Direct Hit cruises in under Richard Fourie (Pic – Pauline Herman)
The Ridgemont team celebrated their second juvenile debut winner sired by their five-time Grade 1 winning sire Canford Cliffs in the space of just a matter of weeks when Direct Hit lived up to her name with a facile victory first up over the Fairview 1000m straight on Friday.
Gavin Smith saddled the Ridgemont bred Canford Cliffs daughter Instaworthy to win the opening juvenile event of the season in the Eastern Cape a few days before Christmas. She lines up in the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on WSB Cape Town Met day.
On Friday it was Alan Greeff’s turn to produce what looks like a real cracker.
Like Instaworthy, Direct Hit is out of a speed laden daughter of Green Desert stallion Great Britain and is raced by a partnership of Ridgemont and Devin Heffer.
She was backed into 6-10, taking on a mixed sex field, and had most of them off the bit early before drawing away with Ridgemont jockey Richard Fourie to win unextended by 7,25 lengths in a nippy 56,3 secs for the 1000m.
Out of the six-time winning Great Britain speedball Wrecking Ball, who peaked with a victory in the 2017 Gr3 Tommy Hotspur Handicap, the winner is another remarkable example of precocious speed from Ridgemont resident Canford Cliffs (Tagula), who was Europe’s dominant miler at three and four, winning five consecutive Gr1 races over the trip. His splendid Gr1 treble of the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes (over multiple Gr1 winner Dick Turpin) and Sussex Stakes (over champion Rip Van Winkle), saw him rated the top three-year-old miler in England and Ireland in his year.
The broodmare sire of both winners is a former resident of the magnificent Ridgemont Robertson stallion barn. Great Britain had a TFR of 118 and won the Al Quoz Sprint, subsequently a Gr1 contest which has been won by stars like J J The Jet Plane, Ortensia and Shea Shea), and as a son of July Cup winner Green Desert (by Danzig), was one of the best bred stallions in SA in his time.
Green Desert has had a tremendous influence on the modern day stud book and was an outstanding sire of sires, his sons including such world class sires as Invincible Spirit, Volksraad, Oasis Dream and full brother, Cape Cross.
Great Britain, who originally stood in New Zealand and produced winners in Australia, boasts a female line which is equally illustrious. His dam Park Appeal was a Champion at 2 when her wins included the Gr1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and Gr1 Chevely Park Stakes.
Like Park Express (dam of hot sire New Approach) and Princess Athena (dam of leading sire Acclamation), Park Appeal is a daughter of top sprinter Ahonoora.
Great Britain was a direct descendant of one history’s greatest ever mares – Pretty Polly. A winner of 22 of her 24 outings, Pretty Polly’s victories included the 1000 Guineas, Oaks, St Leger, Champion Stakes and Coronation Cup. Her descendants include leading sires Nearctic, Great Nephew, Preamble II and Sybil’s Nephew.
Canford Cliffs sired Almond Sea, winner of the Betway Listed Swallow Stakes on Saturday and has a filly (#8) and colt (#60 – a full brother to Almond Sea!) on this Thursday’s CRS Summer Sale.
