The fine double by Amanzimtoti and Trip Of Fortune in last weekend’s Gr2 Western Cape Fillies Championship and Gr3 Cape Classic proved a triumph all round.
Both trained by Candice Bass-Robinson, the Drakenstein homebreds were sired by resident stallion standout Trippi and were ridden to victory by jockey Aldo Domeyer.
Amanzimtoti charges home to win the Gr2 feature on Saturday (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Whilst the colt’s win in the Gr3 Cape Classic was his fourth in a row and second at stakes level, it was arguably overshadowed by that of paternal half-sister Amanzimtoti, for the simple reason that her storming, come-from-behind victory brought back fond memories of her illustrious dam, Beach Beauty.
The adage ‘dynamite comes in small packages’ was never more appropriate than when describing the diminutive daughter of Dynasty, who proved herself the dominant racemare of her generation.
Trained by Dennis Drier, she burned up the racetracks in a career spanning four seasons, winning 17 races.
Her five Gr1 successes included two renewals each of the Garden Province and Cape Paddock Stakes and she proved she could toe it with the boys by scoring back to back victories in the Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes.
Bred by the late Trevor Armitage, Beach Beauty was leased to the Shanks Syndicate named in honour of his son Mark, who had died a few years previously. ‘Shanks’ was Mark’s nickname at school.
Unraced as a two-year-old, Beach Beauty kicked off her career at Clairwood with an eye-catching three-length victory over the minimum trip. She broke her stakes duck in the Gr3 Umzimkhulu Stakes, to which she added both the Gr2 SA Fillies Guineas and Gr2 Gold Bracelet, and was runner-up in Gr1 Garden Province Stakes.
At four, she defeated male rivals in the Gr2 Betting World 1900 and finished second in all of the Gr1 Paddock Stakes,Gr3 Victress and Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes.
However, it was as a five-year-old that Beach Beauty came of age. After winning the Gr2 Premier Trophy, she broke through at Gr1 level in the Gr1 Paddock Stakes and was not disgraced when third, beaten less than two lengths, in the Met.
Back home, she opened her winter campaign with a grand winning effort in the Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes before chasing home Horse of the Year Variety Club in the Gr1 Gold Challenge. She closed out the season on a high in the Gr1 Garden Province Stakes, where she blew away a star-studded field to post her second top level victory.
Watch the 2014 Majorca replay:
Named the season’s Champion Older mare, Beach Beauty could have been packed off to the breeding shed post-haste, hence it was a bold call by her connections to keep such a well-credentialled broodmare prospect in training for another season.
That decision paid off handsomely, as the six-year-old proved she had reached the height of her powers. Arguably better than ever, she repeated in the Gr1 Paddock Stakes and notched up a fourth Gr1 success by defeating another fine line-up in the Majorca Stakes, which prompted her trainer to remark: “She is just too good. The more they throw at her, the more she finds.”
Back at Hollywoodbets Greyville, the Grande Dame of South African racing went on to thrill her legion of adoring fans for the umpteenth time when she successfully defended her Drill Hall crown in immaculate style.
Beach Beauty wins the Drill Hall Stakes for second year running
The Gr1 Gold Challenge once again proved elusive – she again had to settle for second, when beaten less than a length by King Of Pain in a falsely run race.
Beach Beauty brought down the curtain on a stellar career with a flawless performance in the Gr1 Garden Province. The mare made light work of her title defence when she flashed her remarkable turn of foot for the last time to score with authority. Upon her return to scales, Beach Beauty received a rapturous welcome from her adoring fans, and rightly so. She had maintained her brilliant form right up to an age where most of her contemporaries had already produced their first foals!
In a fitting honour to a great champion, Beach Beauty was honoured on Gold Cup day with a special farewell parade, in addition to which her name was linked to the same day’s Gr1 Champions Cup. For the second time in a row, she was the unanimous choice as the season’s Champion Older Female.
Significantly, no less than twelve of Beach Beauty’s 17 victories were at Graded level and she retired with earnings of R5,330,225, which at the time, placed her behind only Igugu on the list of all-time leading South African female earners.
The champion was sold at the conclusion of her career and she became a glittering addition to the powerful Drakenstein broodmare band. That she has transferred her racetrack ability to the paddocks would be an understatement.
Wild Coast wins the Gr2 WSB Guineas (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Now the dam of two stakes winners, her first runner, the Trippi colt Wild Coast, won the Gr2 World Sports Betting Guineas at Hollywoodbets Greyville while full sister Amanzimtoti stamped herself a leading contender for the Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas.
Drakenstein owner Gaynor Rupert was delighted with the Graded stakes double, remarking: “It was a fantastic weekend for us.”
Elaborating on the prized mare, she added: “Beach Beauty has a lovely Lancaster Bomber yearling filly, a Gimmethegreenlight filly foal at foot and has been sent to Vercingetorix this year.”
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