Happy Archer - Posted her second Gr 1 success when winning the Garden Province Stakes
Happy Archer could be accused of being a show-off. For sure, she seems to enjoy the attention on Vodacom Durban July day.
A Gr 1 winner on the July undercard in 2010, Happy Archer returned to Greyville on Saturday and posted her second Gr 1 success when winning the Garden Province Stakes for fillies and mares over 1600m.
Dancewiththedevil had proved herself to be a miler of real class with three Gr 1 wins over 1600m already this season, two of them against male rivals, and she was predictably sent off as the 6/10 favourite to defeat thirteen members of her own gender on WFA terms. Fisani and Gr 2 KRA Fillies Guineas winner Beach Beauty were the 13/2 joint second favourites, with Happy Archer going off as an 11/1 chance.
Fragrant Al was the first to show from Engagement and Imperious Star, with Give Me Five next in line, but it wasn’t very long before Engagement – a stable companion to Dancewiththedevil – set off to make the running at a solid clip. Fragrant Al sat up in second, with a gap of some four or five lengths back to Imperious Star in third as Dancewiththedevil as always raced well adrift of the action. The favourite was more than a dozen lengths behind her frontrunning stable companion at the half way stage, but while she is known to possess a fantastic turn of foot things were not looking pretty for the favourite even before the field had turned for home. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the short run-in at Greyville was a potential and crucial weakness in Dancewiththedevil’s armoury and those fears were clearly proving to have been well founded from a long way out.
.
Garden Province S. (SAf-G1) (7/2) Greyville, South Africa, July 2, R500.000, 1600m, turf, good, 1.34.50 (CR 1.32.77). HAPPY ARCHER (AUS), 59.0, ch f 3, Dubawi (IRE) – So Tempted (AUS) by Jeune (GB). Owner S M Nathan, J S Nestadt, L M Nestadt & D M Nathan; breeder Racetree (AUS); trainer S G Tarry; jockey A Marcus (R312.000) Beach Beauty (SAF), 59.0, b f 3, Dynasty (SAF) – Sun Coast (SAF) by Capture Him Dance With Al (SAF), 60.0, b f 5, Captain Al (SAF) – Dancing Miss (SAF) by Dancing Champ Margins: ¾, 1, ½ Also ran: Fisani (SAF) 60.0, Imperious Star (SAF) 60.0, Dancewiththedevil (SAF) 60.0, Secret Babe (SAF) 60.0, Engagement (SAF) 60.0, Fragrant Al (SAF) 59.0, Give Me Five (SAF) 60.0, Romantic Moon (SAF) 59.0, Croc Valley (SAF) 60.0, Dance To The Stars (AUS) 60.0, Autumn Gold (SAF) 60.0
