Drakenstein stallion Duke Of Marmalade celebrated his first winner from his first South African born crop of foals at Kenilworth on Saturday, when the good looking chestnut Santa Clara followed up on her promising debut to score well.
Duke Of Marmalade – during his racing days
The former Cartier Champion’s beautifully bred 2yo daughter looked promising on her Durbanville debut when pipped by stablemate Lesedi La Rona, and she duly delivered at short odds for trainer Candice Bass-Robinson in the 1200m Maiden Juvenile Plate.
Bred by Maine Chance Farms, the filly is out of an unraced full sister to Champion Sire Silvano. She is raced by Drakenstein Stud and was a R1 million purchase from the 2017 Cape Premier Yearling Sale.
Santa Clara’s victory was certainly sweetly timed – she has a full-sister (#35) on offer at the 2018 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.
Her sire Duke Of Marmalade, Cartier Champion Older Male in 2008, has already been represented by five first crop runners to earn, including Sweet Preserve, who was second in open company recently.
Duke Of Marmalade – exciting young sire
The five time Gr1 winner is already a proven sire on the international stage and has over 50 stakes horses to his credit, with his offspring having banked more than U$31 000 000 in earnings.
His most notable runners include Gr1 winners Big Orange, Star Of Seville, Simple Verse, Sound Of Freedom and Nutan, and Duke Of Marmalade has been represented by classic winners in all of Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
The champion is also broodmare sire of promising 3yo Chilean, winner of the GR3 Prix La Force, and the promising juvenile Jackstar
The Duke is a son of the great sire, and sire of sires, Danehill, and hails from the same family as sire standouts A P Indy, Raja Baba, Summer Squall, Lemon Drop Kid and Al Mufti.
Duke Of Marmalade’s 24 strong National Yearling Sale draft includes a half-sister to Gr1 SA Nursery winner Arabian Beat (# 92), a colt out of Gr1 Woolavington 2000 winner Imperious Star (Lot 170), a half-brother to Cape Guineas second White River (# 175), a colt out of Gr3 winner Milden Magic (# 203) and a half-brother to Triple Tiara hopeful Takingthepeace (# 467).
