Varsfontein Stud’s outstanding mare Double Grand Slam made a winning return to racing at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday, 26 September, adding the Gr3 Diana Stakes to her impressive record. Beaumont Stud-bred Jet Force and Normandy Stud’s Miami Summer completed the afternoon’s three feature winners in the Gr3 Matchem Stakes and Listed Settlers Trophy respectively.
A four-time Grade 1 winner and dual Equus Champion Older Female, Double Grand Slam returned from a break to record her 12th career victory in the 1400m Diana Stakes. Trained by Justin Snaith and ridden by Keagan de Melo, the daughter of Vercingetorix proved too strong for Babelicious, winning by just over two lengths, with stable companion Beware The Bomb finishing third.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, Double Grand Slam is out of the twice-winning Captain Al mare Princess Peach. She was purchased for R1 million at the 2022 Bloodstock South Africa National Yearling Sale and races for Drakenstein Stud, Dave MacLean and Gary Player Stud Farm.
Her four victories at the highest level include the 2025 Gr1 Paddock Stakes and Gr1 Garden Province Stakes, followed by the Gr1 Majorca Stakes and Gr1 Empress Club Stakes in 2026. Crowned Equus Champion Older Female in both the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons, she has established herself among the country’s leading mares, with Saturday’s success taking her career earnings to R4,873,088.
Her return to winning form provides an encouraging start to another campaign for her connections, while adding further distinction to Varsfontein Stud’s breeding record and that of her sire, Vercingetorix.
Beaumont Stud also enjoyed graded stakes success when Jet Force claimed the Gr3 Matchem Stakes over 1400m. The Des McLachlan-trained son of Master Of My Fate, ridden by Grant van Niekerk, defeated Legal Counsel by half a length, with Outlaw King finishing third.
Bred by Beaumont Stud, Jet Force is out of the Var mare Ooh La Var, a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and champion Legal Eagle. His victory provided another graded stakes success for Varsfontein Stud’s resident stallion Master Of My Fate.
A R350,000 graduate of the Bloodstock South Africa November Two Year Old Sale, Jet Force races for Denis Le Breton, A L Taylor, K and K Geemooi and G C Hutchinson. Saturday’s victory was his eighth from 15 starts and took his career earnings to R1,500,144.
Normandy Stud-bred Miami Summer rounded off the afternoon’s feature-race winners with victory in the Listed Settlers Trophy over 2000m.
The four-year-old son of The United States, trained by Justin Snaith and ridden by JP van der Merwe, held off stable companion Prairie Dawn by three-quarters of a length, with Soho Heartthrob finishing third. The result provided Moutonshoek’s stallion The United States with the first two finishers in the race.
Miami Summer is out of the Silvano mare Pelaya and races in the colours of Greg and Gina Bortz in partnership with Leon Ellman, he has now won four of his eight starts, with earnings of R394,965.
The three feature victories provided a successful afternoon for Varsfontein, Beaumont and Normandy, with Double Grand Slam’s return particularly noteworthy as the dual Equus champion begins another season following an already distinguished career.
Double Grand Slam. Image: Chase Liebenberg
