Take That! Sean Cormack enjoys the moment as Princess Victoria wins the Gr2 Tibouchina Stakes.
She‘s back on the throne! Glen Kotzen’s fabulous flyer Princess Victoria lent weight to the maxim that we write off champions at our peril. She put her unplaced run in the recent SA Fillies Sprint at the far reaches of the racing public’s minds when she drew off for an impressive win in the Gr2 Tibouchina Stakes at Clairwood.
It is a fickle reality of horseracing that we love champions, but we’d seemingly just as readily see them fall.The world, bar a few, wrote off the multiple group winning Cape Fillies Guineas victor after she had run seventh and 4,75 lengths off Ebony Flyer in the SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville two weeks ago.
But it is clear that it was just a rare off day and her sole unplaced effort in a glittering, albeit fledgeling, career spanning ten races. She bounced back at Clairwood to win a scorcher today and silence her critics and reward her connections who had stood admirably loyally and staunchly by her jockey and trainer.
Anton Marcus had already ridden four winners on the afternoon when he bounced Trinity House smartly to lead the Tibouchina field from the pacy Riley’s Star and with Princess Victoria nicely settled in midfield.
Mike De Kock’s Welwitschia was giving Anthony Delpech a torrid time around the turn and was fighting and throwing her head about as she ran wide and threatened to run off the course.
Turning for home Trinity House and Riley’s Star continued to roll as Frequent Flyer and Mombasa made their forward moves. At the 300m marker Cormack switched Princess Victoria out to move forward and challenge Mombasa. Welwitschia had tired of her delinquency and was focussing and starting to gain momentum at this point. But her silly exertions told when her energy reserves counted most.
Just as Kotzen’s star seemed to gain the upper hand, she hit a minor flat spot as Mombasa rallied. The unflustered Cormack had been there before though, and he calmly gathered her up as she found her gears late to win going away. In the final stages nothing could match strides with Princess Victoria and she drew off to win by 1,50 lengths in a time of 87,87secs.
Jockey Sean Cormack, who had rather unfairly taken a lambasting from certain quarters for his ride at Scottsville, punched the air in obvious delight as the daughter of Victory Moon cruised in and quipped afterwards that the win was ‘one for the lounge critics.’
This was the KZN-based rider’s fourth win on the filly.
The relatively moderately rated Tiger Ridge filly Mombasa ran a cracker under Bernard Fayd’herbe to stay on well for second, and who at Wilgerbosdrift Stud, or anywhere else in South Africa, would have thought that she would finish ahead of the beautifully bred and highly-rated Welwitschia at level weights? The latter proved again that the euphoria of her sweeping Camelia Stakes win should be tempered against the reality that she is probably a better filly down the straight.
Glen Kotzen echoed the relieved mood in his yard when he said it had been a ‘helluva week’ and that he was fortunate to train a filly of Princess Victoria’s quality for people who ‘understood racing.’ An ecstatic Kotzen called her ‘an awesome filly’.
She's Back! Assistant Trainer Frikkie Greyling and co-owner Peter de Beyer lead the champ in.
Princess Victoria campaigns in the famous Jaffee silks and is owned by the well-known family of the late doyen Laurie Jaffee in partnership with Cape-based Peter de Beyer and her breeder, Dr Andreas Jacobs of Maine Chance Farms.
Co-owner Peter De Beyer summed up the buoyant mood in the camp after the SA Fillies Sprint disappointment, by suggesting that ‘we rather look forward than backwards from here.’ That is great advice for any racehorse owner anywhere!
The Maine Chance bred champion filly is by the deceased Victory Moon out of the unraced Rakeen mare Platinum Princess.
Princess Victoria has run 11 times and won 8 races, of which 6 have been Group features. She has run 2 places. Her career stake earnings total R1 674 842.
She now moves on to the Garden Province Stakes on July day. She may have lost some of her early pace and the mile will be right up her alley.
Result:
Tibouchina S. (SAf-G2) (6/9)
Clairwood, South Africa, June 9, R200.000, 1450m, turf, good, 1.27.87.
PRINCESS VICTORIA (SAF), 58.5, b f 3, Victory Moon (SAF) – Platinum Princess
(SAF) by Rakeen. Owner P G de Beyer, Ms G A Jaffee & Messrs M H, R C & L H
Jaffee & Maine Chance Farms; breeder Maine Chance Farm (SAF); trainer G S
Kotzen; jockey S Cormack (R125.000)
Mombasa (SAF), 60.0, b f 4, Tiger Ridge – Mischief Maiden (SAF) by
Sportsworld
Frequent Flyer (SAF), 60.0, b f 4, Silvano (GER) – Fov’s Fancy (SAF) by
Foveros (GB)
Margins: 1½, ¾, sh hd
Also ran: Welwitschia (GB) 60.0, Trinity House (SAF) 58.5, Checcetti (SAF)
60.0, Give Me Five (SAF) 60.0, Reason To Believe (SAF) 58.5, Riley’s Star
(SAF) 60.0
