scorer Zambezi Sun.
Unbeaten in two jumps, Sheela has now earned R210 000.
Unfortunately the Pick 6, with a carryover of R4 million, was the first exotic bet of the day that failed to reach it’s target of R12 million. It got to a respectable R10 992 015.
And by the way, here’s the popular version of Adam Azzie’s Idols hit:
