Ascot Stud’s beautifully bred young stallion Heavenly Blue got off the mark as a sire in style when his two-year-old son Zinovi romped home to win impressively at Turffontein on Tuesday.
Trained, like his sire, by Mike de Kock, Zinovi had finished third on debut before finishing fourth in the Listed Storm Bird Stakes on his only previous outing. The colt made no mistakes on Tuesday.
Kabelo Matsunyane enjoys an armchair ride on Zinovi (Pic – JC Photos)
Under Kabelo Matsunyane, Zinovi was always going strongly, and he kicked on powerfully close home to get up and win the Play Soccer 6,10 and 13 Maiden Juvenile Plate (1200m) by three parts of a length.
Bred by Danika Stud, the promising 2yo is out of the Jallad mare Zayna.
Zinovi was a R200 000 buy from the 2022 National Yearling Sale.
He hails from the first crop of his well-performed sire Heavenly Blue, who won the 2017 Gr1 SA Classic over a field which included Gr1 SA Derby winner Al Sahem and Gr1 G-Bets Gauteng Summer Cup victor Tilbury Fort.
Heavenly Blue is a son of four times Australian champion sire Snitzel, whose growing list of successful sire sons includes proven Gr1 stallions Shamus Award and Russian Revolution.
Snitzel is also the sire of this year’s Gr1 Longines Golden Slipper winner Shinzo as well as the recently retired Gr1 ATC Golden Rose victor In The Congo.
Heavenly Blue, who is out of a daughter of champion sire El Prado and multiple Gr1 winner Astra, has six lots on offer at this month’s National Yearling Sale.
