In an era where elite races are more or less dominated by powerful breeders and blue-chip families, this year’s Gr1 South African Fillies Sprint, brought to you by The Witness, proved a refreshing triumph for the ‘underdogs’.
The Gr1 dash was dominated by Corné Spies-trained Singforafa, who burned off her rivals with a scintillating display of front-running speed.
Sired by an underrated stallion, she was bred by a small breeder from a mare who decidedly lacks black type credentials.
Singforafa clocks the fastest 1200m Gr1 on the day (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
‘It is not uncommon for excellence in a pedigree to lie dormant. It may skip a generation, but whether it’s a matter of the stars aligning, a confluence of genetic characteristics or a combination thereof, excellence has an uncanny knack of resurfacing’
The fleet-footed filly is a landmark first Gr1 winner for Ridgemont Highlands-based stallion Potala Palace. Conceived in the UK, he is by Rakeen’s champion half-brother Singspiel.
Winner of the Dubai World Cup, Coronation Cup and Juddmonte International, Singspiel carved out a successful stallion career siring high-class horses of the ilk of Confidential Lady (French Oaks) and Yorkshire Oaks winner Dar Re Mi (the dam of champion English juvenile Too Darn Hot).
Singspiel trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Jerry Bailey won the second edition of the Dubai World Cup in 1997. (Pic- Dubai racing Club)
Considering that Singspiel’s progeny generally showed a tendency to thrive over ground, and took some time to come to hand, Potala Palace proved an exception.
Trained by Mike Azzie, this R3,6-million yearling purchase ran second on debut and barely a week later, cracked his maiden by six lengths under front-running tactics over 1450m.
Third time out, he recorded another sublime front-running victory in the Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes, where he had favourite Gimmethegreenlight back in third.
The athletic Potala Palace in action
That the precocious colt defied his pedigree would be an understatement. Inbred 4 x 3 to English Derby winner Shirley Heights, his female line is packed with stamina and features plenty of classic performers, notably English Derby hero North Light (out of the Gr1 winning stayer Sought Out), the Gr1 winning middle distance performers Golan and Gamut, and Derby runner-up Tartan Bearer.
Potala Palace returned to his birthplace of Highlands in 2014 to embark on a stud career.
A Gr1 winner as a juvenile and blessed with a fine pedigree and good looks, he ticked all the boxes, yet has only received scant support.
His first crop of 35 foals was his biggest, but according to available NHRA statistics, he covered just nine mares each in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
To his credit, he has made the most of his limited opportunity, for in addition to Singforafa, he has also sired undefeated triple Gr3 winner Katak, Gr3 Pretty Polly Stakes victress Palace Of Dreams, Gr1 Mercury Sprint third Palace Chapel, Gr1 Thekwini Stakes third Snow Palace.
Significantly, the majority of his stakes performers have inherited their sire’s fine turn of foot.
Potala Palace: Singspiel – Alighment (Alzao) (Pic – Ridgemont Highlands)
Singforafa is no exception. Winner of the Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes and third in the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship as a juvenile, she added the Listed Bauhinia Stakes at three and finished third in the famous three-way finish to the 2020 Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint won by champion Celtic Sea. Last weekend, she set the record straight in no uncertain terms, leading all the way and landing her first Gr1 success in flamboyant style.
Bred by the late Nico Swart, she is out of his homebred First Whistle, a three-time winning sprinter whose sire, the unfashionable Whistling Wood, scored once as a juvenile over the minimum distance.
A passionate small breeder, Swart also owned and bred grandam First Honeymoon, a non-winner by the dual Gr3 winning sprinter Pole Position out of the Royal Prerogative mare Honeymoon Special, an own sister to the stakes winning juvenile Coconut Queen.
It is not uncommon for excellence in a pedigree to lie dormant. It may skip a generation, but whether it’s a matter of the stars aligning, a confluence of genetic characteristics or a combination thereof, excellence has an uncanny knack of resurfacing.
In this instance, it has taken three generations, as Singforafa is the family’s first black type winner since Coconut Queen strutted her stuff all of 40 years ago!
