Princess Victoria
Princess Victoria has been unstoppable virtually all year, and remains undefeated since finishing second on debut back in January after recording her sixth straight win – and third Gr 1 success – in the Avontuur Estate Fillies Guineas over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday, writes MATTHEW LIPS.
Princess Victoria had easily accounted for a very similar field when she won her seasonal debut in a Gr 2 event over 1400m four weeks earlier and even the opening price of 3/10 proved irresistible to her supporters as she eventually went off as the 1/5 favourite in an eleven strong line-up. Trinity House was the 7/1 second favourite after she had chased home Princess Victoria on her own seasonal debut the previous month, with Miss Ipanema the 12/1 third choice of punters in what most considered to be about as one-sided a contest as a Gr 1 race can ever be.
The early pace was not much more than a canter, with Trinity House taken to an immediate lead and allowed to amble along in front of Princess Victoria and Super Elegant, with Dubai Gina and Thunder Dance in behind her as several of those racing further back fought hard for their heads and generally gave their jockeys something of a torrid time. Dark Journey brought up the rear as Trinity House continued to lead the Saturday afternoon amble around Kenilworth’s summer course.
Princess Victoria was right on Trinity House’s tail as the field turned into the 600m long run-in, and soon began to launch her bid. Trinity House had not exactly needed to over exert herself up to that point and found plenty more under pressure, but it was always fairly obvious that Princess Victoria would run her out of it. Sean Cormack had to go for the whip on the favourite inside the last 200m, but Glen Kotzen’s filly proved too strong once again and ran on gamely to eventually beat Trinity House by 1.25 lengths.
Thunder Dance stayed on to finish three-quarters of a length further back in third, giving the Fillies Guineas the exact same 1-2-3 order of finish as the Gr 2 Choice Carriers Fillies Championship in early November. Dubai Gina – who didn’t contest the earlier race – didn’t really quicken before finishing a neck behind Thunder Dance in fourth, but was hardly disgraced in her first attempt at Stakes level. Miss Ipanema ran below the form which saw her placed fourth behind Princess Victoria and finished last of all, beaten 6.60 lengths by the winner. Like the others who raced well back early, Miss Ipanema stood virtually no chance in what became little more than a sprint down the straight and is better than this.
Princess Victoria didn’t win this with the consummate ease she’d showed when geared right down to score in the Fillies Championship, but she got the job done readily enough in the end and Trinity House really did enjoy the run of the race this time. What the result would have been in a more strongly run affair is hard to say, and these slow-run contests are always a little frustrating even when they produce the “right” outcome. It’s possible that the runner-up is a shade flattered by the Fillies Guineas, but on the other hand Trinity House remains the only horse ever to have beaten Princess Victoria and deserved to at least give the latter half a race this time.
Princess Victoria has been nominated for the Gr 1 Cape Premier Sale Guineas later this month, but she’d be taking on a very promising bunch of colts if she turned up there and that would certainly be a stiffer test of her class than she encountered in the fillies’ equivalent. Other fairly self-evident options for this summer season are the Gr 1 Paddock Stakes over 1800m and the Gr 1 Majorca Stakes over 1600m, both WFA events for females of all ages to be run in January. The possibility of Princess Victoria encountering the likes of Igugu and 2010 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Ebony Flyer in those races is enticing, but on the face of it she will need to raise her game from what we saw on Saturday. She won the Fillies Guineas off a merit rating nine pound higher than Trinity House’s, but for whatever reason Princess Victoria didn’t run within four or five pounds of that mark.
Still, she could only win, and that she did, even if the manner of it was more workmanlike than it was eye-popping. The daughter of deceased Victory Moon has carried all before her in six races on the trot against her own age and gender, and now it’s time for her to show what she can do in less sheltered company. Princess Victoria is the fourth foal of unraced Rakeen mare Platinum Princess, whose first three foals all won and included Gr 3 runner-up Asian Affair. This is the family of Petrava and Hoeberg, two New Zealand-bred imports who themselves both won the Cape Fillies Guineas when trained by the now-Australian domiciled David Payne. Bred and still part-owned by Andreas Jacobs’ Maine Chance farms, Princess Victoria’s six wins from seven starts have brought her stakes of R1 350 385. Her connections seem to be quite evident that Princess Victoria is not for sale – which will delight the filly’s fan club and set her up for some mouth-watering missions on SA racecourses later on.
Cape Fillies Guineas (SAf-G1) (12/3)
Kenilworth, South Africa, December 3, R750.000, 1600m, turf, good, 1.40.23 (CR 1.36.20).
PRINCESS VICTORIA (SAF), 58.0, b f 3, Victory Moon (SAF) – Platinum Princess (SAF) by Rakeen. Owner P G de Beyer, G A Jaffee, M H, R C & L H Jaffee and Maine Chance Farms; breeder Maine Chance Farms (SAF); trainer G S Kotzen; jockey S Cormack (R468.750)
Trinity House (SAF), 58.0, b f 3, Captain Al (SAF) – National Vixen (SAF) by National Assembly (CAN)
Thunder Dance (SAF), 58.0, b f 3, Jet Master (SAF) – Shadow Dancing (SAF) by Fort Wood
Margins: 1¼, ¾, nk
Also ran: Dubai Gina (AUS) 58.0, Bermuda Sloop (SAF) 58.0, Super Elegant (SAF) 58.0, Ocean’s Swift (SAF) 58.0, Dark Journey (SAF) 58.0, nRazzle Dazzle Rose (SAF) 58.0, Madame Rooney (SAF) 58.0, Miss Ipanema (AUS) 58.0
