Five of the nine starters in Saturday’s R350 000 Tote Gr3 Oaks run over 2400m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville first saw the light of day at the magnificent Varsfontein Stud in Paarl and it was hardly a surprise to see them dominate the finish.
While the Kalmanson’s champion nursery owned three of the nine starters, they had to be content with a second placed finisher and won’t mind that the winner carried the silks of passionate owners, Reynolds Chung and Rikesh Sewgoolam.
Athandiwe Mgudlwa gets She’s A Bomber in front at the right moment as My Soul Mate (Muzi Yeni) digs deep (Candiese Lenferna)
The racing purists will be pleased to see a 3yo win an ‘all ages classic’ that has been the subject of extensive debate since being opened up in 2014, and it was the Lancaster Bomber filly She’s a Bomber who relished the step up in trip.
As is her style, Highveld raider Indian Ocean went out to lead and held an eight length margin on her field into the home straight.
But there was nothing more to come from the Mano Panaram charge as she was swallowed up quickly by a wave led by Knockout, who looked a winner inside the 250m under Richard Fourie.
But in a matter of strides, She’s A Bomber (25-2) bounced into the lead and she held off a low-flying tote favourite and Joburg raider My Soul Mate (5-1) by 0,30 lengths in a time of 151,45 secs.
Knockout (4-1) stopped late for third.
Sporting Post-sponsored Athandiwe Mgudlwa rode a perfectly judged race and said that his mount was cruising turning for home and she had dug deep to stay on strongly.
Hollywoodbets-sponsored Alyson Wright said that this was ‘a nice effort’ after a few disappointing runs. “She will make a lovely broodmare after her racing career for her owners,” added the Summerveld conditioner.
As we observed earlier, She’s A Bomber was bred by Varsfontein Stud and is a daughter of Lancaster Bomber (War Front) out of the Judpot mare, Head Of State.
Picked by Kevin Wright as a R150 000 Cape Yearling Sale graduate, She’s A Bomber has now won 4 races with 2 places from her 9 starts for stakes of R406 438.
The opening race on the card proved something of a rocky start for favourite backers when the lesser fancied of the Mike Miller yard, Infinity Edge (10-1) produced a strong finish to win on debut under Powafix-sponsored Jaycee Botes, who is now just 4 winners away from losing his 4kg claim.
The winner was bred by Waterford Stud and is a daughter of Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready) out of the Gr1 winner Outcome (Muhtafal), who raced in the Steve Sturlese silks.
The medium of a gamble from 7’s into 5-2, Wendy Whitehead’s Gary Player Stud-bred Mighty Zambezi put it all together at his third start, when winning the second race, a 1200m Maiden Juvenile Plate under SplashOut-sponsored Calvin Habib.
Dean Kannemeyer enjoyed a race-on-race double when well-related first timer Gimmie Rules won smartly and the yard followed up with the improving Star In Motion, breaking the ice at his third start.
Impressive! Gimmie Rules (Craig Zackey) beats fellow first-timer Next Of Kin (Callan Murray) to win the third (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Calvin Habib and Wendy Whitehead celebrated a double when Hot Pearl went gun-to-tape in the fifth, a 1000m Middle Stakes.
In a race reduced to six runners, Hot Pearl went off at 17-2 and held off the challenge of the tote favourite Vision To Achieve (5-1) to win by 1,40 lengths in a time of 56,8 secs. In a touching twist, Calvin Habib dedicated his earlier winner to his Gran on the anniversary of her passing. After this race he said that his Gran’s name was Pearl.
