Patience is a virtue, in particular in horse-racing and when applied, it often does pay off.
That adage definitely applies to the connections of three-year-old Lady Of Power, who caused somewhat of a stir when she opened her stakes account in the Gr2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas.
The daughter of Master Of My Fate had to undergo surgery for a wind problem, during which the vets also discovered two ulcers near her windpipe.
Piere Strydom unsaddles Lady Of Power after her superb victory (Pic – JC Photos)
Needless to say, she spent the next few months on the side-lines and when she returned on Christmas eve, ran fourth in a sprint.
Exactly a month later, she defied both top weight and a wide draw to score by a wide margin victory over 1450m.
On Saturday, trainer Joey Soma had his charge razor sharp and in a masterful display of frontrunning under veteran jockey Pierre Strydom, she showed grit and class in equal measures to repel a determined Feather Boa in a tight finish to the mile classic.
Understandably, her connections are now dreaming big, with the Triple Tiara top of the list.
Lady Of Power is the latest stakes winner bred by James Armitage, who acquired her dam Duchess Delight from owner Colin Bird in a foal share deal. The daughter of Fort Wood had shown little in five starts, but as James remarked: “She’s by Fort Wood and as a daughter of the excellent racemare Duchess Daba, I felt she was worth taking the chance.”
Duchess Daba raced for the Kalmansons of Varsfontein Stud. One of the best of her generation and a classic winner of the Gr1 SA Fillies Guineas, she had the distinction of defeating no less than Horse of the Year Celtic Grove in the Gr1 November Handicap.
As a broodmare, Duchess Daba proved a disappointment to put it mildly and failed to reproduce anything resembling herself, notwithstanding the fact that she visited elite stallions such as Fort Wood, Western Winter, Trippi and Gimmethegreenlight. Only four of her ten foals succeeded on the track, headed by the three-time winner Go Dutch.
African Adventure – raced out of Soma yard and stayed well (Pic – JC Photos)
Considering that Lady Of Power is bred on the same cross as Caradoc Gold Cup hero African Adventure, Derby Trial winner Gift For The Gap, and Kenyan Triple Crown winner Silverstone, the step up to 1800m in the Gr1 SA Fillies Classic should be within her scope, however, her extended female line suggests the Oaks trip may just be a tad too far.
Duchess Daba won up to a mile, surprisingly, since she was by speed influence National Assembly out of the brilliant sprinter Izindaba. Racing fans of a certain age will cherish the memories of this daughter of Politician, who raced from two to six and scored no less than 15 times while accounting for the Gr3 Diana Stakes and two renewals of the Champagne Stakes.
The majority of Izindaba’s offspring clearly inherited their dam’s impressive turn of foot. Duchess Daba’s own brother Chief Editor won up to 1400m, chased home Golden Loom in the Gr1 Computaform Sprint and also ran second to Classic Flag in the mile Gr2 Dingaans and Gr2 MEC Guineas.
To the grand sprinter Phantom Earl, Izindaba bred the Gr1-placed juvenile stakes winner Phantom News, while Caesour son Caesar’s Warrior ran second in the Gr3 Man O’War Stakes.
An old pic of Cause To Believe
A rare exception was daughter Persuasive Reason. Sired by the miler Rainbow Dream, she scored up to 1800m and when mated to Caesour, produced Winter Oaks winner Cause To Believe.
Tragically, James lost Duchess Delight last year. “She died of complications after foaling a filly by Pathfork.”
Whether he will part with that depends on how Lady Of Power progresses. As fortune would have it though, there is another daughter of Duchess Delight roaming the Sandown paddocks, the young Ashaawes mare Glamorous Life, who is currently in foal to Soqrat. A three-time winner for Glen Kotzen, she earned small black type when third in the Gr3 Final Fling Stakes.
For now, Lady Of Power appears to have overcome her physical problems and as she looks to be on an upward spiral, Strydom may yet have to postpone his retirement a little longer!
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