Brett Crawford will have mixed feelings about winning the final feature of the SA Champions Season. The Philippi conditioner won seven Gr1’s in the previous two seasons on the East Coast, but drew a blank this season.
Corne Orffer cruises to victory on Sunset Eyes (Pic – Candiese Marnewick)
There was probably some poetic compensation going out with a bang and winning the R150 000 Listed Umngeni Handicap for Crawford. His staunch owner Delma Sherrell’s son Lance appeared particularly pleased to end the long day on a high!
Corne Orffer had Sunset Eyes (11-2) relaxed a few lengths off the pacy Kissable and produced the gelding with a smooth effort to beat Filippo by 2,30 lengths in a time of 56,96 secs.
It was a late-in-career first stakes success for the smart gelding who has boxed in the big league at stages, without being disgraced.
Bred by Moutonshoek, Sunset Eyes was a R300 000 National Yearling Sale purchase.
He has won 6 races with 8 places from 26 starts for stakes of R669 825.
He was a second consecutive feature winner on the day for Western Winter (Gone West) and is out of the five-time winning Winning Eyes – a daughter of Qui Danzig who raced under the Joey Ramsden banner.
