Success Counts took advantage of a hefty pull at the weights and the best of the draw to cause a 14/1 surprise in the Starling Stakes for three-year-old fillies over 1400m at Turffontein (standside) on Saturday. The race marked the seasonal debut of Happy Archer, who won the Gr 1 Thekwini Fillies Stakes on the last day of the previous term and who went off as the 5/2 favourite for the Starling despite having to concede between 2 and 6 kgs to her 15 opponents. Fair Rosalind and Vestal Virgin were both well supported at bigger prices, writes Matthew Lips.
Vestal Virgin attempted to take the bull by the horns and set a decent pace from the start, opening up a lead of some three lengths from June Bug, Southern Lights and Follow The Piper. The pace was in fact probably too hot to sustain on this stiff course and opened up the race to horses being held up well adrift. The leaders began to weaken one by one in the straight and young apprentice Nooresh Juglall rode the race of his brief career to deliver Success Counts with a perfectly timed bid down the inside. Leading as they came past the 200m pole, Success Counts opened up a nice advantage over the chasing pack, and while Happy Archer ran on stoutly wider out the favourite was still 1.75 lengths behind her more lightly weighted rival at the finish.
Hitherto unbeaten Nova Zembla finished 1.5 lengths further behind Happy Archer in third, without ever threatening to retain her spotless record, while Mina Salaam lacked a strong kick after briefly looking as though she would get right into the action and was another neck away in fourth. Fair Rosalind was never seen with a chance, and nor was sole Mike de Kock entry Worood, who had a rotten draw to contend with and who could only finish 7.75 lengths behind the winner in 11th place. Connections of Happy Archer should have been well pleased with their filly’s first outing for more than three months. She ran on well to come out a clear second best while conceding 6 kgs to the winner and all the indications are that the daughter of hot international sire Dubawi is training on just fine. She can easily prove to be a big player when she’s back racing against her contemporaries at level weights.
Success Counts was facing both Fair Rosalind and Nova Zembla on 2 kgs better terms for a beating off less than one length over 1200m on the Turffontein inner course in October, when Success Counts was returning from a nearly six month lay-off. She was weighted with a reasonable chance in the Starling, but it will naturally be a very different story in the more valuable level weights races to follow later in the season. Success Counts is trained by Ormond Ferraris for the partnership of Team Valor and Vanashree and Anant Singh, who (Team Valor in particular) were in the middle of having a day to remember. The same Team Valor and Singh combo won the Odessa Stud Fillies Championship at Kenilworth with Ebony Flyer, while the best was still to come for Barry Irwin and Team Valor as their homebred colt Pluck (out of the South African mare Secret Heart) landed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs several hours later. When you’re hot, you’re hot.
This sort of thing doesn’t come cheap, though, and it took R600 000 to acquire Success Counts at the 2009 National Yearling Sale. A daughter of the very good Zafonic sire Count Dubois, she is the fourth foal and fourth winner of Australian-bred Scenic mare Quest For Success, who won four races up to 1800m in South Africa and who was twice Gr 2 placed. Bred by Maine Chance Farms, Success Counts has won twice from seven starts for R195 025 in stakes.
STARLING S. (SAf-G3)
TURFFONTEIN, South Africa, November 6, $24,370, 3yo, f, 1,400mT (6.96fT), 1:25.17.
1st—=SUCCESS COUNTS (SAF), 115, Ch. f. 3, =Count Dubois (GB)—=Quest For Success (Aus), by Scenic (Ire). Owners—Team Valor International, Mrs. Vanashree Singh and Anant Singh; Breeder—Maine Chance Farms (SAf); Trainer—Ormond A. Ferraris.
2nd—=HAPPY ARCHER (AUS), 128, Ch. f. 3, =Dubawi (Ire)—=So Tempted (Aus), by =Jeune (GB).
3rd—=NOVA ZEMBLA (SAF), 119, B. f. 3, Western Winter—=Oceana (SAf), by =Elliodor (Fr).
Margins: 1 3/4, 1 1/2, 1/4.
