The bright bay son of Danzig has had a slew of winners recently, with his winners to runners percentage soaring to an impressive 41.7% with 6 wins from just 12 runners, still relatively early in the season.

Always a consistent stallion that produced multiple Black Type winners from 1000m to 3200m, Bezrin was no slouch at stud but as with most stallion careers dictated by commercial value, the 21 year old stallion proves he still has what it takes with St John who is currently lying 3rd on the National Trainers Log and produced Gr1 winner Ronnie’s Candy last season – amongst many others.

His best performed son, Clifton-bred Bezanova, won two Gr2’s and the KZN Breeders Million Mile, and is currently enjoying retirement at Heversham Park Stud. He also produced the likes of Celtic Fire, Tetelestai, Thunder Flash, Jimmi Choo and the more recent Too Phat To Fly.

Another ultra consistent is the chestnut gelding Putchini – sound as a bell at 9 years old and his owner saying he has been the perfect racehorse to own having never needed a vet for an emergency or any unsoundness issues, he has had over 100 runs for 11 wins – and most recent with his last win coming on 23 August, following up with a place in his last start.

Amongst St John’s 3yo Bezrin crop is the 2-time winner After Hours (out of a Miesque’s Approval mare), Break The Silence is a winner and placed from all starts (out of an Announce mare), Lets Talk – also out of an Announce mare is a winner and placed from all but one start.

It is the start of the Gauteng season – be prepared to see more from St John’s horses in the coming months!

Enquiries for Bezrin can be made to Cathy Martin – cathym@futurenet.co.za.

The latter looked to the casual observer to be a useful handicapper halfway through her four-year-old season before beating a Grade 1 winner in a Graduation Plate and then proving that was no fluke by winning the Grade 3 Acacia Handicap, the Grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and the Grade 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes within a period of six weeks. 

She later won the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and the Grade 1 Sansui Summer Cup.

Dance Class, who won over 2000m yesterday carrying 57,5kg off an 87 merit rating, has a long way to go to match those feats.

However, being a late maturer is not the only similarity she has to Dancewiththedevil.

Firstly, she is by the same sire, Modus Vivendi, and is out of the five-time winning Jam Alley mare Dance Alley, who is a half-sister to Dancewiththedevil.

She is not quite as classy as Dancewiththedevil was but like her she is not tall but is strong and has a tremendous turn of foot.

She took a while to get going from a handy position yesterday but once she hit top gear she passed her full-sister Jive Express and then fetched the topweight Heartstwings to win by a comfortable 1,50 lengths.

Gray said in the post race interview that her acceleration indeed reminded him of her famous three-parts relative and he concluded by saying she was not far off Dancewiththedevil’s class and would also be especially effective on the Turffontein Standside track. 

Gray won the first two races at the meeting with progeny of Bezrin. 

The first-timer colt After Hours, who is a half-brother to the three-time winner Grindelwald, started favourite in the first over 1200m and ran on well under Brown to win by 0,75 lengths.

The filly Feather The Nest, who is out of three-time winning Announce mare Nesting Call, ran on well in the second over 1200m and just held on under S’Manga Khumalo to convert odds of 5/1,having been backed in from 13/1.

Bezrin stands at Hadlow Stud for St John alongside Announce and produced multiple winners from distances of 1000m – 3200m.

Gray owns and bred all three of his winners, operating from Cathy and Jonathan Martin’s Hadlow Stud.

-extract goldcircle.co.za

Foaled on the 13 October in 2011, the 8yo gelding has earned R 679,425 in stakes, with 24 places and recording 9 wins to date.

His winning range specialises between 1200-1600m. He remains in form as he placed very recently under Calvin Habib, just a half a length off the winner.

Out of an almost ironically named broodmare sire, Centenary, his dam Suki Tortri has only produced one winner at stud, being Putchini. In the damline is 11-time winner Byblos and champions Golden Loom and Majestic Light can be found under the 3rd dam.

Trained by Deon Visser initially who bred him in parthership with Yellow Star in a foal share scenario, Putchini racing in the colours of Ashley De Klerk then transferred to Chris Erasmus after Deon gave up training. With Ivan Van Wyk taking over the training reins at Yellow Star, he has taken on Putchini for the balance of his career.

“We named him Putchini after the composer Puccini but the name was taken, so we changed the spelling. He is a favourite of Koos and mine – he wrote Nessun Dorma – some of our family thought he was Porcini like the mushroom!” laughs Lorraine De Klerk.

The chestnut geldings blue and white colours have become a familiar sight at both racecourses in both Hollywoodbets Greyville and Hollywoodbets Scottsville.

Putchini will be running at 16:00 on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Greyville over 1600m, with Nathan Klink in the irons carrying 55.5kgs.

Too Phat To Fly can run on her day and she stormed home to register her first stakes triumph to take her earnings close on R300 000 in the R150 000 Listed Sweet Chestnut Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday. She is by Bezrin who has relocated back to KZN once more and stands at Hadlow Stud.

This girl never lives up to her name and has been a game earner in the hands of Glen Kotzen ever since winning at 75-1 on her Kenilworth debut a year ago.

Twice stakes placed, Too Phat To Fly found the Cape Summer Season tough going, but after an eyecatching winning return run early in April, she was easy to back at 7’s and duly won a cracker on Saturday.

Corne Orffer and Merysagos left the stalls as if they had a plane to catch, but Richard Fourie wasn’t panicking and he had Too Phat To Fly in last and with some ten lengths to make up at the 40om.

As Merysagos started treading water in front, the classy Rose In Bloom moved up looking a winner, with Platinum Class taking off from further back.

But the action was on the outside and produced late in the race, Too Phat To Fly stormed to the front and caught Rose In Bloom flatfooted to win by 1,25 lengths in a time of 88 secs.

The 13-10 favourite Platinum Class ran on steadily without threatening to grab the third cheque a further length back, with Made In Hollywood and Raya Baya sharing the fourth stake.

Merysagos faded out to finish just under 6 lengths behind the winner.

Bred by Limestone Thoroughbred Trust and consigned by Winterbach Stud, Too Phat To Fly was purchased  for R20 000 by Glen Kotzen off the 2016 CTS March Yearling Sale.

She is a daughter of Bezrin out of the one time-winner Sheisachillygirl (Jallad). Glen Kotzen has had plenty of success with this damline.

She now races in the interests of Glen Kotzen and Sean Pillay and has won 3 races with 5 places from 12 starts for stakes of R292 300.

Too Phat To Fly doesn’t seem to go much beyond a mile but she is bound to be back on 26 May for a bash at the second leg of the Fillies Winter Series – the  Listed Stormsvlei Mile, which is run on the winter course 1600m.

-sportingpost.co.za

Clifton Stud-bred Bezanova, the 2014 Charity Mile and 2015 KZN Breeders Million Mile winner and his connections had the last laugh when the gelding got the better of the younger Liege in the final strides of the rain delayed Gr2 Victory Moon Stakes, to register his first win in close on seventeen months of knocking about between KZN and Gauteng.

His win brought back memories of that lovely story dating back to the National 2yo Sale of 2012 where, after buying him for R150 000, owner Chris Gerber was told by a sales official that things were ‘going so well – there were even clowns paying R150 000 for the Bezrins!’

Close to R2 million in stakes earned later, Gerber doesn’t have any issues with the clown tag, and he and trainer Alec Laird must have been motivated by the maxim that horses only lose form – they don’t lose ability.

Between that and the fact that the soldier owes them nothing, they have persevered with Bezanova racing off an MR of 96 on Sunday, having achieved a career high of 107 once.

In the run for home the gutsy chestnut gelding was angled out for a run as Liege challenged Arctica, with Amsterdam and Bankable Teddy also looking dangerous.

Despite all the action down the centre, the 9-1 shot Bezanova was the one finishing best as he came home on the wide outside to grab Liege and win by 0,50 lengths in a time of 112,06 secs.

Simons celebrated a feature double on the afternoon and had time to do a quiet ‘pump salute’ two strides before the line.

A R150 000 National Two Year Old Sale graduate, Bezanova has won six races with 10 places from 34 starts and took his career bank to R1 966 775.

The winner was bred by Clifton Stud and is by the recently relocated Bezrin out of the thrice winning London News mare, Ananova. Peter Blyth of Clifton Stud has always been a fan of Danzig (the sire of his previous Durban July producer, Allied Flag), the sire of Bezrin.

Bezrin, the versatile and consistent sire of a multitude of Graded Stakes winner from sprinters to stayers is now standing at Hadlow Stud in KZN.

Ananova’s last recorded foal is a 2014 Toreador filly named Anador, again from the paternal line of Danzig through Danehill. This is the damline of the brilliant Wendywood and Vodacom Durban July winner, Power King.

Bezrin has returned to KZN and will be standing the 2016 breeding season at Yellow Star Stud, his original home after importation by Craig Ramsay to Golden Acres (now Yellow Star Stud).

The son of Danzig has been the picture of consistency in his stud career and extremely good value, regularly bringing home the winners and the likes of top sprinter miler and Gr2 Charity Mile and KZN Breeders Million Mile winner Bezanova (bred by Clifton Stud), as well as a host of Stakes Winners including Jimmi Choo, Celtic Fire, Tetelestai and Thunderflash.

Ashley De Klerk’s Putchini (bred by Yellow Star Stud) has recently won twice from his last three starts, whilst pretrainer Jane Thomas has bred a lovely juvenile filly named Electric Lady – who won her last start after placing twice from all of her starts for David Niewenhuizen.

Bezrin was a three time winner, including the Prix Montretout (L) in France and he placed four times (including two Listed races and two Gr3) having only being unplaced (fifth) once from nine starts.

His second dam, My Darling One, was one of the best of her generation in the USA, winning five of her eight starts including the Gr1 Fantasy Stakes – the three she never won, but placed in, were the Gr1 Kentucky Oaks, Las Virgenes Stakes and the Honeymoon Handicap.

My Darling One was a bright chestnut with an abundance of white on her legs and a patch on her body, and although Bezrin is as similar to Northern Dancer in type, colour and size as possible, his progeny can be as similar to him as they are to his maternal grandmother with many inheriting her distinctive colour characteristics – either way they descend from champion stock.

He produces sound horses who train on and get better as the years pass.

Contact Yellow Star Stud for more information.