Tribute to a Champion
The running of the J&B Met on Saturday marked the end of an era. It saw one of South Africa’s best loved champions, Pocket Power, make his final racecourse appearance.
It is hard to imagine another horse winning three Mets and four Queen’s Plates, and Pocket Power’s retirement will leave a considerable gap on the South African racecourse, particularly at Kenilworth. Mike Bass and his team have done a superb job in keeping the 8yo going, especially with his somewhat quirky temperament and history of foot problems. Whilst champions come and go in, few have raced over as lengthy a period as “Pocket” has, and he will never be forgotten by many his many admirers. The magnificent pictures, taken by Charles Faull, at Kenilworth racecourse pay fitting homage to him, although whether or not they have been situated in the right place is another question altogether.
Met day presenters
Watching M-Net’s coverage of Saturday’s J&B Met, I found it astounding they chose to cover the races using overseas presenters. I have nothing against the aforementioned presenters, but it seems a poor choice to cover the Cape’s greatest race with people whose knowledge of local racing can’t compare with some of the locally based presenters. With all due respect, people who live here and watch the horses competing on a regular basis, are in a far better position to inform the public (many of whom don’t know anything about the horses taking part), than people who come out to cover one race meeting.
Big Weekend for Trippi
Drakenstein Stud’s Trippi had a fine weekend just past. His daughter, Trip For A J, won Saturday’s Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf and Gulfstream Park. Trip For A J, who reeled off four straight wins last year and was second in the G3My Charmer Handicap, has now won seven races and over$400,000. A triple stakes winner, the 4yo filly looks likely to pick up a graded stakes race, before she is retired.
Trippi’s talented 3yo son, Gourmet Dinner, ran a good third in Sunday’s G3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Holy Bull is a traditional prep race for the US Triple Crown races later in the season. Gourmet Dinner was a winner of last year’s G3 Delta Jackpot.
Trippi had yet another US winner when his daughter Illusion of Speed won at the Fair Grounds on Sunday, whilst another son of Trippi, the first out winner Travelin’ Man, is likely to run next in the G2 Hutcheson Stakes.
He was also the third leading sire, by aggregate, at the recent Cape Premier Yearling Sales, where his yearlings averaged R566 667.
Plans for top mares
Fillies and mares have done well in the G1 Sansui Summer Cup, and recently Flirtation (Silvano) and Mother Russia (Windrush) ran 1-2 in the prestigious event. One of the best fillies ever to win the Summer Cup, and one of the best to race in South Africa over the past decade, was Ilha da Vitoria (Candy Stripes). The feisty grey won or placed in eight G1 races during her career. She not only won the G1Summer Cup but was also a somewhat unlucky runner up in the 2006 J&B Met. Ilha da Vitoria’s first foal, a filly by Tiger Ridge, is already a winner. She is now in foal to G1Dubai Duty Free winner Right Approach.
Ilha da Vitoria is owned by Mary Slack, also the owner of champion filly Mother Russia (Mother Russia). The latter’s full-sister made R1.4 million at the inaugural Cape Premier Yearling Sale, and it’s not surprising to learn that Veronica Foulkes, the breeder of Mother Russia, has sent Russian Muse (dam of Mother Russia) back to Windrush.
New Zealand Premier Yearling Sale
New Zealand’s Premier Yearling Sale kicked off last Monday. The two-day sale features some of New Zealand’s best bred yearlings.
A lot with strong ties to South Africa, was lot 74. A handsome bay son of top New Zealand sire O’Reilly (Last Tycoon), the colt is out of the G2 winning mare Star Afffair. He is thus a half-brother to former Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas runner up Galileo’s Galaxy (Galileo). The colt was knocked down for $300,000 – or R1.6 million.
3yo fillies
It’s interesting to note that both of the WFA G1 races for fillies and mares in the Cape have been won by 3yos. Whilst last year’s crop of 3yo fillies was widely slated as being below par, it still included the likes of Alderry (Al Mufti) and Flirtation (Silvano), fillies who beat the males in the G2Charity Mile and G1 Sansui Summer Cup respectively.
However, this year’s crop of 3yo fillies looks even better.
The likes of Ebony Flyer (Jet Master), Emerald Cove (Captain Al), Hollywood Boulevard (Street Cry) and Igugu (Galileo), not to mention Saturday’s G1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes winner Covenant (Western Winter), should provide plenty of fireworks throughout the season to come.
Jet Master
It was quite a weekend for champion South African sire, Jet Master. Not only did he have his fifth consecutive win in the J&B Met as a sire, he was also responsible for siring the two joint top-priced yearlings at the inaugural Cape Premier Yearling Sale. His sons, One Sunday Morning and Alexandra Palace, both sold for R2.5 million respectively. Overall, Jet Master’s progeny sold for an aggregate of R15,855,000, with the average price being R742 143.
Given the tremendous level of success enjoyed by Jet Master’s progeny, locally and world-wide, this looks almost cheap! With the first daughters of Jet Master now retiring to stud, I have heard tremendous reports about the first foals produced by them – an example in point is Abercrombie, who sold for R1.4 million at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale. Jet Master’s influence in the South Africa studbook certainly does not look to be limited to one generation, and his sons and daughters can play huge roles in the breeding industry for years to come.
Another top sire to feature prominently over the weekend was Western Winter. Not only is he the broodmare sire of Met winner, Past Master, but his daughter, Covenant looked a potential champion when winning the G1Klawervlei Majorca Stakes. Western Winter has enjoyed a magnificent Cape Summer Season, with his offspring winning a remarkable nine feature races!
Whilst Western Winter had a relatively small bunch of yearlings on the Premier Sale, they still managed to gross R6 510 000, with an average price of R591 818.
