Leading Paarl-based breeders Varsfontein Stud are enjoying a royal time of it in their 50th anniversary year and registered yet another feature success when the Gimmethegreenlight filly Kinda Wonderful stormed home to beat her four opponents in the R250 000 Listed Irridescence Stakes at a chilly Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
Kinda Wonderful (Craig Zackey) holds off a late challenge from Dixieland Band and Grant van Niekerk (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
After 24mm of overnight rain, the Southern Suburbs track was marked up as ‘soft’ on the bend, with the pen reading 28. And it was not surprising to see two runners with experience of the turn filling the first two places.
The red-hot Craig Zackey is enjoying a top season with feature winners, and he had Kinda Wonderful tucked in one from last as Richard Fourie allowed Sahara Cat to bowl along out front, ahead of Miss World and Timeline.
As they turned for home, sticky underfoot conditions took their toll as the two backmarkers started making ground, with Sahara Cat coming under pressure.
Into the final 250m Kinda Wonderful (11-10,tote favourite) started lengthening and she went on to clock 98 secs flat for the 1500m, holding off a late challenge from the lesser fancied of the Greg Ennion duo in Dixieland Band (25-2), who produced a pleasing post maiden effort, 2 lengths back.
Sahara Cat (33-20) was given every chance by Fourie, but had nothing to come and was beaten a further 1,25 lengths adrift in third.
Raced by a partnership comprising Canine Solutions CC(D C O’Driscoll),Mauritzfontein (Pty) Ltd(J B Jell),N P Malherbe,Nick & Val McFall, A E Sands& Wilgerbosdrift (Pty) Ltd (M Slack), the winner is trained out of Milnerton by Eric Sands and was registering a second victory from 5 starts with 3 places, and doubled her gross stakes to R292 876.
Bred, as stated in our introduction, by Varsfontein, the winner is by their resident champion Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready) out of the Black Minnaloushe mare Outrage, a half-sister to Croc Valley (Western Winter) and quality stayer, Galileo’s Night, and whose offspring include the Glen Kotzen charge Third Runway, a winner of the Gr2 Western Cape Fillies Championship in her time.
