Cream always rises to the top. That much was evident at Hollywoodbets Greyville last Saturday, where the familiar Drakenstein light blue and white silks flashed across the line first in both the Gr1 Daily News 2000 and Gr1 Woolavington 2000.
On Saturday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville the Cape-based outfit have three Gr1 runners carrying their famous flag. They are Sweet Pepper (Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship), and Sound Of Warning and Santa Maria in the SA Fillies Sprint.
But back to last Saturday!
The all-powerful outfit is no stranger to doubling up on a Classic. Lest we forget, back in early February, homebreds Safe Passage and Rain In Holland took the honours in both the Gauteng Guineas races at Turffontein.
Muzi Yeni gives the thumbs up on Safe Passage (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The former, who was put on the backburner after his neck defeat in the subsequent Gr1 SA Classic, returned to action on Saturday to claim the Gr1 Daily News 2000 in a manner which immediately propelled him to the top of the betting for the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
But for being side-lined by surgery to correct an entrapped epiglottis, Drakenstein’s Triple Tiara winner Rain In Holland would surely have started a hot favourite for the fillies equivalent, the Gr1 Woolavington 2000.
No worries though, the arsenal of Drakenstein fillies is such that Silver Darling proved a worthy substitute by opening her stakes account at the expense of fellow Drakenstein runner and favourite, Light Of The Moon.
Grant van Niekerk drives Silver Darling to an easy win (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Drakenstein’s second Woolavington winner, Silver Darling follows in the footsteps of the outstanding Australian-bred Oh Susannah, who won the race in 2018 in a 3yo season which saw her crowned both Horse of the Year and Champion 3yo filly.
Saturday’s Gr1 double was a poignant one, for the simple reason that both winners were sired by the late great Silvano, whose 27 Gr1 winners also include two former Daily News 2000 heroes, Vercingetorix and Hawwaam.
Silvano (Lomitas – Spirit Of Eagles)
To the writer’s knowledge, Silver Darling also brought up a century of locally-bred stakes winners for the five-time champion stallion, a mean feat in itself.
She joins Do You Remember (2013), Silvano’s Pride (2019) and Summer Pudding (2020) as Silvano’s fourth Woolavington 2000 winner and, like Silvano’s Pride, was bred out of a daughter of Jet Master.
Silver Darling is out of Jet Belle, who incidentally, finished third to Do You Remember in a head-bobbing three-way finish to this race nine years ago!
She mixed it up with the best that season, also running third in the Gr1 SA Fillies Classic and Gr2 SA Oaks. At four, she finally opened her stakes account in the Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes, defeating Hammie’s Hooker, who just happens to be a half-sister to Gem King, a winner of the first two legs of the Cape Winter Series!
Jet Belle notched up a first Gr2 success when claiming the Gold Bracelet at the expense of paternal half-sister Jet Aglow.
Kathi Kotzen and Kevin Sommerville lead Jet Bell 9Stu Randolph) in after her Gr2 score
Kept in training at five, she ran third to Drakenstein standout Inara in both the Gr1 Paddock and Gr1 Majorca Stakes, before making it back-to-back victories in the Poinsettia, where she left her rivals trailing by a dominant four lengths.
While Silver Darling is her only runner to date, Jet Belle also has a juvenile colt by Dynasty and a yearling full brother to the Woolavington winner. She is currently in foal to What A Winter.
Jet Belle’s dam, the Argentinian-bred Bella Bianca was a stayer of note. Trained by Tony Millard, she capped her racing career with a splendid victory in the Gr1 Gold Cup. Excellence runs deep in this female line, as Bella Bianca is out of Argentinian Gr1 winner Bianca Maria, who in turn is out of La Fornarina, an own sister to Argentinian powerhouse stallion Farnesio.
Silver Darling is one of a quartet of Gr1 winners amongst a formidable total of 14 individual stakes winners bred by Drakenstein this season.
What odds that tally will increase before the racing season ends on 31 July?
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