Drakenstein Stud sires have had a wonderful run of things this year.
Trippi: End Sweep – Jealous Appeal (Valid Appeal)
Pic – Drakenstein Stud
Their evergreen champion Trippi is responsible for this season’s Gr1 WSB Cape Town Met winner Jet Dark and also fellow Gr1 winners Charles Dickens and Trip Of Fortune -both of whom won graded races at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.
Stablemate What A Winter’s recent flagbearers include Gr1 Computaform Sprint hero Isivunguvungu and graded stakes winning fillies Cold Fact and Winter Cloud.
What A Winter
Another stallion based at Drakenstein, Futura, is the sire of Sunday’s impressive Gr3 WSB Gold Bowl winner Future Pearl.
A former member of Drakenstein’s stallion band is also having a fine time of things this year.
Cartier Champion, and late Drakenstein Stud based resident, Duke Of Marmalade is having a wonderful posthumous year in 2023 thus far.
The five time Gr1 winning son of Danehill continues to enjoy success as a broodmare sire, with the Duke well and truly to the fore on Friday.
Daughters of Duke Of Marmalade were responsible for winners at both Belmont Park and Goodwood, on Friday, with Duke Of Marmalade notably the broodmare sire of Gr2 Sheepshead Bay Stakes winner Higher Truth (Galileo).
Another daughter of the former Drakenstein resident, La Marchesa, is the dam of Friday’s Listed British EBF 40th Anniversary Daisy Warwick Fillies’ Stakes winner Luisa Casati (Vadamos). The latter could be aimed at the Lillie Langtry Stakes following her 11-1 win in the Goodwood feature.
Higher Truth, who has now won four of ten starts, having finished third in the Gr1 Belmont Oaks Invitational at three, is out of the Duke Of Marmalade daughter Wannabe Better. The latter, a three-parts sister to Gr1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Wannabe Grand (Danehill), has been a stalwart for Duke Of Marmalade with Wannabe Better winning both the Gr3 Ballycorus Stakes and Listed Ruby Stakes.
Wannabe Better has also enjoyed success as a broodmare and ranks as the dam of Gr2 winner Higher Truth and Gr3 Darley Stakes winner Lady Wannabe (Camelot).
Flashback – Drakenstein Stallion Day 2018 (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Duke Of Marmalade, whose broodmare daughters have enjoyed plenty of success when mated to the late, great Galileo, is also broodmare sire of the 2023 Gr3 Premio Regina Elena Italian 1000 Guineas winner Shavasana. The latter, in turn, was sired by Galileo’s classic winning son Gleneagles.
Shavasana was produced by the Duke Of Marmalade mare So Many Shots, a Gr3 winner in Italy who ran third in the 2014 Gr2 Oaks d’Italia (Italian Oaks). So Many Shots is one of a handful of mares to have produced more than one classic winner, with So Many Shots also dam of 2019 Gr2 Derby Italiano (Italian Derby) hero Keep On Fly. The latter was sired by another son of Galileo in the form of Rip Van Winkle.
Duke Of Marmalade’s South African runners are also doing their bit to keep their late sire in the headlines.
Duke Of Marmalade
His three-year-old Son Of Raj became the late sire’s eighth Gr1 winner when he won this season’s Gr1 World Sports SA Derby recently. Also winner of this season’s Listed 4Racing Derby Trial, Son Of Raj has won four of his first seven starts.
Son Of Raj is out of the Black Minnaloushe mare Freudiana –who also produced Son Of Raj’s full-brother Arumugam (Duke Of Marmalade).
The latter did his bit to maintain the family’s honour when he captured the 2022 Listed Racehorse Owners Association Stayers at Turffontein.
Arumugam added further gloss to his family’s growing reputation when finishing second in Sunday’s Gr3 WSB Gold Bowl.
Duke Of Marmalade’s Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara winning daughter, and dual Equus Champion, Rain In Holland also added to her fine record recently when she stormed home to thrash male rivals in the Gr2 Colorado King Stakes.
A champion at both two and three, Rain In Holland has now won six graded stakes, having snared graded features at two, three and four.
