Rio Querari continued his climb up the stakes ladder with a dashing first Gr1 win in the 4Racing Computaform Sprint, much to the delight of part-owner Dr Jill Warner, who was present to lead in the four-year-old with husband John.
Jill is no stranger to victory in this Gr1 dash, for she campaigned the 2016 winner Carry On Alice in partnership with Chris van Niekerk and Klawervlei Stud.
In fact, it was a case of second success all round.
Trainer Justin Snaith broke an 11-year hiatus, for it was in 2009 that the fabulous Dancer’s Daughter’s victory in the Empress Club Stakes provided him with a first Gr1 success on the Highveld.
Rio Querari (Grant van Niekerk) is led in by Justin Snaith, Nkozi Lwazi Mojodina, Dr Jill Warner & Prof John Warner. (Pic- Chase Liebenberg)
Rio Querari also joins Gr1 Thekwini Stakes victress Querari Falcon as the second top level winner for Maine Chance stallion Querari, who had come close to success in the 2018 Computaform when Pinnacle Peak ran second to Attenborough.
Since his arrival at the Robertson farm in 2011, the son of top British stallion Oasis Dream has put together an enviable record in that he has sired stakes winners in each of his first six crops.
Out of a mare by champion and German Derby winner Acatenango, it came as no surprise that Querari’s best racetrack efforts were over 2000m – he won the Gr3 Euro-Cup and ran third in the Gr1 Premio Presidente della Repubblica.
Yet many of his progeny show plenty of toe, a trait which can probably be ascribed to Oasis Dream. A son of speed influence Green Desert, the Juddmonte linchpin was both Europe’s champion juvenile and three-year-old sprinter and as a stallion, he has passed on his fine turn of foot to many of his best offspring.
In that sphere, Querari has followed suit. In addition to Rio Querari, he is also sire of the fine sprinters Kangaroo Jack (Gr2 Post Merchants, Gr2 Joburg Spring Challenge), Wonderwall (Gr2 Spring Challenge, 3rd Gr1 SA Nursery), Cosmic Light (Gr2 Debutante), Mill Queen (Gr3 Starling Stakes and Pinnacle Peak (Gr3 Man O’War Stakes).
Querari has also carved out a fine reputation as a sire of two-year-olds, and has the distinction of siring the first three past the post in the 2018 Ruffian Stakes.
In 2018-19, his total of 18 juvenile winners, led by stakes winning daughters Caya Coco and Herrin, earned him a first Juvenile sires title at the expense of the incomparable Captain Al, a feat he narrowly repeated last season when pipped on the post by Gimmethegreenlight.
The majestic Querari at home. (Pic- Freemanstallions)
However, far from being a one-dimensional speed sire, a good number of Querari’s 23 stakes winners have excelled over a mile and include the aforementioned Querari Falcon, the Gr2 Premier Trophy winner Head Honcho, Gr2 Dingaans hero Monks Hood and Gr3 Cup Trial winner Kampala Campari.
He has even managed to sire a rare stayer or two in the shape of East Cape Oaks victress Solana and Desert Wisdom, who landed the 3200m Glenlair Trophy!
Speed is very much a feature of Rio Querari’s immediate female family.
His dam, the unraced Windrush mare Arctic Breeze is an own sister to the fine sprinters Rushing Wind and Nordic Breeze. The former, a winner of the Gr3 Matchem Stakes, was runner-up in both the Gr1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint and Cape Flying Championship while Nordic Breeze won the Gr3 Champagne Stakes.
Third dam Montrachet, a Foveros own sister to ill-fated Guineas victress Yquem, was a stakes-winning sprinter and also features as the grandam of Wynkelder, who twice reached the frame in the Gr2 Post Merchants.
The hallmark of a top stallion is his ability to sire a steady stream of stakes performers who excel over a wide spectrum of distances. Querari perfectly fits that bill.
