Under Your Spell served notice that she is ready to make plenty of noise this season following her scintillating return to action at Turffontein on Saturday.
Fresh off a three-month break, the daughter of Capetown Noir made light work of her seasonal bow, a Pinnacle Plate over 1450m when she came charging into the lead fully 400m from home and powered home to leave her rivals trailing by almost four lengths.
Under Your Spell – first time up in trip and eyecatching again (Pic- JC Photos)
Sean Tarry’s charge had proved herself one of the leading juvenile fillies in a splendid juvenile season capped by a commanding four-length victory in the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship, after hacking up in similar style in the Gr3 Protea Stakes and Listed Ruffian Stakes.
Significantly, this was Under Your Spell’s first victory beyond 1200m and she clearly relished the extra. This now opens up a myriad of options, none more so than a classic campaign.
Tarry and his partners will no doubt have the Gauteng Guineas in mind for their star filly, for on pedigree, she looks a natural to excel over a mile, considering her Kahal half-sister Witchcraft twice won the Gr3 Track and Ball Oaks! In addition, she is bred on virtually the same cross as Capetown Noir’s East Cape Guineas/Derby winner Jaeger Moon.
He is out of a mare by Parade Leader, whose sire, the outstanding racer and stallion Kingmambo, also features as Under Your Spell’s broodmare.
Under Your Spell is just one of an exciting array of Tarry-trained sophomore fillies with classic aspirations.
He also has the privilege of training champion Rain In Holland, a Drakenstein homebred who set the seal on a championship season when she made a winning Stakes debut in the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville. Despite running into all sorts of trouble, she rallied in splendid fashion to get up on the line for a fifth successive win.
The daughter of Duke Of Marmalade is closely related to another champion, her dam, Imvula being an unraced half-sister to Dancer’s Daughter, who forced a famous deadheat with the mighty Pocket Power in the 2008 Gr1 Vodacom Durban July.
Sean Tarry has a strong classic hand this term again (Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
Another Drakenstein homebred in Tarry’s care is the Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes winner Sound Of Warning, who was runner-up to Under Your Spell in the Gr1 Allan Robertson. Tarry also trained the filly’s dam, the admirable Siren’s Call. A Gr1 winner, this daughter of SA Derby winner Elusive Fort was successful in the first two legs of the Triple Tiara and went down by just a neck in the third leg, the SA Oaks.
Drakenstein could have another possible string to its classic bow in Sheela, who is trained by Mike and Adam Azzie.
Sheela – another to be considered this season (Pic – JC Photos)
She looked a potential superstar in the making following her sparkling debut win in the Listed Storm Bird Stakes and an equally fine victory in the Gr2 SA Nursery. On the strength of having twice defeated male rivals, she started in the red for the Allan Robertson but proved no match for Under Your Spell and had to settle for third. Notwithstanding the fact that she is out of a speedy Trippi mare, she is by the Galileo horse The United States, whose optimum distance was 2000m and who won a Cup race over 2500m.
Granted, both Sound Of Warning and Sheela have yet to score beyond 1200m. However the stamina elements in both pedigrees suggest a mile may just be within their scope.
Adding to Tarry’s powerful arsenal of sophomore fillies and one sure to find the classics to her liking is Twice The Trip, a winner of the Listed Devon Air Stakes over 1400m. She is a daughter of Twice Over, whose progeny generally excel over ground, while her dam, the Trippi mare Tripinthemist, scored over a mile and interrestingly, is a Rakeen half-sister to none other than the dam of aforementioned Jaeger Moon.
That the Tarry team could make merry this season goes without saying. However, one who could upset the applecart is Desert Miracle.
“She is perhaps one of the best I have trained”, is how Mike de Kock described his classic hopeful. That praise came after the Dynasty filly’s remarkable eight-length tour de force in the Gr2 Golden Slipper at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
Gr2 Golden Slipper winner Desert Miracle – impressed and looks smart (Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
De Kock also trained the filly’s dam Welwitschia, who likewise raced in the Wilgerbosdrift silks and won both the Gr2 Diadem Stakes and Gr2 Camellia Stakes.
Dynasty’s classic influence will stand Desert Miracle in good stead, considering that her half-brother, the Gr1 Summer Cup third Tree Tumbo, is by yet another classic stallion in Silvano.
Dynasty also features as the broodmare sire of Justin Snaith-trained Maria Querol, a facile winner of the Listed Irridescence Stakes over 1500m. The daughter of Querari will no doubt have the Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas on her list of classic targets.
Arguably the most unlucky juvenile filly of last season was Glen Kotzen-trained ‘bridesmaid’ Kailene. Twice a winner over 1400m, she finished closest to Desert Miracle in the Golden Slipper, whilst losing both the Devon Air and Thekwini by virtually the bob of a head. By Dynasty’s son Jackson, a triple Gr1 winner over 2000m, she too, looks a classic proposition.
It must be stressed that the above fillies make up just a sample of possible classic contenders and as the season progresses, more worthy candidates are sure to emerge from the woodwork.
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