Kimberley’s poor cousin status in the South African horseracing family has never been in doubt but the quality of the racing produced on the Northern Cape’s premier day of the season on Saturday was out of the top drawer.
The Northern Cape Racing Awards were held on Friday evening but almost 48 hours later the results of whatever happened there somehow seem to be buried in the dust and a secret confined to those who attended.
The opening race on the Saturday triple feature menu was to prove to be a great success for Summerhill Stud, who produced a unique quartet as the champion farm”s progeny filled the top four places.
Ryan Munger glances behind as Lebeona extends to win easily (Pic:JC Photos)
A whisper some time ago was that the Summerhill Stud-bred A P Arrow gelding Lebeoana was to be crowned Horse Of The Year and the 6yo is certainly top class on the Diamond circuit as he showed when outstaying his field for a runaway win in the R100 000 RA Diamond Stayers.
Only 11 runners lined up in the 2200m non black-type feature and the race produced a notable quartet for the evergreen Summerhill Stud, who were recently crowned SA Champion Breeders for an extraordinary tenth time!
Northern Cape champion Tienie Prinsloo trained the winner, who was well ridden by the low-profile but promising young Ryan Munger, when he powered home to beat the gallant Solskjaer mare Duchess Catharine by 3,75 lengths in a time of 149,73 secs.
The winner started favourite at 22-10.
The Gauteng challenger Oriental Blue found things tough and was relegated to third, a further 2,50 lengths back in a strung-out finish.
Ryan Munger – armchair ride
The former Cape-based Dragonstone completed the Summerhill quartet.
The 6yo winner, formerly trained by Garth Puller in KZN, has proven to be an astute acquisition for the Sportofkings.co.za syndicate.
A son of AP Arrow, Lebeoana was bred by Summerhill Stud and is out of the Al Mufti mare Arabian Magic – who won only once at 2600m.
Lebeoana is a half-brother to Lucky Houdalakis’ half decent stayer, Noble Star (Kahal).
Lebeoana is a R90 000 2012 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale graduate and has now won 9 races with 8 places from 38 starts for stakes of R488 600.
