Saturday’s Gr1 Turffontein feature is named in honour of one of the greatest fillies to grace the turf in this country.
Empress Club wins the 1993 Met
A daughter of Farnesio out of the El Gran Capitan mare, Elysee, Empress Club was dubbed the ‘Galloping Goldmine’ by racing commentators and her legion of fans and was renowned for taking on the best of the boys – and beating them!
Legendary trainer Terrance Millard sent out the Argentinian import to make an easy winning debut for the late Laurie Jaffee at the Vaal on 23 March 1991.
She was to go on and win 14 of her next 19 starts, including eight Gr1’s, and was a five-time SA champion in the process. Her successes included the J&B Met and Queens Plate. Her 2 year old victories included the Gr2 SA Nursery, the Gr1 Gold Medallion and the Gr2 Gosforth Park Juvenile Fillies.
She won both the Gr1 SA Guineas and the Gr1 SA Fillies Guineas, when the two races were a few weeks apart.
Often talked about was her appearance at Durbanville to contest the Southeaster Sprint on 15 December 1992. She took on and beat crack speedsters Marie Galante and Taban to set a new 1000m track record of 56.5 secs. Durbanville has never seen a bigger event since!
Following her export to the USA, she won the 1994 Gr3 Hillsborough Handicap on the turf at Bay Meadows.
Empress Club retired to Gainesway, then operated by Graham Beck’ with a record of 16 wins from 26 starts and earnings of $1,155,235. Her first foal was a Lyphard colt. Named Azouz Pasha, he was an English stakes winner. Empress Club’s other two winners also were Northern Hemisphere winners. Empress Club produced six named foals.
The Empress died at Gainesway farm on 19 December 2004. She was in foal to resident stallion Orientate at the time.
