Tinus and Liz Gericke celebrated a fine double on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville, the official opening race meeting of Champions Season with a powerful finish from Blue Sky-bred Var filly, She Can, and following up with an incredible 5th win in a row with Rafeef filly, Our Emily.

She Can, a powerfully built Var filly out of Bedloe’s Island bred by Tinus Gericke and Bruce Le Roux in partnership, sold for R160 000 at Nationals and is raced in partnership with Tinus Gericke and Sterling Miller – Sterling also enjoying a double on the day and a 1-2 result in subject race, trained by Mike Miller. She races in Tinus’s blue and orange diamond colours.

She Can has raced four times now for a win and two place cheques. She is a half sister to Kahula, whose Gimmethegreenlight colt sold last month at the Nationals for R700 000, and a half sister to multiple winner Freedom’s Fire. This is the immediate family of Bruce Le Roux’s own bred Gr1 winners, Count The Money and Buy And Sell.

Our Emily is owned by Liz Gericke and runs in the familiar white and red cross colours. A smart Rafeef filly who carries the name of the Gericke’s grand daughter, she has had six career wins with the fifth one in a row on Saturday!

Beautifully bred out of a Captain Al mare, there is no doubt that she has earned a future place in the Mooi River paddocks of Blue Sky Thoroughbreds and the filly has developed a great rapport with jockey Rachel Venniker, who has ridden all of her wins for trainer Michael Roberts. She has won over 1200m previously, however her five wins have all been over 1000m on Polytrack and Turf.

This is the female line of Evening Attire and Undercover Agent, and her half brother is Only Him – a winner of the Listed Zimbabwe Derby.

Blue Sky Thoroughbreds continue their winning momentum, boasting 47% winners to runners and stakes earned of R928,375, from just 17 runners who have produced 11 wins amongst them.

Congratulations!

Candice Dawson enjoyed the honour of saddling  the first winner of KZN Galileo stallion The Assayer, whose son Lumber Jackaroo stormed to victory in the first race at Turffontein on Thursday evening.

Based at Yellow Star Stud, The Assayer stood his first season in 2014 and only produced 6 foals in his first crop.

Bred on the Galileo x Danehill cross that has produced Frankel and numerous other champions, his 2018 fee was R10 000.

Improving smartly at his second start and stepping up to the mile, Lumber Jackaroo came home powerfully in the Turffontein opener under Denis Schwarz for trainer Candice Dawson.

The Spring Valley Syndicate bred grey gelding is out of the six-time winner Forest Lecture, a daughter of Lecture.

The Assayer had an eyecatching Barrier Trial winner with Thomas Shelby, trained by Ivan Van Wyk for breeders Yellow Star Stud and owner Mr A F J Duncan.

The juvenile colt looks a smart prospect, finishing first by almost two lengths. Another that is close to winning from trainer Craig Mayhew is Flirty Girty, who has finished second in her last two starts. Also bred by the Spring Valley Syndicate, the three year old is out of a Dominion Royale mare.

The Assayer sold for R1-million at the National Yearling Sale and began his training career with Charles Laird for the Markus Jooste and Bernard Kantor racing partnership.

The handsome grey later relocated to Mike De Kock, racing 10 times to win once and placed twice in two Gr1’s – the Golden Horseshoe and Premier’s Championship. He placed nine times in total.  An injury forced an early retirement.

His dam Crystal Charm made two appearances as a two year old in the UK, placing in both with Listed status. She was sent to Hong Kong, finishing second to Fairy King Prawn at Sha-Tin in the Hong Kong Sprint by a length.

A year later she finished with the same result in the same race, and sent back to Ireland for stud duties.

Sold in foal to Cadeaux Genereux, she was then sent to Australia where she was covered by Galileo.

The Cadeaux Genereux mating produced Les Alizes, in turn the dam of 4-time winning Arrived Ahead in Hong Kong; also placing in the Gr3 Sha-Tin Vase.

A dam-line bursting with Gr1 winners, it includes the likes of half-siblings four-time Gr1 winner Timely Writer and dual Gr1 winner Timely Assertion – both found under the second dam Timely Tammy.

Others include Wild Wolverine, champion filly Indian Skimmer, Dark Mirage, Missy’s Mirage, sires Bluebird, Java Gold and Madeglia d’Oro, and local Gr1 Mercury Sprint winner All Will Be Well.

-extract sportingpost.co.za