Glen Puller’s gutsy 3yo Harlem Shake showed her massive heart and character to lead all the way to win the R250 000 Gr3 Final Fling Stakes at a chilly Kenilworth on Saturday. In the process she enjoyed the distinction of becoming Klawervlei stallion Warm White Night’s first stakes winning daughter.
Harlem Shake strides clear under Heavelon van der Hoven for a smooth win (Pic – Wayne Marks)
Harlem Shake has become a notable milestone setter!
She was also her sire’s first ever winner – from his first runner – when she won on her 800m debut in the very first juvenile scurry of the 2014/15 season.
Warm White Night, a smashingly handsome son of the champion ill-fated Western Winter was a multiple Gr1 winning sprinter in an illustrious career on the track.
He won 7 races (five of those Group races) from 1000m to 1200m.
Joey Ramsden’s Hard Day’s Night was his first stakes winner, when showing the same type of resolve as Harlem Shake on Saturday, when scoring in the 2015 Gr2 Selangor Cup.
Glen Puller (pic: hamishNIVENPhotography)
The Final Fling Stakes run over the winter track 1800m attracted a field of fifteen and Heavelon Van Der Hoven had the pacy Harlem Shake over quickly from her wide draw to lead after 200m.
Into the straight she continued to gallop strongly and despite being passed briefly by Andrew Fortune on Fear Not, Harlem Shake was merely having a breather and she came back strongly to draw away and go on to win by 1,75 lengths in a time of 116,11 secs.
Van der Hoven rode Illuminator to win the inaugural CTS Million Dollar for the same yard six months earlier.
Icy Fire ran on strongly to hold off Sublime Lady for second, with Fear Not close up in fourth.
The fancied Acrostar moved up dangerously late but ran out of steam to finish just out of the places.
Heavelon van der Hoven (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Harlem Shake has been a model of consistency.
She took her stakes earnings total to R343 400 with her fourth win with three places from thirteen starts.
Bred by Klawervlei, she is a daughter of Warm White Night out of the Australian-bred Snippets mare, Malakeh.
Named after an internet Meme, she was a R150 000 Cape Premier Yearling Sale Book 2 purchase, and looks to have a very bright future.
Warm White Night has just one lot on the CTS August 2yo Sale at Durbanville on 6 August.
Lot 73 is out of the Temptation Time mare, Don’t Rush and is offered by The Alchemy.
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Gr3 Final Fling Stakes (SAf-Gr3)
Kenilworth, South Africa, July 23, R250k, 1800m, turf, soft, 1.56.11
1 – HARLEM SHAKE (SAF), 57.5, b f 3, Warm White Night (SAF) – Malakeh (AUS) by Snippets (AUS). Owner Messrs F M Carruthers, P Fourie, Ian Robinson, Ken Martin & N D Scholtz & Ms J Hunter; Breeder Klawervlei Stud; trainer GR Puller; jockey H vd Hoven
2 – Icy Fire (SAF), 57.5, b f 3, Western Winter (USA) – She’s On Fire (SAF) by Jet Master (SAF)
3 – Sublime Lady (SAF), 57.5, b f 3, Captain Al (SAF) – Sublimity (SAF) by Fort Wood (USA)
Margins: 1.75, 0.05, 0.20
