Perfect Princess! Sean Cormack and Princess Victoria grab the Group1!
The Princess reigns! Glen Kotzen’s star Victory Moon filly Princess Victoria turned chamber maid at Kenilworth on 3 December when she swept the floor with her hapless opposition and cleaned up. She made it a stunning six victories on the trot when annexing the R750 000 Gr1 Avontuur Estate Fillies Guineas in brilliant style.
Two of the best equine females seen in decades. And we saw them both on the same afternoon. It doesn’t get much better than that for racing fans and sponsor Avontuur Estate are to be congratulated on putting on a memorable day, where the racing gods played along handsomely.
The script doesn’t always pan out this well. A happy beginning doesn’t guarantee a happy ending, but for the Taberer family and Pippa Mickleburgh, the day was just perfect. Their own Var star Val De Ra came back from a rest and firing on all cylinders to win the inaugural running of the Gr2 Tony Taberer Southern Cross Stakes. This prestigious race was named in honour of the late Avontuur supremo and a man who changed the face of South African breeding with the importation of a stallion who has forced breeders to sit up and change the way they think. Var also produced the another winner, Bois De Var, who demonstrated tenacity and ability when winning the fourth race over 1400m. Great horses, good wine and a great party!
V for Victory! John Slade, Glen Kotzen, Peter De Beyer and Georgina Jaffee.
The R750 000 Gr1 Avontuur Estate Fillies Guineas looked a penalty kick for the brilliant Princess Victoria but for the first time in her career, she was made to pick up her feet. This was courtesy of Joey Ramsden’s Trinity House who was gallant in second and after making all the running, will go down in the record books as the first filly to force a mild spanking of the cute royal rump. While she never quite got too close for comfort , this daughter of Captain Al may be just a little more effective over 1400m and she will add to her four-time winning tally in time to come.
It was Princess Victoria’s day though. Only ever beaten on debut, she has now won six of her seven starts for career earnings of total stakes of just under R1,4 million. That impressive cv includes three Gr1 victories and while her name was not in the first entries for the 2012 J&B Met this week, she could certainly have a go at the colt’s Guineas in two weeks time. Her stated long-term goal is the Vodacom Durban July but as trainer Glen Kotzen has pointed out previously, she needs to be placed properly to ensure she goes into the big Durban race with the right weight on her back, as Igugu did last year. Her owners, Dr Andreas Jacobs of Maine Chance Farms, who also bred her and Peter De Beyer and the Jaffee family have got exciting times ahead of them. They have publicly stated that she is not for sale, but there must be many interested parties snooping around. For the Kotzen family of Woodhill Racing Estate in Paarl, the win was an emotional moment in a sad week for the close-knit family. Kathi Kotzen’s Dad, Mike Wintle, passed away on Thursday after a short illness. Our deepest sympathies to them.
Simply The Best! Alec Forbes and Val De Ra on a Sunday stroll!
Emerging stallion Var is delivering the goods on all fronts, and he cracked his second Gr2 feature race within a week in the Cape, when his sensational daughter Val De Ra made light of the challenge facing her in the R200 000 Tony Taberer Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m. Jockey Alec Forbes will not earn an easier riding commission this season and after jumping her keenly from her 2 draw, he drifted her across to track the speedy Varushka- yet another Var!
With 300m to run, Forbes eased the Dennis Drier mare into the lead and she towered like a giant amongst mere mortals as her magnificent chestnut frame floated clear. State Blue and Covenant, who respectively ran second and first in the 2010 running of this feature, chased her home to no avail. None of the opposing trainers really expected to lower her colours today and the vibe on track was electric as the visiting heroine returned to the winners’ enclosure.
It was a brilliant win by South Africa’s top sprinter in a race won by some top sorts over the years. The honour role includes such luminaries as Lady Windermere, Secret Of Victoria and the Plattner bombs Nothing But Silk, Barcelona Baby and Laisserfaire, who won it in 2000 and 2001. While historical comparisons only really serve the fantasies of the romantic at heart, there is every reason to believe that Val De Ra is one of our greatest sprinters of all time. She has now won ten of eleven starts and remains unbeaten over 1000m.
The Glam & The Glory! Lindy Taberer and Dennis Drier.
Winning rider Alec Forbes labelled her magnificent and said it was a hands and heels ride. He called Val De Ra’s trainer Dennis Drier a ‘master conditioner’ on his performance in bringing the mare back in such superb trim after a six month break. An emotional Lindy Taberer, looking gorgeous in a cream suit, flew in from Australia and said that she was thrilled and suggested that good horses unite people. Very well said! As for the flying Val De Ra. The Cape Flying Championship beckons, but as the wise and vastly experienced Dennis Drier put it:” Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
With the ladies double feature and the two starlets dominating proceedings, the memories and highlights of the rest of the programme may just be lost in the passage of time. But Princess Victoria’s pilot Sean Cormack was riding like a demon and he showed his undeniable riding talents when keeping the handsome Var gelding Bois De Var going in a driving three cornered finish to the fourth race. It was a brave effort by a horse that had looked under serious pressure in the latter stages after making all the running , but Cormack shrewdly gave him a breather for a stride or two at the 100m marker and then got him to rally – downing two powerful jockeys in Anton Marcus and Brandon Morgenrood.
Justin Snaith grabbed the very first juvenile race of the season with the flying Black Minnaloushe filly The Black Rose who came out shunting under Richard Fourie in the 800m scurry. She was yet another Maine Chance bred to win on the day and the black-as-night stunner also had the distinction of being the very first catalogued entry of the inaugural Cape Premier Yearling Sale held in January 2011, to win a race. She was not technicall sold during the Sale though.
Summer Time! Winter Dynasty is led in by former jockey Tyron Langdon.
Experienced heavyweight jockey Brandon Morgenrood is making the most of the tasty bones thrown to him by Plattner Racing and he closed the day with a smart winner in Winter Dynasty. The Dynasty colt was bred by Greg Royden-Turner and was making only his third racecourse appearance after a promising second at his last start – in a race that caused a public outcry about Andrew Fortune’s riding. But that’s history! After Brancusi had set a nice pace in the Maiden Plate over 1400m, Morgenrood produced Winter Dynasty from a few lengths off to win going away. The favourite Jet Explorer got going too late, while Hill Fifty Four caught the eye with an improved effort in third.
