Boland Stud have been enjoying a purple patch of winners in recent months and their Captain Al filly The Merry Widow showed her paces to retain her unbeaten record with a facile first stakes victory in the R150 000 Listed East Cape Fillies Nursery at Fairview on Good Friday.
Justin Snaith trained the winner who races in the Drakenstein blue and white.
The Merry Widow (S’manga Khumalo) cruises in to beat O Tamara (Aldo Domeyer) in the Listed feature (Pic- Coastal Photos)
The 1200m contest saw a reduced field of nine face the starter after the withdrawal of three of the original carded runners, and it was really no contest for the obviously talented 17-10 Cape challenger who hardly came off the bit to win eased down and give S’manga Khumalo the easiest of his three winners on the day.
Audrie Do and Cuveo showed plenty of early pace but it was The Merry Widow who slipped her field under the ever reliable Khumalo and skipped clear to win more easily than the official 0,75 length margin would suggest. She clocked 69,66 secs for the 1200m.
The Alan Greeff-trained Argonaut filly O Tamara loomed up menacingly at the 250m marker, but after having to switch, she never quite got to grips with the leader – who was geared down at the line with the winning margin flattering the runner-up.
Glen Kotzen, who had a great day with his lightning raid which produced two winners, saddled two promising fillies and it was the maiden Shizam who ran on best of the balance to secure third, 3,75 lengths behind the second placed runner.
Grant Paddock’s Villanelle ran fourth and is another who should escape the maiden ranks in short time.
The winner’s half-brother by Var is being offered on the 2016 NYS – see Lot 213
The Merry Widow is a daughter of the outstanding producer Captain Al out of the one-time winning Jallad mare, Miss Kiri, who was purchased by Boland Stud from Koos De Klerk at Yellow Star Stud.
The Merry Widow won her Kenilworth 800m debut in the Cape summer and thus retains her perfect record after showing improvement to step up and win here at only her second jump. She has earned R134 375 in stakes.
Breeder Eugene Freeman confirmed that The Merry Widow had gone through the 2015 National Yearling Sale ring unsold with a highest bid of R300 000. A deal was concluded immediately after with Kevin Sommerville of Drakenstein Stud and the filly thus qualified for the R77 500 BSA Added Value Stakes Bonus Series.
Freeman was particularly excited by this stakes success as he has a magnificent chestnut half-brother by Var coming up on the National Yearling Sale on 28 April – have a look at lot 213 – he looks a real bomb!
For some more reading, take a look at Eugene Freeman’s profile
