Four top-class winners, including a feature double, put the cherry on top of a glorious day at the races at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday for the Ridgemont Highlands team.
The opening meeting of the 2022/23 Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Summer Racing Festival started on a high for the Robertson nursery, and it was a celebration made more special as three of their quartet of winners are sired by the farm’s iconic sire Dynasty, a son of Fort Wood who passed in 2019.
The Ridgemont Highlands team on the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth winner’s podium
A star who produced 25 Gr1 horses, and is still the highest rated 3yo ever to win the Gr1 Durban July, Dynasty is one of only 3 stallions – along with his famous sire Fort Wood – in the history of South African horseracing to celebrate three SA Horses of the Year.
First of the Ridgemont Highlands bred winners on the sunny Saturday came in the newly inaugurated Summer Bowl, a strategic feature stepping stone into the summer for the fairer sex.
Make It Snappy (Kabelo Matsunyane) wins the Summer Bowl beating two Gr1 winners (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Leading from the break under Kabelo Matsunyane for trainer Brett Crawford, the Hollywood Syndicate-raced Make It Snappy potentially booked her ticket for the WSB Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas on 3 December, beating two older Gr1 winners in the process. This was a second victory from just three outings for the daughter of Dynasty, who is out of the well-related Western Winter mare, Icy Winter.
Ridgemont Highlands-bred Dynasty daughter Time Flies (Kabelo Matsunyane) charges home (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The same jockey-trainer-owner combination were to the fore again for the next Ridgemont-bred winner when the 4yo Dynasty filly Time Flies powered home to register her third win (with 3 places) from just six starts in the fifth, an MR 95 (F&M) handicap over 1800m. She is out of the Whipper mare, Right And Ready and looks one for the notebook for the fairer sex features this season.
While there is some debate amongst members of the very knowledgeable Snaith racing family as to whether the Ridgemont Highlands-bred 3yo We’re Jamming is a sprinter, or will even go a mile plus in time, last season’s eyecatching Gr3 Cape Nursery winner made it three victories from eight starts with a standout turn of foot to win the 1200m Listed Sophomore Sprint, for leading local patrons Greg Bortz and Gina Goldsmith.
Ridgemont Highlands-bred We’re Jamming (Richard Fourie) wins the Listed Sophomore Sprint eature (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
A Duke Of Marmalade gelding with a rear-end that could power five jumbo jets, We’re Jamming is out of the Windrush mare, Maidstone and is now headed for a showdown with his elders in the Gr2 Cape Merchants on 11 December.
The Ridgemont Highlands four-timer was crowned by a classically authoritative showing by recent debut winner King Regent, who bobbed and weaved his way through traffic to maintain his impeccable record at his second outing to win the Middle Stakes. Trained by Glen Kotzen for long-time owners Martin Wickens and Gisela Burg, King Regent recovered from a testy start to win going away.
A strapping gelding who is bred to go 2400m – his brother Crimson King won the 2400m Gr3 Pocket Power Stakes in 2021 – King Regent was a thrilling third winner for Dynasty on the afternoon, and is out of the Mogok mare, Cup Of Rubies.
The day capped a superb 24 hours for the Ridgemont team as on Friday evening at Turffontein the Ridgemont bred and raced Rock The Fox, a daughter of the farm’s multiple UK Gr1 winning and international stakes producing stallion Canford Cliffs, ran a gutsy third in the Gr3 TAB4Racing Fillies Mile.
Rock The Fox is remembered as the desperately close runner-up to Canadian Summer in the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville last season. Her well-related dam Quick Brown Fox, a daughter of Foxwedge, was a $340 000 Inglis Premier purchase of her year from the Supreme Thoroughbreds draft and was the most expensive filly by her sire at that sale. She won twice from just 8 starts in the Ridgemont silks, before being retired due to an injury.
Multiple SA Champion trainer Sean Tarry was happy with Rock The Fox’s effort under the lights and labelled her a SA Triple Tiara prospect.
“She is a filly of tremendous class and, as you mentioned, she was very unlucky not to win that Gr1 on Gold Cup day. I have always had a feeling that she needs ground and we are not in a rush to get the distance that we need. She is performing well at 1400m and a mile, but I feel we will see her best at 2000m,” added Tarry.
Ridgemont Highlands recently announced their sponsorship on the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas undercard of the R400 000 Ridgemont Highlands Gr2 Peninsula Handicap. A bright summer season lies ahead!
