Sean Tarry made it four Wilgerbosdrift Gr1 SA Classic victories in the past nine renewals of the SA Triple Tiara second leg, when the Varsfontein-bred Bless My Stars rallied powerfully late to win the R1 250 000 2023 renewal at Turffontein on Saturday.
The former multiple national champion conditioner registered a feature double on the day after his Hawaii Stakes success and a double after Rain In Holland (Duke Of Marmalade) won the race last year. Previous Tarry winners of the SA Classic are Siren’s Call (Elusive Fort) in 2015 and Return Flight (Pomodoro) in 2019.
Smanga Khumalo (stars on cap) drives Bless My Stars down the inside as Feather Boa (Richard Fourie) fights on (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Former SA champion jockey Smanga Khumalo hadn’t seen the winner’s enclosure in his hometown in a month but rode an enthusiastic finish on the 10-1 Bless My Stars to stave off a determined challenged by Richard Fourie on the luckless Feather Boa (18-10), who was denied on the bob, to go down a head in a time of 111,68 secs.
None Other (6-1) was 2,20 lengths away in third, with the winner’s stablemate Silver Hills (7-1) well beaten in fourth, but announcing her Oaks aspirations.
Piere Strydom did nothing wrong on first leg winner Lady Of Power, who changed stables from Joey Soma to the Azzie’s shortly after her victory. She was always in the vanguard but was the first horse beaten at the 300m marker.
A former Paul Peter charge, the winner was easy to back, despite encountering traffic in her last start.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, Bless My Stars is a daughter of their resident sire Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready) out of the six-time winning Silvano mare, Star Express.
Raced by Kestorm Investments, Bless My Stars was a R250 000 National Yearling Sale graduate and took her stakes tally to R963 750, with her third victory and 2 places from 8 starts.
The final leg of the 2023 Wilgerbosdrift SA Triple Tiara is the R750 000 Wilgerbosdrift Gr2 SA Oaks which will be run at the same venue on 1 April.
Watch the replay here:
