Black Minnaloushe
Maine Chance Farms’ resident sire Black Minnaloushe was the toast of Turffontein, following his remarkable classic double on Saturday. His daughter Ash Cloud won the Gr1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks, while Louis The King won the Gr1 SA Derby two races later.
Black Minnaloushe, whose current crop of 3yos also includes Equus Champion 2YO Colt Kochka, thus a select band of stallions who have sired both the Derby winner and Oaks winner in one crop.
Remarkably, another of the Maine Chance resident sires to have completed this rare double was champion Silvano. His son Kings Gambit won the Gr1 SA Derby back in 2008 – while Silvano filly, Happy Spirit, won the then Gr2 SA Oaks of the same year. One of the only other sires to have achieved this double locally was Hobhob (St Just/Topa Inca in 1990).
Hobnob was a tremendous classic sire in South Africa – and he left behind no fewer than four Oaks winners, and two SA Derby winners. In Britain, St Simon achieved the Epsom Oaks/Derby double in 1900 – son Diamond Jubilee won the Derby, while daughter La Roche won the fillies classic of the same year.
An equally legendary sire, Sadler’s Wells, accomplished the same feat in 2001 – when son Galileo won the Epsom Derby and daughter Imagine collected the Oaks.
Blushing Groom achieved the Epsom Derby/Oaks double in 1989 when his son Nashwan romped home to win the Derby. Daughter, Snow Bride, was later awarded first place in the Oaks of that year, following the disqualification of original winner, Aliysa.
North America’s equivalent races are the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. In 1952, Calumet Farm’s legendary sire, Bull Lea, completed a rare double when his daughter Real Delight won the Kentucky Oaks, and his son, Hill Gail, landed the Kentucky Derby. Another US sire to complete the Derby/Oaks double was the mighty Native Dancer -whose offspring Kauai King and Native Street won the Kentucky Derby/Oaks in 1966.
The mighty Sunday Silence had the Japan Oaks/Derby double in 1995 (Tayasu Tiyoshi/Dance Partner) and 2003 (Neo Universe/Still In Love), while another great sire to have sired the classic double was the late Monsun. The latter’s son Shirocco won the German Derby of 2004 – the same year that Monsun filly, Amarette, won the German Oaks. Needless to say, the Derby/Oaks double in one year is a tremendous feat for any stallion to achieve!
.
Western Winter Success
Western Winter
The legacy of the late, great Western Winter continues to grow. Yearlings of the deceased stallion were in great demand at last weekend’s Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.
Looking at Western Winter’s statistics, this is hardly surprising. Every single crop sired by Western Winter has produced at least one stakes winner – with his latest star coming in the shape of uber promising 2yo, Kingvoldt. Prior to that, Western Winter’s crops produced up to 10 stakes winners per crop.
He also had the ability to sire major Grade One winners – with ten of his crops of racing age having produced at least one Grade One winner. However, it was as a broodmare sire that Western Winter succeeded this weekend.
He is the damsire of Gr1 SA Nursery heroine Carry On Alice (the second Grade One winner produced by a daughter of Western Winter), as well as Gr2 Gold Bowl victress Magic Smoke.
It was an impressive double – especially considering that varying distances of each race. The SA Nursery is run over 1160m, while the Gold Bowl is contested at the marathon trip of 3200m. Western Winter daughters have performed well with a number of different sires.
His daughters have produced stakes winners to all of Jet Master, Var, Captain Al, Fort Wood, Victory Moon and the US based sire Hat Trick, to name but a few.
.
Broodmare’s Oaks Treble
Saturday’s Turffontein race meeting saw a number of horses make history. Varsfontein Stud’s broodmare, Star Of Arcole, pulled off a remarkable feat when her daughter, Ash Cloud, won the Gr1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks.
In winning the Oaks, Ash Cloud became the third Oaks winner produced by Star Of Arcole (Foveros). She had been preceded by Arcola (SA Oaks) and Princess Of Light (Gold Circle Oaks).
Winning the Oaks clearly runs in this family – Star Of Arcole is out of former Gr2 Natal Oaks winner Arcole – herself dam of Gr2 SA Oaks third place finisher, Rose Of Arcole. Star Of Arcole’s sire, Foveros, himself sired SA Oaks winner Fast Break.
It is hard to think of many mares who have produced three classic winners. One such mare was Set Free – dam of English classic winners Scintillate (1000 Guineas), Julio Mariner (St Leger) and Juliette Marny (Epsom Oaks).
The great mare Athasi bred all of Trigo (Epsom Derby), Primero (Irish Derby) and Harinero (Irish Derby), while the legendary Nogara produced three classic winners in Italy – including the breed shaping sire, Nearco. Nijinsky II’s daughter, Dancing Key, bred three classic winners in Japan – including St Leger Dance In the Dark (sire of Melbourne Cup hero Delta Blues).
Blue Delight produced three Kentucky Oaks winners – including Princess Turia (herself dam of Kentucky Derby hero Forward Pass). German Broodmare Of The Year Sacarina (despite being by stud failure Old Vic) bred three classic winners in Samum and Schiaparelli (German Derby winners) and Salve Regina (German Oaks).
Al Mufti Influence
Al Mufti
The late, great sire Al Mufti continues to influence results of some of South Africa’s most important races. His granddaughter Carry on Alice (by Al Mufti’s champion son Captain Al) won Saturday’s Gr1 SA Nursery, while Al Mufti is also the broodmare sire of Gr1 Champions Challenge hero Yorker (by Jet Master) as well as Saturday’s Gr1 Computaform Sprint hero Copper Parade.
Another grandson of Al Mufti is Jay Peg – sire of impressive feature race winner, Hot Affair – while this season’s Gr1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas hero Elusive Gold (now in quarantine in Mauritius) is out of the Al Mufti daughter, Circles Of Gold.
