Cape trainer Vaughan Marshall opened his SA Champions Season feature account at Scottsville on Sunday with the well related and exciting Captain Al filly, The Secret Is Out, who came home unchallenged to win the R200 000 Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes.
MJ Byleveld steers The Secret Is to an impressive win
This is a family that Marshall knows very well – he had the pleasure and distinction of training both the sire and dam of the slightly built winner.
And it was mission accomplished for the connections on both fronts – the black type is in the book and they came to find out how good she is – and she is good!
The Marshall-Byleveld were riding high after a two day spell that eventually produced five winners and with owner-breeders Garth Miller and Basil Nelson in town, it was a super Sunday plan that came together rather nicely.
MJ Byleveld – good weekend
After Mygirldownunder and Seattle Singer had come forward powerfully at the 500m, MJ Byleveld worked his way through down the inside rail and it was race over.
Despite running green, The Secret Is Out had the race under control from the 300m marker and went on unchallenged to win by 1.75 lengths in a time of 63.10 seconds.
She started at a rather generous 3/1 for her supporters in a race where a few were establishing their ranking on the pecking order.
Corne Spies’ Seattle Singer chased the winner home and ran her fourth consecutive second. Her last three races have all been in features and she must be the hottest maiden property in the country at the moment.
The Tarry duo of Touching and Visuality finished 3rd and 4th respectively and both look to be fillies with a future.
Debut winner Mygirldownunder was found to be not striding out and ran accordingly.
The Secret Is Out was bred by the BPB Syndicate and is a daughter of Captain Al out of the outstanding six-time winning Secret of Victoria (Goldkeeper). That makes the winner a full sister to the top class All Is Secret who was also trained by Vaughan Marshall.
The Secret Is Out has now won both of her starts after a facile debut win on 13 January at Kenilworth.
She took her stake earnings to R171 875 with plenty still to come.
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Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes (SAf-Gr3)
Scottsville, South Africa, May 1, R200k, 1100m, turf, soft, 1.03.01
1 – THE SECRET IS OUT (SAF), 58.0, b f 2, Captain Al (SAF) – Secret Of Victoria (SAF) by Goldkeeper (USA). Owner Messrs G M Miller & B G Nelson; Breeder BBP Syndicate; trainer VH Marshall; jockey M Byleveld
2 – Seattle Singer (SAF), 56.0, b f 2, Sail From Seattle (USA) – Royal Drummer (SAF) by Kilconnel (USA)
3 – Touching (SAF), 58.0, b f 2, Querari (GER) – Tachina (IRE) by Spectrum (IRE)
Margins: 1.75, 0.15, 0.10
