South African Grade 1 winner Beach Bomb marked a significant milestone in her career with a commanding gate-to-wire victory in the Gr3 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. The win secured her place in history as a South African-bred horse to triumph in a Graded race on U.S. soil, the first since Gr1 winner Gypsy’s Warning.
Following her dominant victory in the Gr1 Paddock Stakes at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in 2024—an automatic qualifier for the Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf —the daughter of Lancaster Bomber embarked on a challenging export process, arriving in the U.S. after enduring months of quarantine. Transferred to the care of Graham Motion of Herringwell Stables, she finished just over three lengths off Moira at the Breeders’ Cup.
However, her performance at Gulfstream Park proved that perseverance pays off. Ridden by Luis Saez, Beach Bomb was asked to take up the running early, dictating an easy pace in the race. Kept well within herself through three-quarters of the race, she had plenty in reserve when Saez gave the signal turning for home. The five-year-old mare quickened impressively, covering the final furlong in :11.65, and held off her challengers to win the contest in a time of 2:14.03 on a firm turf track.
Trainer Graham Motion was full of praise for his charge, saying, “She didn’t get beaten badly in the Breeders’ Cup, and we always liked her. Everything had to go perfectly to get there, so we gave her a little break to settle in. Things went well for this race.”
Trainer Graham Motion, pictured at the L’Ormarins Kings Plate in January 2025. Image: Candiese Lenferna
Beach Bomb’s victory is a landmark achievement for South African breeding. According to available records, she is the first South African-bred to win a graded race in the U.S. since Gypsy’s Warning (Mogok – Rathmor Stud) captured the G1 Matriarch Stakes in 2010. The Apache (Mogok – Scott Bros) famously crossed the line first in the 2013 Gr1 Arlington Million, only to be demoted to second.
Bred by Drakenstein Stud and racing in the name of Gaynor Rupert’s Cayton Park Stud, Beach Bomb rose to prominence when she won the Gr1 Cape Fillies’ Guineas before running second against colts in the Gr1 Cape Derby — her final start for trainer Candice Bass-Robinson. Her arduous journey to the U.S. included a layover in Barbados before undergoing a strict two-month quarantine in New York.
She had a second place in the Gr3 Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park and a third-place finish in the Gr2 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita.
Beach Bomb hails from a son of War Front, the late Lancaster Bomber, who tragically passed away at Drakenstein Stud in 2021. The stallion has left a lasting legacy, having also sired the Gr1 WSB Cape Met and Gr1 Splashout Cape Derby winner Eight On Eighteen (Drakenstein Stud), along with Gr1 Majorca Stakes heroine Rascova (Cheveley Stud).
He is also the sire of Gr1 WSB Colts Guineas winner, Snow Pilot, also bred by Drakenstein.
Beach Bomb is out of Beach Beauty, a South African champion racemate who secured five Grade 1 titles in her racing career.
Graham Motion noted, “I don’t know if a mile and a half is really her trip—I think a mile and a quarter suits her better.”
With her first U.S. victory under her belt, Beach Bomb has firmly established herself as a South African flagbearer on the international stage, and her story is far from over.
Graham Motion has South African-breds Isivunguvungu, a multiple Gr1 winning sprinter for Hollywood Racing and Listed winner in the USA in his stable, as well as Mauritzfontein’s star filly Gimme A Nother. Golden Hostess and Hunting Trip are also residents of the stable from Drakenstein Stud.
Congratulations to all concerned.
Images: Candiese Lenferna
