The Ridgemont-Highlands team are riding a crest of feature wave success and they added to last Tuesday’s Kenilworth feature brace at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday.
The top team’s ultra-talented Jackson filly Pretty Young Thing bounced back from a sixteen week break for a smooth victory in the 1200m Post Bollywood R100 000 Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes.
Pretty Yong Thing draws away under Anton Marcus (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
A winner of the Gr3 Prix Du Cap all the way back on Cape Derby day as the curtain came down on the Cape Summer Of Champions Season, Pretty Young Thing now has the Tibouchina and Gr1 Garden Province Stakes on her radar for the balance of the premier season on the East Coast.
And she showed her heart and class on Saturday!
Clearly in need of the outing, and over a distance short of her probable prime trip of seven furlongs, she cruised into the lead a little way out and then stayed on well to be a popular winner at 22-10 and account for the year older Master Keys by 1,50 lengths in a time of 67,75 secs.
Louis Goosen’s hardknocking 6yo Captain’s Girl (33-1) arrived late to bank the third EFT, a further 1,40 lengths back.
Brett Crawford assistant Peter Muscutt confirmed what her race record shows – that Pretty Young Thing is a ‘high, quality filly’.
Anton Marcus – top ride
He said she was ‘blowing hard afterwards’ – a clear indicator of her lack of game time and he said she’d come on from this smart effort.
Ridgemont-Highlands rider Anton Marcus produced his own typically professional performance.
“A lot of thought went into the plan between Brett (Crawford), Peter (Muscutt) and myself. She pulled an awful ‘marble’ in the Fillies Guineas and we felt we’d rather start here,” he added.
Another outstanding and progressive Jackson product, the dual stakes winning Pretty Young Thing has come out on top at 50% of her 10 starts and has earned at three others.
She is versatile and should continue to enhance her paddock value as she nears the end of her 3yo term. She took her earnings to R457 750 on Saturday.
Pretty Young Thing is out of the twice-winning Commands mare, Nona In Command, and is a second crop daughter of Ridgemont Highlands’ multiple Gr1 winning sire Jackson, one of the very best performed – and good looking – sons of the supreme sire Dynasty. Jackson is a major asset to the illustrious Cape stallion ranks.
Jackson (Dynasty – Moonlit Prairie)
His race record speaks volumes of his ability – he won the Gr1 Investec Cape Derby, Gr1 Daily News 2000 and Gr1 Champions Cup. And he certainly has the blood to conquer the world – hailing from the same family as multiple champion sire Smart Strike and ill-fated South African champion Soft Falling Rain.
Jackson gets both sexes to run. On Sun Met day, the Ridgemont Highlands bred Count Jack, a son of Jackson out of the twice winning Dylan Thomas mare, For The Count, produced progressive career earnings of ten times his Cape Premier Yearling Sale price tag, when winning the CTS 1600 in smart style, beating Vodacom Durban July entry, Sachdev.
Jackson has two fillies (#26 / #48) and three colts (#12 /#61 /#82) on the online Klawervlei Farm Sale which commences on Monday 15 June and runs to 21 June.
The handsome athlete also has one filly (#156) catalogued on the BSA National Yearling Sale, which will be held at the end of July.
