Racehorse breeder, owner and horseracing benefactor Mary Slack will this season again sponsor the SA Triple Tiara under the banner of her Wilgerbosdrift Stud in Piketberg on the west coast in the Western Cape.
Mary Slack – getting behind the SA Triiple Tiara again
Wilgerbosdrift has sponsored the SA Triple Tiara since 2015. The series is a mirror image of the SA Triple Crown, except it is restricted to three-year-old fillies.
The full Wilgerbosdrift sponsorship has been set aside to boost the prize money of the series, which is the richest for three-year-old fillies in Africa and comprises three legs over distances ranging from 1600m to 2450m.
Phumelela horseracing executive Patrick Davis said: “On behalf of Phumelela and the entire horseracing industry I would like express my sincere thanks to Mary Slack and her Wilgerbosdrift Stud for sponsoring the Triple Tiara for the seventh year in a row. This in turn has enabled Phumelela to increase the prize money of the three races at Turffontein, which is a welcome boost for owners, trainers, jockeys and grooms in these trying times.”
As with the Triple Crown, there are alternate first legs – the World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas over 1600m at Kenilworth in Cape Town and the Gauteng Fillies Guineas over 1600m at Turffontein. The Cape leg of the current series was run in December and won by Captain’s Ransom.
The second leg is the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic over 1800m with the Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks over 2450m completing the series.
There’s a R1-million bonus for winning all three legs, which has been accomplished by three fillies to date.
Igugu was the first to succeed in 2011 followed by Cherry On The Top in 2013 and Summer Pudding last year.
Interestingly Summer Pudding’s dam, Cherry On The Cake, is a half-sister to Cherry On The Top.
Full details of the three Johannesburg legs of the 2021 Wilgerbosdrift SA Triple Tiara are:
- Leg 1: R300,000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas (Grade 2) 1600m
(Turffontein – Saturday 6 February)
- Leg 2: R700,000 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic (Grade 1) 1800m
(Turffontein – Saturday 6 March)
- Leg 3: R375,000 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks (Grade 2) 2450m
(Turffontein – Saturday 3 April)
A R1-million bonus will be paid to the connections of the filly who wins all three legs.
If ownership changes across the series, the bonus will be shared proportionately. The winning trainer receives 5% of the bonus with 5% to the winning jockey/s and 0.5% to the winning groom (if the trainer, jockey or groom change across the series, the bonus will be shared proportionately).
Fillies running in the first two legs will get free entry and acceptance to the third leg. It should be noted that there will be no consolation bonus.
- Media release by Phumelela Gaming & Leisure Limited on Tuesday 19 January 2021
