Current Hollywoodbets Durban July favourite Safe Passage became the third son of Silvano to win the Gr1 Daily News 2000 following his triumph in Saturday’s R1 million race at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
The Drakenstein Stud bred and owned gelding joined the likes of Vercingetorix – sire of Saturday’s Daily News 2000 runner up Pomp And Power – and Hawwaam as past Daily News 2000 winners for Silvano, whose daughter Silver Darling won the Gr1 Woolavington 2000 just a half hour earlier.
Safe Passage – back to something near his best on Saturday (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Sadly now deceased, Silvano has a total of 27 Gr1 winners to his name and his influence on the South African turf looks set to be felt for years to come.
Safe Passage, who was produced by talented, if temperamental, G2 Debutante winner My Sanctuary, also sports an illustrious female line.
My Sanctuary was sired by Antonius Pius – a son of Danzig, with Danzig also sire of National Assembly, the broodmare sire of the aforementioned Vercingetorix. My Sanctuary, in turn, was produced by the winning Pulpit mare Temple Goddess, a mare with an interesting pedigree.
Temple Goddess was sired by a son of A.P. Indy in the form of Pulpit, and her dam Temporada was a daughter of A.P. Indy’s classic winning half-brother Summer Squall. Similar inbreeding to A.P Indy and Summer Squall’s remarkable dam Weekend Surprise has resulted in the likes of Breeders’ Cup champion British Idiom, Gr1 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Happy Saver, and US champion Stevie Wonderboy.
My Sanctuary’s third dam was high-class racemare Lemhi Go, whose 12 career wins included triumphs in both the Gr2 La Prevoyante Invitational Handicap and Gr3 Arlington Matron Handicap.
However, perhaps of more current interest is the fact that Safe Passage hails from the same female line as one of the hottest stallions on the planet.
Safe Passage is directly descended in female line from the Challenger mare Gallita -a full-sister to outstanding racemare Gallorette.
The latter, a member of the US’s Racing Hall Of Fame, is ancestress of a host of high-class performers, perhaps none more current than the outstanding young stallion, Gun Runner.
A son of another top stallion in Candy Ride, Gun Runner was North America’s Horse Of The Year in 2013. The chestnut won 12 of 19 starts, with his six Gr1 triumphs headed by a win in the 2017 Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Retired to stud in 2018, Gun Runner, pictured above, has made a phenomenal start to his stud career, and was Leading First Season Sire and Leading Sire of 2YOs in 2021.
His first crop, now three, include 11 stakes winners, with his early runners headed by no fewer than five Gr1 winners. This tally includes recent Gr1 Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting and Gr1 Breeders’ Cup winning champion Echo Zulu. Gun Runner has made one of the best starts of any young sire in recent memory!
His Gr1 Hopeful Stakes winning son Gunite has an interesting pedigree -being out of a mare by a son of Giant’s Causeway, the broodmare sire of Gun Runner.
Considering that he only improved with age, the sky appears the limit for Gun Runner as a stallion.
However, Gun Runner is by no means the only star performer to hail from his immediate family -his Gr2 Molly Pitcher Stakes winning dam Quiet Giant was a Giant’s Causeway half-sister to another US Horse Of The Year in the form of Saint Liam.
Clearly, excellence is to be found on both sides of Safe Passage’s pedigree!
