Raised at Cathy and Jonathan Martin’s Hadlow Stud in Mooi River for St John’s Graystone Stud, the chestnut is out of Jet Master mare Bennie And the Jets. Ronnie’s Candy has a Mogok half-sister (2yo) who has just entered pretraining, and her dam has a yearling by Bezrin.

Cathy reports that unfortunately Bennie and the Jets didn’t have a foal this year, but she is in foal to Potala Palace for the 2020 season.

Ronnies Candy is a nominee at the KZN Breeders upcoming annual Awards, where she is in the category for Champion 3YO Filly and Champion Middle Distance Filly.

Her Race Record is 4 wins and 7 places – including the Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery where she beat Celtic Sea, the Gr3 Starling Stakes where she again beat Celtic Sea and Running Brave, a win at the Vaal before her Gr2 yesterday.

She has also placed in three other Graded Stakes races and has earned R842,775 in stakes.

Congratulations to all concerned!

In other KZN related news, young Klawervlei sire Captain Of All is making a name for himself.

The Gr1 winning son of Captain Al looks to be taking the baton from his champion sire. He is out of a #kznbred Fard mare Serious Side, who was bred by Robert Smith. His son Shango won the Gr2 Dingaans yesterday for trainer Sean Tarry. Captain Of All was the leading juvenile sire this past season by Stakes Earned.

The #kznbred King Of Kings chestnut Ronnie’s Candy is making a habit of producing the surprises on the big days.

Last season the St John Gray bred, owned and trained galloper won the Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery as a twice raced maiden at any price on Champions Day.

On Saturday at Turffontein, having her first run as a 3yo, she scythed through the middle from off the pace to register an impressive victory in the R250 000 Gr3 Starling Stakes.

With five lengths to make up at the 350m marker, the racy chestnut grew wings under Corne Orffer to put 2,20 lengths between herself and the 10-1 Nafaayes, with the runner-up’s stablemate Ghaalla (a R5-million graduate off the National Yearling Sale) staying on for third.

The winner’s time was 83,23 secs.

A Graystone Stud home-bred, Ronnie’s Candy is by the ill-fated King Of Kings (Sadler’s Wells ) out of the three-time winner Bennie And the Jets (Jet Master). Ronnie’s Candy is a half-sister to winner and Gr3 and Listed Placed Mogok Master.

Her record now stands at 2 wins with 2 places from 6 starts and stakes of R437 500.

Her dam Bennie And The Jets was purchased by St John at the 2015 KZN Mare & Weanling Sale for just R40 000.

Cathy Martin has welcomed a smart Bezrin filly half-sister to Ronnie’s Candy this season for breeder St John Gray. Ronnie’s Candy is a nominee in the Champion 2YO Filly category of the upcoming KZN Breeders Awards, taking place 1 December at Fordoun.

St John has had phenomenal success over the years as a breeder, owner and trainer, his biggest success with five time Gr1 winning Dancewiththedevil.

Congratulations to all concerned.

-extract sportingpost.co.za

Larry Wainstein, CEO of The Racing Association and Clyde Basel, Racing Executive of Phumelela, will be hosts in the Aquanaut Room at Turffontein Racecourse on Wednesday 23 May for the RA Highveld Feature Season Awards.

Five KZN-breds feature prominently – see the #kznbreds highlighted in BOLD ITALICS below.

The nominees:

Champion two year old filly:

Celtic Sea; Dagmar; RONNIE’S CANDY

Champion two year old colt/gelding:

Bold Eagle; William the Silent

Champion three year old filly:

Folk Dance; Green Plains; Secret Potion; TAKINGTHEPEACE

Champion 3 year old colt/gelding:

HERO’S HONOUR; Lobo’s Legend; Monkshood; Surcharge

Champion older horse:

Attenborough, Coral Fever; Legal Eagle; Liege; Nother Russia

Champion sprinter:

Attenborough; Pinnacle Peak; Tandava; THE THINKER

Champion Middle distance horse:

Coral Fever; Legal Eagle; Monkshood; Nother Russia

Champion Stayer:

Fortissima; HERO’S HONOUR; JUST CRUISED IN; Let it Rain; Secret Potion.

The above nominees are eligible for the much sought-after Horse of the Season Award and there will also be the special awards to industry players that have made, and continue to make, worthwhile contributions to this amazing industry.

The 2YO Log is being lead by three quality juvenile racehorses, the first making KZN proud is Piemonte-bred Carlita with 30 points, followed hotly by another Piemonte horse, the Crusade gelding Alfeo with 22.

Third on the list is shock Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Ronnie’s Candy, a daughter of King Of Kings bred, owned and trained by St John Gray. 212 Juveniles on the log will be competing for 32 places in two races for the juveniles, for a stake of R200 000 each.

The KZN Breeders Race Day, taking place on 30 June at Greyville racecourse, has once again received overwhelming support from the owners and trainers.

Carlita in particular is one of the best for her sire Oratorio in the country, having had three wins and a place, including taking the East Cape Fillies Nursery (Listed) and finishing second to Traces (AUS) at Kenilworth in her second start, giving her Black Type in the Summer Juvenile Stakes Listed. Carlita is owned by Mrs Ashley Fortune in partnership with trainer Alan Greef.

Alfeo, by Crusade out of Singapura Cat, has been impressive – winning twice and placing second twice from all four starts, including second in the East Cape Nursery Listed. Carlita proves that dreams can come true, having sold for only R35 000 at the 2017 KZN Yearling Sale and earning over R250 000 in stakes in less than a year.

Ensure you diarise 30 June in your calendar and come down to Greyville for a Proudly KZN race day, exclusively for horses registered with the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme. Dont forget to wear your Black & White and there will be plenty of action on the day, including giveaways and Vodacom Durban July entry tickets.

See you there!

KZN had a brilliant day yesterday at Turffontein, kicking it off with a surprise Gr2 win in the SA Fillies Nursery, whilst Takingthepeace did not disgrace herself to finish 4th in her Triple Tiara bid, and Summerhill gained another outstanding Gr1 with son of Await The Dawn, Hero’s Honour.

For a small province, an outstanding day indeed when racing with the best in Gauteng!

Reminiscent of the shock win by King’s Temptress a few years back, another daughter of King Of Kings came flying through to win the Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery for owner, breeder and trainer St John Gray.

In the process, Ronnie’s Candy defeated the most expensive filly ever sold at a BSA National Yearling Sale, with R5-million Ghaalla finishing second two and a half lengths off.

Ronnie’s Candy, winning third time out and for the first time at Turffontein, after placing in her first two starts over 1000m and 1200m and franking the form of two of the horses she lost against previously, is out of Jet Master mare Bennie Andthe Jets.

St John Gray purchased Bennie Andthe Jets off the 2015 KZN Mare Sale consigned by The Fort Stud, when she was in foal to King Of Kings and carrying Ronnie’s Candy.

The mare was previously owned by Aldora Stud and is from the last crop of the great racehorse, King Of Kings, who ended his days at Jill Fox’s The Fort Stud after suffering from heart failure in February 2015.

The dam of Gr3 placed Mogok Master stands at Cathy and Jonathan Martin’s Hadlow Stud for St John Gray, and currently has a Mogok yearling colt, and a Mogok weanling filly and in foal to Bezrin – the sire of recent Kenilworth Stakes winner, Too Phat To Fly and Bezanova.

All eyes were on the brave Visionaire KZN-bred filly Takingthepeace, in the third leg of the Triple Tiara and she was not disgraced. Coming off her customary run from the back of the field, she made up masses of ground over the 2450m to finish a very admirable fourth, just two lengths off in the Gr2 SA Oaks which may have been a stretch too long for her. Takingthepeace has made KZN immensely proud once again and particularly for Champion breeders, Summerhill Stud.

Comeback Kid Mark Khan defied  fitness doubts and the generous betting  odds to grab his fourth SA Derby winner when steering longshot Hero’s Honour home for Gary Alexander in the R2 million Gr1 SA Derby at Turffontein on Saturday.

A five-times SA champion jockey, Khan was having his first Gr1 ride in over 7 years when throwing a leg over Hero’s Honour as he turned back time and made a mockery of age and battle scars – and  that after retiring from the saddle in 2010.

Khan returned to race riding in August last year, hurt a knee while work riding and was off for six months from the end of October. This was his first win since his recent return to riding.

A maiden winner, Hero’s Honour was trying the 2450m for the first time on Saturday and taking on some big guns. But he produced the goods to give Gary Alexander his third SA Derby success and the jockey-trainer combination a second after Timber Trader won the race in 2002.

Khan had Hero’s Honour relaxed in fifth as Walter Smoothie and Gambado showed the way all the way around. At the 400m, Aldo Domeyer produced Ashley Fortune’s Cash Time down the centre with what looked to be a winning surge. But Hero’s Honour slipped down the rail and took command as Surcharge and Noble Secret took off late.

At the line, the multiple champion jockey had judged it to perfection and the 55-1 shot Hero’s Honour registered an impressive win by 1,50 lengths in a time of 155,09.

A R300 000 2016 CTS Johannesburg Ready To Run Sale graduate, Hero’s Honour has won two races with two places from six starts for stakes of R1 354 600.

Bred by Summerhill, the winner is by Await The Dawn  – a  son of Giant’s Causeway who stood for less than two years at Summerhill Stud before he died of a heart attack in October 2014.

Await The Dawn is a very sad loss to breeding in KZN, having headed the first season ranks of his year by a superior winners to runners percentage – and he continues to do so, currently at an outstanding 47.7%.

Hero’s Honour is out of the versatile four-time winner Grail Maiden (Galileo), who won from 1200m to 2400m, and no doubt imparted her staying genes to her son. Summerhill has had huge success with Galileo mares, which have produced Gr2 winner Intergalactic and the great Igugu.

Congratulations to all concerned!

-extract sportingpost.co.za