The Champion. What A Winter is led in by David Hepburn Brown and Marsh Shirtliff
The brilliant Bass sprinter What A Winter went for a literal Sunday afternoon stroll at Clairwood, when he chalked up a smooth fifteenth win on his penultimate racecourse appearance.
The son of Western Winter will take up stud duties at Drakenstein soon and is set to make the R750 000 Gr1 Mercury Sprint run over the same course and distance his swansong.
The sprint feature is run at weight for age on Saturday 13 July and the racing operator will be hoping that the giant’s appearance will not frighten away the prospective opposition.
In the final race at Clairwood on Sunday, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1200m, What A Winter led all the way and tight against the outside rail.
Regular pilot Bernard Fayd’Herbe sat dead still and never raised a sweat on the 1 to 10 shot.
The power pair went on to beat Joey Ramsden’s gallant grey Shades Of Indigo (half brother to Friday’s 3600m PE Gold Cup winner) by 2,75 lengths in a time of 69,72 secs
This was What A Winter’s fifteenth win with 5 places from 25 starts, and he took his earnings to R3 247 088.
What A Winter is an exciting sire prospect.
He was Equus Champion Sprinter and Equus Champion Older Male in 2012. He has campaigned at the top level, with 16 of his 25 starts in Group races
He has won or been placed in 7 Gr1 races.
Bred by Daytona Stud, the son of thrice Champion Sire, Western Winter, is out of the Irish bred miler, Waseela.
His dam in fact produced 9 to race, of which 8 were winners and 3 were stakes winners.
Waseela is by the spectacular Ahonoora ,one of the few sires ever to produce an Epsom Derby winner and the dam of an Epsom Derby winner – next dam by Horse of the Year and Derby winner Troy. He is from the family of Hyperion, Pharamond, Night Shift, Sickle, Hunter’s Moon, All Moonshine, to name a few.
What A Winter will stand at Drakenstein Stud for a fee of R20 000. He will get every conceivable opportunity there.
