There was plenty of historic familiarity about the winner of Saturday’s first leg of Wilgerbosdrift SA Triple Tiara.
Gimme A Nother made it five straight victories, and three graded stakes successes on the trot, when she flew from last into the straight to win the R750 000 Wilgerbosdrift Gr2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas at Turffontein on Day 1 of the 2024 The Championships Season.
Gimme A Nother (JP van der Merwe) makes it a perfect 5 as she storms home to beat hard-chasing stablemate Silver Sanctuary (Richard Fourie) for a meritorious win (Pic – JC Photos)
“A proper family affair,” added trainer Mike de Kock, who sent an ominous warning for SA Fillies Classic aspirants when he suggested that ‘the winner could be even better than this’.
“She was a bit above herself in the preliminaries. But to be fair, she had a bit of an ‘on-off’ prep as she was supposed to travel to the Cape for the Paddock Stakes,” observed the man who knows a decent filly when he sees one.
From the worst draw of 11, regular pilot JP van der Merwe, who won the Met eight years ago on Smart Call in the same silks, had to take his mount back, before settling her in last as stablemate Mary’s Greenlight was followed by Key Element in the dash for home.
The further they went, the less the stress for her supporters as JP gave the undefeated filly her head and she put them to bed in a matter of strides.
Gimme A Nother (1-1) swept down the middle to beat stablemate Silver Sanctuary (28-10) by 1,75 lengths in a time of 97,74 secs.
Candice Dawson’s My Soul Mate (40-1) was the best of the balance, a further three quarters of a length away in third.
Gimme A Nother is now in line to follow in the footsteps of Rain In Holland, War Of Athena, Summer Pudding, Cherry On The Top and Igugu. Both Summer Pudding and Cherry On The Top raced in the same famous yellow and black strip.
As reported previously, Gimme A Nother is a fairytale on her own as a third generation stakes winner trained by Mike de Kock.
Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, she is out of the Tiger Ride champion, Nother Russia,
Mary Slack purchased Gimme A Nother’s grandam Mother Russia from Klawervlei Stud as a dual Gr1 winner of the Fancourt Majorca and Empress Club Stakes. Mother Russia duly rewarded her new owner with victory in the Gr1 Paddock Stakes and in what was arguably the highlight of her star-studded career, the coveted Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, a memorable occasion given that she thwarted the mighty Pocket Power’s bid of a fifth consecutive victory in the celebrated mile race.
There were high hopes for the champion daughter of Windrush when she retired to her owner’s Wilgerbosdrift paddocks as a four-time Gr1 winner. However, racing and breeding is fraught with incredible highs and the heartbreak that is the flip side, hence it was not just a cruel blow when Mother Russia died at age ten, her innings as a broodmare yielded just a single foal by Tiger Ridge.
Fortunately, that foal, a filly named Nother Russia, is keeping the dream alive.
Like her mom before her, she joined the De Kock stable but raced in the colours of Jessica Jell , who had purchased the chestnut from the Wilgerbosdrift draft for R550 000 at the National Yearling Sale.
She ended up a dual Gr1 winning eight-time winner.
As it stands, Gimme A Nother has all the credentials to join the SA Triple Tiara honour roll!
Leg 2 is the R1 250 000 Wilgerbosdrift Gr1 SA Fillies Classic to be run over 1800m at Turffontein on Saturday 2 March.
The third leg is the R750 000 Wilgerbosdrift Gr2 SA Oaks over 2450m at Turffontein on Saturday 6 April.
A bonus of R1 million will be paid to the connections of the filly that wins all three legs of the Wilgerbosdrift SA Triple Tiara.
Enjoy the replay!
