Champions Season has officially opened in Kwazulu Natal and saw it start with the non black type 400m dash sponsored by World Sports Betting, always a crowd pleaser.
The Piemonte-bred Faustino, by Crusade out of fast Var mare Wishful Eye, jump from the 400m in a race so blistering fast that if you blinked you would miss it. He scrambled to just over an easy length clear under Kaiden Brewer, with Kaiden able to enjoy his win before hitting the finish line, for trainer Kom Naidoo and owners Messrs Kenny K Govender, E C Abraham, Rajan Naidoo, Mesdames D Jithoo and Trinisha Pillay.
Deceased sire Crusade who stood at Scott Bros and Clifton Stud respectively, has his fair share of winners each week had plenty of speed in his own family and he was a winner of the Gr1 Middle Park Stakes over 1200m.
Faustino’s Vercingetorix half-sister recently sold at Nationals for R500 000 and it is going to be exciting to follow her for owner Manie Pillay. The dam Wishful Eye already has a healthy record at stud with Filippo leading the way.
The handsome Silver Operator by Silvano and bred by Klawervlei Stud, kicked off the season for the stable of Vaughan Marshall and Ken and Jane Truter, in partnership with Rakesh Sewgoolam.
Silver Operator. Image: Candiese Lenferna
A traditional launch-pad for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, the 1400m feature Gr2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes was run at a solid gallop as expected, with Dean Kannemeyer’s runner-up Russian Rock doing best of the July entry trio that included Jet Dark and Linebacker.
But the trophy and the moment belong to the 5yo Silver Operator, a winner of the Listed Jet Master Stakes on Cape Derby day, who showed the benefit of a recent run under the belt, when he bounced forward down the inside under a superb left-handed ride from the top-class Fourie to hold off Russian Rock by a neck in a thriller.
The winner clocked 82,41 secs for the 1400m.
Bred by Klawervlei Stud, the winner is a son of deceased multiple champion Silvano (Lomitas) out of the thrice-winning Captain Al mare, Sting Operation.
A winner of 6 races with 7 places from 21 starts, Silver Operator has banked R760 950.
Under Your Spell was the whisper in the parade ring on the day, after finishing just three quarters of a length off Princess Calla in the Gr1 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes exactly two weeks before that, and brought it to fruition – winning with much in hand by three quarters of a length from Supreme Quest.
Ridden by Calvin Habib for Sean Tarry, it is the 6th win for the daughter of Capetown Noir (who resides at Piemonte Stud) for breeders Summerhill Stud.
Under Your Spell. Image: Candiese Lenferna
Already a winner of the Gr1 Allan Robertson and the runner up of the Equus Award for champion 2yo filly last season, the next 90 days look exciting for Under Your Spell, owned in partnership by Sean Tarry Racing (Pty) Ltd and Mrs BMA Lahoud and Messrs M A Currie, C N Francis, A Lahoud, Jarryd Lahoud, Allan F Peters, Larry Pogir and Craig Zoghby.
She is a half-sister to the smart Gr3 winning stayer Witchcraft (Kahal) and Black Type Sean Tarry trained In Cahoots (Visionaire), the Kingmambo mare very well bred from the family of Casey Tibbs.
There is a Rabada colt to follow bred by Suikerbosview Stud, sold to MJ Odendaal in 2021 for R150 000 at the Nationals.
Zapatillas bred by Varsfontein emerged as a name worth pencilling in over the next few months.
Under Louis Mxothwa, the Master Of My Fate colt produced a strong late run which saw him get up in the shadow of the post in an agonizingly close call to deny the front-running Supreme Warrior victory by a short head – and substitute jockey Calvin Habib what would have been a dream Guineas double.
Zapatillas got up to beat the front-running Gauteng raider Supreme Warrior by a head in a pedestrian time of 96,79 secs.
Zapatillas provided Varsfontein Stud’s homebred sire Master Of My Fate with a second G2 World Sports Betting Guineas winner after Twist Of Fate in 2019.
It was a second black type win for Zapatillas, with the promising son of Master Of My Fate also victorious in the Listed #WomenInRacing Sophomore Sprint earlier in the season.
The handsome colt out of a Mogok mare from the female line of Eden Roc, is owned by Drakenstein Stud in partnership with Mrs P A Isdell and Mr Ravi Naidoo.
-extract sportingpost.co.za and kznbreeders.co.za
