Dean Kannemeyer celebrated a fabulous feature treble on SplashOut Cape Derby Day at a sun-drenched Hollywoodbets Kenilworth that sets the stage for their 2025 SA Champions Season campaign on the East Coast in a matter of months.
“Breeder, owner, sponsor, winner!” the proud words of Lady Christine Laidlaw’s sister Patricia Woollett, who deputized on the day and summed things up for an international owner who has enjoyed enormous success through her support of the game here in South Africa for close on 20 years.
Patricia Woollett, sister of owner Lady Christine Laidlaw, is all smiles as she leads in the Khaya Stables flagbearer with Craig Zackey up (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
After Give Me Everything won the Schweppes Listed Cape Fillies Classic for Varsfontein and The Real Prince set the world alight in the City Of Cape Town Listed Jet Master Stakes, it was the latter’s full brother that crowed a memorable day for the DKR Team.
The quietly spoken Dean Kannemeyer displayed a rare flash of emotion in the post-race interview after South Africa’s highest-rated racer Gimme A Prince established his position as a genuine Equus Championship contender with a supreme display of dominance to win the Khaya Stables Gr2 Diadem Stakes.
While the winning margin was not of the same dazzling gargantuan proportions as his Cape Flying Championship victory on Met day a month ago, the gelding showed that he is full of fire at 6, when cutting them down late from midfield at odds of 5-10 to beat the revitalized Café Culture (16-1) by 0,75 lengths in a time of 70,14 secs for the straight 1200m.
The ever-reliable Questioning (5-1) was a length back in third, with stablemate Seeking The Stars (25-1) capping the quartet.
The Brains Trust – Craig Zackey chats to Khaya Stables Racing Boss Jehan Malherbe and trainer Dean Kannemeyer (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Kannemeyer previously won the Diadem with Cosmic Highway (also for Khaya Stables) in 2022, and prior to that with the Zim-bred Honour The Guest in 2004.
The Khaya Stables raced and bred winner was raised in the beautiful Varsfontein paddocks and is 6yo gelded son of champion sire Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready) out of the smashing Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint winner Real Princess. Like Gimme A Prince, the Klawervlei-bred daughter of Trippi was raced by Khaya Stables for Dean Kannemeyer.
A treble Gr1 winner, took his tally to 8 wins and 8 places from 17 starts for stakes of R3 649 513.
The plans for Gimme A Prince, not the kind of horse one can travel up and down the country, are fluid, including a possible raid on Turffontein for the R1 million Jonsson Workwear Gr1 Computaform Sprint on 29 March.
As to alternatives, if Johannesburg doesn’t pan out, Dean has suggested a possible second bid at the Drill Hall Stakes – Gimme A Prince was beaten just three quarters of length from a 12 draw by Trip Of Fortune in 2023 – and then even the Hollywoodbets Gr1 Gold Challenge.
What a day!
Gimme A Prince is led in by DKR Head Lad ‘Young One ‘ Skeyi (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
