Clifton Stud nabbed another Gr1 for their records when their plain chestnut star filly, Mrs Geriatrix, put a quality field to bed in the Gr1 Allan Robertson on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville.

A proud moment for the Clifton team of Peter and Jenny Blyth along with long time manager Christine Quinn, the filly who looks like her famous family of Fort Vogue and Prince Of Kahal, won under Richard Fourie to give Sean Tarry one of three Gr1’s on the day.

Richard Fourie has ridden her in her last three of four starts, winning three features including a Listed, a Grade 2 and a Grade 1 to add. The filly is owned by a delightful group of ladies, headed by the Racing Association’s Natalie Turner – named the Magical Lady Syndicate. She defeated favourite Winter Cloud by over two lengths and relished the soft going and took home a stakes cheque of R700 000.

Mrs Geriatrix has certainly thrown her name into the hat for Equus Champion 2YO Filly.

Clifton are on four Black Type winners for the season with over R2,3-million in stakes earned and 39% winners to runners. Be sure to inspect their draft at the upcoming KZN Yearling Sale, where they have an Act Of War half brother to Gr3 winner Cliff Hanger on offer.

Another KZN result was Gr1 Golden Horse runner up last year, Bartholdi (Act Of War) followed up with a fourth this year in the same race.

Congratulations to all concerned!

Matador Man flew home under Lyle Hewitson on a very hot and humid Wednesday at Greyville to give the South African Champion Jockey and Apprentice Jockey his third win in the Christmas Handicap, now a Listed race.

The son of Toreador’s previous visit to Greyville must be scratched as he found traffic and didnt take his customary outside run, instead getting blocked on in the inside under Anton Marcus.

Out of the speedy Sahara by Mogok, who sold to Summerview Stud from Scott Bros at their Dispersal Sale for R170 000 and is now in foal to Master Of My Fate, Matador Man trained by Sean Tarry has earned over R1,3-million in stakes – a tidy return for his connections after his purchase at the 2015 National 2YO Sale for R180 000.

This is his second Stakes win – the first being the Secretariat Listed in 2016. Matador Man, voted KZN Breeders Middle Distance Champion now for two years in a row, enjoys the Greyville course when things go his way – he is a winner of the KZN Breeders Million Mile and ran third in the Gr1 Champions Cup.

He has previously achieved under Hewitson, and finished third in the Gr2 Greyville 1900 in May.

By Toreador, who stood at Bush Hill Stud prior to his passing, the connections of Matador Man have enjoyed success with the deceased son of Danehill – winning two Gr1’s with Bull Valley (by Toreador). Breeder of Matador Man, Robin Scott, retained a share and owns him along with Messrs G D Tooch, G L Blank, G J Nassif, J Nassif, Z L Nassif and J Sarkis.

Matador Man’s weanling full sister sold for R125 000 at the Scott Bros Dispersal sale, an impressive filly with plenty of strength and substance.

Matador Man would have earned his breeders a Breeder Premium claim of approximately R6 000.

Sean Tarry’s maiden Viva Pipa shattered the Gary Alexander Racing Team’s dreams of winning another Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup when she flashed home late to catch the free-striding Chijmes in the shadow of the post. It was a 1-2-3 for Summerhill who either bred or raised the first three past the post.

A mixed bunch of 16 one-time winners and maidens went to post for the 1400m race restricted to eligible graduates of the 2017 Emperor’s Palace Summer Ready To Run Sales. And with the Gr1 placed favourite Railtrip being left with a mountain to climb in the rush for home, it was the ever reliable Lyle Hewitson who capitalised.

Confidently ridden to lead at the 500m, Chijmes, the officially highest-rated male in the field, galloped powerfully as Hewitson weaved his way through on Viva Pipa.

At this stage, Railtrip under Kegan De Melo, had lengths to make and appeared to be labouring. At the 150m marker Viva Pipa and Chijmes came together and went head for head to the wire.

The filly just had that little bit extra and she held Chijmes to a head in a time of 84,63secs. Railtrip, a Gr1 2nd placed half-to Gr1 winner Hero’s Honour, arrived too late and was beaten 2,30 lengths away in third.

A R60 000 2017 Summerhill Ready To Run graduate, the Tmen Stables bred Viva Pipa, who races for Kenilworth Racing Chairman Chris van Niekerk, is a daughter of  sire Visionaire (Grand Slam) out of the Jallad one-time winner, Pipatune.

She has won once and run 4 places from her 6 starts for stakes of R304 750. Congratulations to trainer Sean Tarry who has been a stalwart supporter of #kznbred horses and raced many to great success.

The BSA 2018 Ready To Run Sale starts at 14h00 on Sunday 4 November.

-extract sportingpost.co.za

It was a big day for the Kwazulu-Natal breeders at Greyville on Sunday and particularly for the Scott Bros that bred the winner of the KZN Breeders Million Mile, Matador Man, and the winner of the “Level the Playing Fields” series final, Mark My Card.

But it was champion trainer Sean Tarry that stole part of the limelight on the day with six winners including Matador Man that is out of the mare Sahara, a daughter of Scott Bros top stallion Mogok, sire of many top internationally Group race performers such as local and American Gr1 winner Gypsy’s Warning, and The Apache that won the Group 1 Arlington Million before being placed second on an objection. Gypsy’s Warnings’ three parts brother Romany Prince was part of the field.

Scott Bros not only bred the Toreador gelding but Robin Scott who runs the Highdown Stud in the Nottingham Road area of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and founded the stud 50 years ago with brothers Des and Neville, is part owner of the striking three-year-old that has now won three of his nine starts and placed in four others.

It was a special day also for apprentice jockey Eric Ngwane who was given the ride after carded rider S’manga Khumalo had been stood down during the meeting. The young rider produced an outstanding effort to bring Matador Man down the outside of the field from off the pace to collar the filly Dawn Calling in the final strides to the line.

Allowed to relax near the rear by replacement rider Eric Ngwane as Unagi showed the way into the straight, Matador Man made ground quickly as Dawn Calling hit the lead looking a winner at the 200m.

Matador Man had the reserves though and he came  with a thundering late run down the outside to beat Dawn Calling going away by 1,75 lengths in a time of 94,10 secs.

Dawn Calling by Trippi, bred by Anton Procter and who races off a 95, remains a frustrating one-time winner and was registering her eighth second from 15 starts. On the flipside of the coin, she has earned in excess of R630 000!

The winner’s 44-1 stablemate Wukkin’ Up shaded dual Million Mile winner No Worries to bank third cheque.

For Tarry it was another display of the power of the yard that has set a new South African winning stakes record of more than R30-million in a season and there are still many big races to come before the end of July. The yard won the first three races on the card before winning the sixth with Heaps Of Fun, the feature with Matador Man and the final race with Hyaku.

He was purchased by the Tawny Syndicate at R180 000 at the 2015 National 2yo Sale and took his stakes earnings to R888 200.

The field is restricted to horses registered with the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme and the Million Mile field sires included three (all Graded Stakes winners) by Kahal, Silvano, Trippi, Mogok, Toreodor and Visionaire amongst others.

Tarry’s six winners were ridden by S’manga Khumalo (3), Lyle Hewitson (1), Anthony Delpech (1) and Ngwane.

Anthony Delpech won two on the day, the first with Alesh Naidoo’s son of AP Answer and KZN Yearling Sale Million winner, Cutting Edge. Delpech fell off the Clifton-bred before cantering down to the start of the race, when the horse spooked at a shadow on the ground.

For the KZN Breeders Club it was an outstanding success with the other eight races on the card all carrying stakes of R200 000 and all nine races confined to horses registered with the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme in the province.

With 400 breeders, owners and trainers booked into the Durban View room, a big thank you to all and Gold Circle for making an outstanding day possible.

Scenes from the KZN Breeders Race Day below:

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!

Another daughter of last season’s national leading freshman sire Visionaire, added to his Graded Stakes winning accolades as a sire with the aptly named Summerhill-bred Heaps Of Fun, winning the Gr2 Wilgebosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas yesterday for her owner Mr Nchakha Moloi.

Heaps Of Fun won easily by almost a length under a tactical ride from top jockey S’manga Khumalo. The race over 1600m is also the first leg of the Triple Tiara and the second leg – the Gr1 SA Fillies Classic – will be run over 1800m on 2 April at Turffontein.

Fort Wood filly Negroamaro and Roski Stud-bred daughter of Western Winter (out of Kahal’s half-sister Katici Princess)  Frosty Friday finished second and third respectively.

Mr Moloi was the recent top buyer at the Summerhill Summer Ready To Run Sale, where he purchased another daughter of Visionaire for R220 000.

Trained by Champion trainer Sean Tarry, Heaps Of Fun was a R200 000 graduate off the CTS Ready To Run Sale in 2014 and has now earned close to R600 000 in stakes. This is her third win to date, and she ran two close seconds in both the Gr3 Fillies Mile over 1600m and a nose over 1160m in the Swallow Stakes Listed.

Her dam Dream Starling by Northern Guest is no stranger to producing success having had an impressive eight runners and eight winners, including the likes of Big Bird, The Elmo Effect (who finished three lengths off in the Aquanaut Handicap Listed yesterday) and multiple Stakes Placed Cookie Monster previously. Her daughter Red Spirit is the dam of Black Type Newton Power.

Heaps Of Fun has bought her ticket to stud and descends from a strong female line – her second dam is speed queen Clifton Queen, a five-time winner who placed nine times and herself a half-sister to First Arrival – the dam of Let’s Rock And Roll, In The Fast Lane and Light The Lights.

Breeders Summerhill Stud continue to lead the National Breeders Log ahead of Klawervlei Stud and Maine Chance Farms by Stakes Earned.

KZN-bred Frosty Friday, bred and owned by Greg and Chelle Royden-Turner of Roski Stud finished less than two lengths off the winner. To date the beautifully-bred Frosty Friday has won three times on the trot and placed three times from all her starts for the Gavin Van Zyl racing stable.

Well done to all concerned.

A Shadwell-bred daughter of Kahal out of Mentalite, Chennai Babe owned and trained by Champion Trainer Sean Tarry, won the Indigo Handicap (Non Black Type) at Greyville on Friday evening by half a length.

Little Blacknumber finished second and Alice Springs in third, whilst Visionaire’s Lala ran on for fourth place – all first four horses within a length of each other. Gr1 winner Lauderdale finished four lengths off.

Drawn fourth and carrying 54kgs, Chennai Babe is a full sister to 10-time winner Constellation and a half-sister to the Michael Roberts trained Injaazaat. A winner in France, Mentalite by Alhaarth has produced six winners to date.

Chennai Babe sold for R100 000 at the 2013 National Yearling Sale consigned by Bush Hill Stud, and she has earned over R300 000 to date for six wins and four places.

Kahal is currently lying 5th on the National Sires Log and on an equal winners to runners percentage of 33.3% as Dynasty in fourth position (stats as of 29/11/2015 nhra.co.za).

Well done to Sean Tarry.