Such is the regard in which champion trainer Mike de Kock holds Australian-bred colt Heavenly Blue that he is considering stepping him up to Gr1 level at his next start.
Snitzel
The 2yo son of Snitzel looked a potential top-class galloper in the making when letting down with a brilliant turn of foot to score by 3.25-lengths over 1400 metres at Turffontein last Saturday. His record now reads 2 wins from as many starts.
“On looks and pedigree he seems to have what it takes, but I’m not convinced he’s beaten anything of note yet,” De Kock said on his website.
“What impressed me on Saturday was that he took a step up to race against winners, and simultaneously dropped 200m in distance. He’s an out-and-out staying type, he’ll go 2000m, and on his first run it looked like a mile would be his minimum trip, but he handled the 1400m beautifully, showing how he’d improved.”
The Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes on 30 July at Greyville could be the next race for Heavenly Blue, but De Kock said: “There is a track and draw bias and taking him down to Durban may present too much of a risk at this point. We may keep him in Johannesburg for the Summer Feature Season and then aim him at the Cape Classics. But we’ll see, he has more racing to do.”
Bred by John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud, the handsome colt with a striking steel-blue hue is the first foal to race from the US-bred mare Simply Carina (El Prado), a daughter of 4-time Gr1 winning mare Astra.
This is a prolific stakes producing North American family that also includes Kentucky Oaks winner Cicada, Gr3 winning sire Admiralty, dual Gr3 winner Savannah Slew, and champion colt and successful sire First Landing.
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