While standing in the Hollywoodbets Scottsville parade ring some years ago, while watching the runners for the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint circling around, someone remarked: “One can start a top broodmare band with this field.”
A fair comment, considering the 1200m dash, which will be run for the 50th time on Saturday and brought to us by The Witness, boasts an enviable honour roll.
And yes, history shows that a good number of winners have made their mark as broodmares.
Celtic Sea (Gavin Lerena) wins the SA Fillies Sprint for the second year running in 2020. Run Fox Run (Anton Marcus in gold cap) and Singforafa (Lyle Hewitson) are right in the mix (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
For the purpose of this article, we go back almost half a century to 1972 winner Indian Spice.
A daughter of that fine sprinter Royal Affair, she became dam of the champion two and three-year-old filly Breyani, who incidentally, won the Gr1 Allan Robertson Fillies Championship, the juvenile fillies race now run on the same card as the Fillies Sprint.
Justine, one of an exceptional number of fillies sired by New South Wales, triumphed in 1973 and successfully defended her title twelve months later to become the first of eight dual winners.
She produced a brace of stakes winning fillies in Justify and Joy For The Boys, who bred Got The Giggles, runner-up to the mighty Empress Club, in what is still the only female-dominated finish to the Gr1 Gold Medallion!
The 1975 Fillies Sprint belonged to the Passmore-trained Soul, an own sister to the exceptional sprinter Abbey Boy. In those days the Gilbey Stakes (now the Golden Horse Sprint) was run two months later in June, and Soul almost pulled off a memorable double when she ran second to Portsmouth.
The next two runnings of the SA Fillies Sprint belonged to Mildenhall. Yet another of New South Wales’s top offspring, she won it as a three-year-old for Brian Cherry, while Felix Coetzee partnered her twelve months later for father Hennie.
Mildenhall and connections after the 1977 Fillies Sprint
At stud she produced nine winners, prime amongst which the Royal Prerogative colt The Rutland Arms, winner of the Gr1 Sun International.
The eighties threw up some exceptional winners and those who made an impact in the paddocks include 1987 winner Jungle Class. A Scott Brothers homebred, she became the grandam of Roxanne and third dam of champion juvenile Gabor, both of whom won the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes.
Varsfontein homebred Marie Galante, an exquisite daughter of Mexico II, scored back to back wins in 1992 and 1993.
Third in 1993, Sound Of Rhum claimed the honours in 1994 for Mary Slack and Wendy Appelbaum and she went on to produce ill-fated SA Guineas winner Dunsinane. Incidentally, her half-sister Cathay Firth produced Kildonan, who broke the track record when defeating champion Mythical Flight in the 2007 Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint!
Varsfontein flyer, Marie Galante
Australian-breds have also stamped their authority on the race, notably Sabine Plattner’s outstanding duo Joie De Grise and Laisserfaire. The former won it at three when she was voted the Champion three-year-old female sprinter, and again at four which contributed to a a second championship.
Two years later, the Plattner silks were carried to victory by Laisserfaire, who repeated a year later. The daughter of Danehill also defeated the boys in the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship and Computaform Sprint. Her best foal has been Gr3 Champagne Stakes second Kwitizina, who in turn is the dam of Cup Trial winner Kampala Campari.
However, pride of place amongst the Aussie-bred winners must go to 1995 winner Tracy’s Element.
Tracy’s Element – 1993 Gr1 Smirnoff Bloodline Sprint
The champion juvenile filly of her year when she defeated colts in the Gr1 Smirnoff (now the Gold Medallion), the daughter of Last Tycoon also went on to further Gr1 glory in the Computaform Sprint and Star Sprint. Sadly, she returned to her birth country.
South Africa’s loss proved to be Australia’s gain as she has become a veritable blue hen, producing 2009 Horse of the Year Typhoon Tracy. She also features as the ancestress of last season’s Gr1 Australian Guineas hero Alligator Blood.
In 2003, National Assembly’s daughter Enchantress clinched the Equus award as the Champion older female sprinter with her length and a half victory, thereby emulating her champion half-sister Harry’s Charm, who had defeated Grand Emporium’s dam Whistling Dixie in 1997. Enchantress proved the better broodmare, for she became dam of Gr1 Thekwini Stakes victress Laverna and the Gr3 winners Nevvay and Wylie Wench.
The Beck silks were carried to victory by Overarching in 2004. Trained by Ormond Ferraris and twice the country’s older female sprinter, the American-bred made her mark in the paddocks as the dam of Gr1 Woolavington 2000 winner Lady Of The House.
The 2005/6 season belonged to Sean Tarry’s grey bomber, National Colour, whose victory in the Fillies Sprint was book-ended by scores in the Gr1 Computaform Sprint and Gr1 Mercury Sprint.
This unique hat-trick earned her not just a championship, she also shared Horse of the Year honours with Mike de Kock’s grey, Ilha Da Vittoria.
She too, made Australia her home as a broodmare, yet her most successful foals, the full brothers Rafeef and Mustaaqueem, scored at Gr1 level in South Africa. Now a stallion at Ridgemont Highlands, Rafeef currently leads the race to the Freshman sires title.
Dennis Drier’s champion Val De Ra finished third as a three-year-old but set the record straight at four.
Var champion Val De Ra
She is the most recent winner to have tasted success in the paddocks with her first foal, the British-conceived Frankel filly Miss Frankel, winning the Listed KwaZulu-Natal Stakes, a race Val De Ra had won on two occasions.
Since Val De Ra’s victory in 2011, three champions have recorded doubles in the Fillies Sprint.
Duncan Howells-trained Via Africa made it back to back wins in 2014, while Sean Tarry has won four of the last five renewals with his champions Carry On Alice and Celtic Sea. The former won it as a three-year-old and again at five, while Celtic Sea completed the double last year.
Sadly, all three have left their birth country, as has 2012 winner Ebony Flyer.
Via Africa and Carry On Alice are now at stud in Australia. Ebony Flyer, the dam of Hong Kong-based Gr3 Cape Classic third Cot Campbell, is now in the UK, while Celtic Sea is bound for Gainesway in Kentucky where she will join owner Anthony Beck’s broodmare band.
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