The Boland Stud-bred Querari colt Cruise Control produced the goods when he won the first juvenile race of the season in the Eastern Cape, breaking the Fairview 800m course record in the process.
A R200 000 National Yearling Sale purchase by Hollywoodbets-sponsored trainer Gavin Smith for owner Vicky Veeramootoo, Cruise Control was easy to back at 9-2, in view of the sustained support for the athletic Canford Cliffs gelding Cliff Top, who started in the red and shouldn’t be long in winning.
Warren Kennedy steers Cruise Control to a smart debut win (Pic -Pauline Herman)
But Cruise Control carried too many speed guns and produced a polished performance to clock 43,87 secs and break the previous mark of 44,28 secs.
He beat Cliff Top by 1,75 lengths with the Coup De Grace filly Chere For Me a further 3,75 lengths away in third.
With the rescheduled KZN meeting running at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Friday evening, Warren Kennedy justified the decision to restrict himself to the Eastern Cape.
“The Gavin Smith team are integral to my championship bid,” he added. While he didn’t ride another winner on the day, he will feel well satisfied with the smart youngster’s debut win.
The winner is by Querari (Oasis Dream) out of the well-related Sail From Seattle mare Eurythmics. The latter is a full-sister to Gr1 Cape Flying Championship winner Gulf Storm and the Gr3 Sycamore Sprint winner, Seattle Singer. The mare is also a half sister to the twelve-time winner Global Drummer, one of the most accomplished horses currently racing in the region.
An elated Eugene Freeman of Boland Stud told the Sporting Post that Eurythmics has a Lancaster Bomber yearling colt, a Vercingetorix filly foal and has been covered again by Querari – so an astute return to the well that produced Friday’s smart winner. Exciting times ahead!
