Crowning a dream weekend for jockey JP van der Merwe, the Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein bred 3yo Gimme A Nother made it four wins from four starts as she took her stakes earnings to R650 000 with a facile victory in the R500 000 Mike de Kock Gr2 Ipi Tombe Challenge at Turffontein on Sunday.
Twenty four hours earlier, the Byanston Auctioneers-sponsored JP was aboard the Hollywoodbets Gr1 Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot – but his ride on the smashing recent Betway Gr3 Fillies Mile winner Gimme A Nother was Sunday afternoon armchair stuff!
JP van der Merwe poses as Gimme A Nother makes it look so easy (Pic – JC Photos)
Tracking Marigold Hotel and Emirate Gina all the way around in the mile feature, the Mike de Kock trained Gimme A Nother (7-10) was given her head at the 400m marker and made light of the threat of her older rivals as she simply drew away to win unextended, beating the accomplished Feather Boa (4-1) by 4,75 lengths in a time of 98,7 secs.
Marigold Hotel (40-1) was beaten a further 1,25 lengths in third.
A daughter of Gimmethegreenlight, Gimme A Nother is a fairytale on her own as a third generation stakes winner trained by Mike de Kock.
Enjoy the replay:
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.
As we reported previously, 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 flame 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, and won Sunday’s feature in 2017.
We could write a book about the family – and then there’s Ipi Tombe too.
