It’s as predictable as night and day, “lose a stallion and you lose a champion”. Last week, Await The Dawn’s daughter, Pilgrim’s Progress made it three-on-the-trot, eliciting the approval of commentator, Alistair Cohen who rates her a serious “Oaks” prospect. While that’s encouragement enough for the ill-fated stallion’s first crop at this stage of his career, his numbers are replete with stand-outs across the length and breadth of the sub-continent, from Kenya to Zimbabwe, Turffontein to Table Bay.

Anyone at the “Big T” on Saturday would’ve had no illusions about the truth of the adage: Big Bear made sure of that with a pulsating performance in the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup, putting to bed two of the nation’s highest rated three year old colts and a Group One winning filly, to deliver its eighth victory in eleven renewals of one of the country’s richest prizes to the KZN nursery, Summerhill.

Let’s face it, the “Cup” has a long tradition of outstanding athletes among its laureates, yet it was the universal view of the sporting press that this line-up ranked as the race’s best advertisement in years. Time will be the test of that statement, but for now the race will be remembered not only for what Big Bear beat on Saturday, but for the manner in which he dismembered it.

Remember, less than a month ago, Wonderwall earned his 107 rating on the back of a knockout blow against older horses in the Graded Spring Stakes on the self-same course, while in his most recent start, Purple Diamond had put away the cream of the nation’s juveniles in the Group One Golden Horseshoe on July day. Brave Mary earned her status as the highest-rated juvenile of the past season by some four pounds when she accounted for a quality field in the Group One Alan Robertson Fillies Championship (Gr.1), while Surcharge was coming off a “three-timer” for Stuart Pettigrew and he was not alone among those with claims to the best form on the Highveld.

“Contemptuous” is an overplayed word in sport these days, but nobody would’ve needed any persuasion of its appropriateness in describing the devastation Big Bear wrought on his foes on the weekend. Granted, there were some with excuses, particularly those with adverse draws, but with the best part of five lengths separating the winner from a horse of Wonderwall’s class, there can be little argument about who rules the roost on the Rand right now.

As we’ve already said, the R240 000 Sean Tarry acquisition  Big Bear is from the first of one- and-a-half crops of the world-rated racehorse, Await The Dawn, and he’s out of a daughter of South Africa’s top broodmare sire of all time, Northern Guest, from a deep Aga Khan family embracing the immortals Nasrullah, Royal Charger and Kalamoun, as well as some of the planet’s most famous broodmares, Lady Josephine, Mumtaz Mahal and Mumtaz Begum.

In the end though, for the Midlands farm the day was more than a celebration of Big Bear’s triumph: from a catalogue of more than 250 entries, the stud was represented by five other candidates at the starting gate, among them the R40 000 buy “Brave” Mary, who was exactly that in the replication of her Group One form of last season in second place, while the De Kock-trained daughter of Visionaire, Takingthepeace, produced almost as good a kick from the tail of the field as Big Bear did, to get up for the Summerhill trifecta at the expense of Wonderwall.

Bloodstock Manager of the Midlands-based farm, Tarryn Liebenberg, while lamenting the significance of Await the Dawn’s loss, was characteristically upbeat about the future.

“Hope- springs-eternal in racing, and we can’t help believing from what we’ve seen on the ground already, that there’s a ready replacement in the first youngsters of the triple Group One racehorse, Capetown Noir”, while the valleys around Mooi River and Nottingham Road are full of the music of the Group One aces Willow Magic and Act Of War’s first foals.

Brave Tin Soldier’s smart daughter Brave Mary, second in the Emperors Ready to Run Cup, is headed to quarantine at Kenilworth in advance of a long trip through Mauritius to France in late February.

The winner of the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship will be trained in France for Team Valor International by Alain de Royer-Dupre.

Barry Irwin said “We will start her out in France and see if she fits. We have the option of moving her to America at some stage as well. But with her turn out foot over 1000m to 1200m we are hopeful she can cut it in Europe.”

Consigned by Summerhill Sales on behalf of breeder Rupert Plersch, she was originally purchased on the CTS Johannesburg Ready To Run Sale by Justin Vermaak and won her Gr1 in the care of trainer Paul Matchett.

Her chestnut Await The Dawn half-sister is being consigned by Soetendal at the upcoming CTS Ready To Run Sale as Lot 81.

This is the second KZN-bred filly purchased by Team Valor to be exported to France this year, the first being Summerhill-bred Anna Pavlova who left for France from Mauritius at the end of October. The Gr3 winner is by St Petersburg and sold for a mere R45 000 off the Summerhill Stud Summer Ready To Run Sale. The filly is well related, with leading sire Kahal in her damline.

Both Anna Pavlova and Brave Mary feature as nominees at the KZN Breeders Awards to be held on 2 December.

Team Valor in the past have had numerous success with South African-bred horses, including American Gr1 winning KZN-bred, Gypsy’s Warning.

Another KZN-bred filly, Gr1 Allan Robertson winner Brave Mary has been purchased by Team Valor. The speedy Brave Tin Soldier filly who showed the Allan Robertson field a clean pair of heels, is in training with Paul Matchett.

Brave Mary is out of a Rich Man’s Gold mare Mary Lou, bred by Rupert Plersch and has recorded two wins and two places from five starts. She won the Gr1 at Scottsville by almost two lengths from Green Plains.

She is the second Gr1 winner and the third Gr1 win for sire Brave Tin Soldier, who stands at Summerhill Stud.

The other KZN-bred filly to have been purchased last year is the Gr3 winning daughter of St Petersburg, Anna Pavlova, now a four-time winner for trainer Roy Magner. The filly is owned in partnership by Team Valor International (Nom: Mr B Irwin) & Mrs Vanashree & Mr Anant Singh & Mesdames C Soal & M Soal.

Team Valor have purchased the likes of Gypsy’s Warning amongst many other champions in the past and were responsible for bringing Visionaire to stand at stud in South Africa.

Three of our KZN resident sires flew the flag high for our small province with three winners from the four Gr1 races on the day – two of them from from sires Brave Tin Soldier and Toreador, and the other from broodmare sire Spectrum with Sand And Sea.

Not only at Scottsville did we make an impression –  two of trainer Greg Ennion’s charges had success, with Crusade producing his fourth winner at Kenilworth whilst Just As Well’s handsome son Zodiac Jack placed in the Gr3 Cape Of Good Hope Nursery Stakes, just a length off the winner.

Jockey Gunther Wrogemann might well have been singing “Brave Mary keep on rolling” when the Brave Tin Soldier filly burst away from the opposition to win the R750 000, Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship at Scottsville on Saturday.

Carrying the action name given to the American Indian activist Mary Brave Bird in the 70’s, and costing a mere R40 000, Brave Mary stunned the large crowd at Scottsville and, even more so, the fancied runners Call To Account, Green Plains and Neptune’s Rain when she tore away to post a time of 68.3 secs, a fraction faster than the smart Dennis Drier-trained Twice Over colt Sand And Sea (and grandson of Spectrum), that impressively won the Gr1  Tsogo Sun Medallion.

Trainer Paul Matchett did not appear that surprised in the interview after Brave Mary, a daughter of the Rich Man’s Gold mare Mary Lou that he had trained to win six races, skated clear of the field. A former Zimbabwean top trainer and for years very competitive on the Highveld, Paul obviously had a good idea of what he had in his care to travel from Gauteng to Scottsville for just one runner on the day.

That confidence will have come from the filly’s last race over 1 000m at the Vaal where she bolted away from the maiden field to win by 6.5 lengths in the cracking time for a juvenile of 56.79 secs. Saturday’s performance will have strengthened his belief in her talent and she looks a very exciting prospect for the future. Brave Mary was passed through the 2016 National Yearling Sales ring as unsold; and offered at the CTS Ready To Run Sale later that year under Summerhill’s banner for Rupert Plersch, where she sold for just R40 000 to Greenstreet Bloodstock’s Justin Vermaak. Thinking it may be difficult to syndicate her – he sold her on to Paul Matchett.

This is the second Gr1 winner for sire Brave Tin Soldier and his third Gr1 victory to date – after Rabada won the Gr1 Premiers Champions Stakes and the Gr1 Daily News 2000. Brave Tin Soldier currently sits on an impressive winners to runners percentage of 36%.

Following up in the R750 000, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion, Sand And Sea was awesomely impressive in pulverising a field that included some very exciting young colts and geldings to give KZN-based Dennis Drier his seventh victory in the prestigious race and his sixth in eight years. Strongly fancied to beat the Mike de Kock-trained favourite Naafer, his supporter’s hearts will have dropped when he virtually walked out of the pens at the start and trailed the field in the early stages.

But when Anton Marcus said giddy up boy the colt quickened and before long it was race over as he skipped clear to win by 2.25 lengths relieving what was no doubt a few seconds of tension for his conditioner. Spectrum is a leading broodmare sire internationally and a sire of sires – his notable international Gr1 winners as a broodmare sire include Up, her half-brother and successful sire Dutch Art as well as Moonlight Cloud, who came close to demolishing Black Caviar’s squeaky clean record in her only British start.

For Sean Tarry there were big smiles when the Toreador gelding Bull Valley, that he had taken over from retired trainer Dom Zaki a year ago, demolished a strong sprinting field to win the top race of the day, the R1-million, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint, giving Tarry a Grade 1 double for the day and pushing his stake earnings in the season to a record high which cemented his place at the top of the trainer log.

Steered to victory by champion jockey S’Manga Khumalo, he was tucked four lengths off the leaders early on, Bull Valley defied his 15 draw to score an emphatic win in one of South Africa’s top sprints.
Asked for his effort with 500m left to run, Bull Valley showed a breathtaking turn of foot to tear into the lead. From there, the gelding went on to post a one and a half length win over former Merchants winner Search Party, with Barbosa filling the third sport, just ahead of former Gr1 Betting World Cape Flying Championship winner Gulf Storm.
Owned by PCS (Pty) Ltd and Messrs Blank, Nassif, Nichas and Sarkis, Bull Valley was a R180 000 purchase from the 2014 National Yearling Sale.

South Africa’s latest equine millionaire, Bull Valley’s win on Saturday pushed his tally to five victories from just nine outings, with his previous wins including a score in the 2016 Gr3 Man O’War Sprint.

Toreador is on 30% winners to runners percentage. Whilst Bull Valley is bred by Ambiance Stud in the Cape, Bull Valley’s sire stands at Bush Hill Stud and has produced the likes of Lazer Star, Rikitikitana, Hong Kong export Misty Birnam, Matador Man and plenty more in recent times.

Reverting back to Kenilworth’s Saturday results, congratulations to Jenny and Peter Blyth who bred the fourth winner for sire Crusade, Weekend Warrior.

The juvenile gelding is out of Restructure mare Love Leah, the dam of Spectrum’ Gr3 winning son The Plunderer. Owned in partnership by Mr O Schoeman and Braam Van Huyssteen (the same owner-trainer combination own Zodiac Jack), the Greg Ennion trained horse has placed from his three previous starts.

Zodiac Jack, the well-bred son of Just As Well gave his sire more Black Type after finishing just over a length in the Gr3 feature on the day. Out of 10-time winning mare Pisces Star by Kahal, Zodiac Jack has won and placed five times from his six starts – his biggest margin by six lengths going away to break his maiden.

The colt is bred by Roski Stud, and sold for just R100 000 at the 2016 National Yearling Sale. He has earned back his sales price with extra to date. The under estimated Just As Well is still sitting on an impressive winners to runners percentage of 44% for the season.

With big results from small numbers, it pays to buy KZN-bred!