The Sean Tarry-trained Gimmethegreenlight filly Bless My Stars was scratched from the WSB Cape Town Met due to a travel restriction but might not have run in the big race anyway because she has been sold by owner Kenneth Pillay of Kestorm Investments to renowned American racing all rounder Barry Irwin.

Irwin identified Southern Africa as a potential source of bargain buys at the beginning of this century and scored a coup when buying the great Mike de Kock-trained Zimbabwean-bred filly Ipi Tombe for US$750,000 in 2002.

Ipi Tombe not only went on to win three races in Dubai racing for Irwin’s Team Valor syndicate, including the US$2 million Dubai Duty Free, she also won one race in the USA and she was later sold for breeding purposes for 850,000 Gns at a time when the latter currency was almost double the worth of the US dollar.

Irwin has gone on to purchase and race numerous South African-breds with great success, as well as Gr1 winner Gypsy’s Warning.

Kenneth believes Bless My Stars is set to travel to the USA in March.

He believes she will race over there before being sent to stud.

Bless My Stars, who won five races including the Gr1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Classic and the Gr2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet, also finished third in both the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July and tihe Gr1 Betway Summer Cup.

She was bred by Varsfontein and is not only by their twice SA Champion Sire Gimmethegreenlight but she also comes from a good female line with her dam being the Silvano mare Star Express, who won a Gr3 and was second in the Gr1 Majorca Stakes and

Gr2 Tibouchina.

Bless My Stars’ progressive three-year-old full-sister and stablemate Let’s Go Now, who is also owned by Kestorm Investments, looks set to follow in her footsteps having won the Gr3 Mother Russia Stakes over 1400m in her last start.