Keagan de Melo To Ride Make It Snappy In The Met

The connections of the country’s only dual Grade 1 winner to date this season, the Brett Crawford-trained Hollywood Syndicate-owned three-year-old Dynasty filly make It Snappy, have decided to put the country’s leading rider Keagan de Melo aboard her for the WSB Met simply because he is a natural lightweight who will have no problem making the 51.5kg weight.

Regular rider Luyolo Mxothwa rides to 55.5kg so would have had a tough task slimmimg down, whereas De Melo rides to 52.5kg so just has to take off 1kg.

Anthony Delpech, the racing manager of Hollywood, said the filly had come out of her win in the Grade 1 wfa Cartier Paddock Stakes over 1800m well.

The plan before the Paddock had always been to take their time to get to the front from a wide draw, because the rest of the field consisted largely of hold up types.

It worked out well and she got there for free, so was able to produce extra when challenged by Equus Horse Of The Year Captain’s Ransom in the final stages.

She became the ninth filly to do the Cape Fillies Guineas/Paddock Stakes double in the same season.

Make It Snappy will be bidding to become the second three-year-old filly to win the Met since the conditions were changed to weight for age.

When the Justin Snaith-trained Oh Susanna (Street Cry) won it five years ago in 2017 she became the first three-year-old filly to win the Met for over 100 years.

Make It Snappy is unlikely to get an easy lead in the Met.

However, she has only had five starts and has already beaten the like of the Equus Horse Of The Year Captain’s Ransom as well as Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 winner Silver Darling, Hollywoodbets Durban July winner Sparkling Water, Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara heroine Rain In Holland, last year’s Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Chansonette and she has twice beaten last year’s narrow Paddock Stakes winner and Grade 2 Gold Bracelet winner Marina.

So nobody yet knows just how good she is.

She has come under the radar but could this filly, who is leased by Hollywood from Ridgemont Highlands, be an Igugu or an Ipi Tombe?

She is bidding to become the first filly in history to do the Cape Fillies Guineas/Paddock Stakes/Met treble.

Soumillon To Stay Aboard Isivunguvungu For Cape Flying

The Peter Muscutt-trained What A Winter gelding had to be switched a number of horse widths outward after finding his passage blocked by a wall of horses in front of him in the The Franschhoek Motor Museum Winchester Sprint Cup over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday before charging home to be denied a short-head by Mr Cobbs.

Anthony Delpech, racing manager of the Hollywood Syndicate who own Isivunguvungu, said Christophe Soumillon felt had it not been his first ride back from a two month suspension for the elbowing incident he would likely have won the race.

It is not surprising Soumillon took the cautious route, because the aforementioned incident cost him his retainer with the Aga Khan and brought him a lot of bad publicity.

Mr Cobbs finished runner up in last year’s Grade 1 wfa Cape Flying Championship and Isivunguvungu was giving him 4kg in Saturday’s race over the same course and distance.

Therefore, Isivunguvungu must have a lively chance in this year’s Cape Flying, considering the sprint division is not strong at present.

The race takes place on WSB Met day January 28.

Soumillon, who is a picture of balance aboard any horse he rides and always appears to be at one with them, will be back aboard and that will be good news for the connections.

Isivunguvungu showed a lot of promise as a three-year-old and this strongly built horse was coming back from a five month layoff on Saturday.

He is officially merit rated only 110, which gives him a lot to do on paper in the Cape Flying against horses rated as high as 125, not to mention the 121-rated Princess Calla, to whom he will have to give weight if she lines up.

However, he should progress into the finished article this season and should emerge as a leading light in the sprint division sooner or later.

Hollywoodbets themselves have him as Cape Flying second favourite at 11/2.

Resonate is favourite at 5/1 and Princess Calla at about 6/1.

Resonate was a neck behind Isivunguvungu in third on Saturday but was giving the latter 2kg.

Black Swan’s Notes From The Desk Of Peter De Beyer

Black Swan Stud’s Peter De Beyer has filed notes on his draft of six yearlings to go through the ring at the Tattersalls Cape Premier Yearling Sale this Thursday, with additional notes and catalogue updates below that:

Lot 19: Filly by Gold Standard ex Elusive Heart: A light framed leggy filly who stands over ground. She is correct and walks beautifully, using herself well. She has a keen eye in a very pretty head.

Lot 37 Filly by Elusive Fort ex Goldandsilver: A sturdy, very correct filly with plenty of heart room, she moves very nicely and is correct. She is slightly up behind at the moment (see picture of Lot 37 above the headline to this article).

Lot 101 Filly by Canford Cliffs ex Sylvie: Stunning filly who walks beautifully and is very well balanced . She is correct and strong with a great attitude. A beautiful head, well-developed quarters and a plenty of heart room in a deep chest (see picture of Lot 101 below).

Lot 103 Colt by Master of my Fate ex Tequila Blush: A good sized, handsome colt who is an active walker and uses himself well. He is well grown and correct and stands over ground. He is beautifully put together and has a nice outlook. He has a lovely topline and good shoulder. Correct. (see picture of Lot 103 below)

Lot 111 Filly by Master of my Fate ex White Rose: Well grown and nicely put together filly who is a very purposeful walker with a big stride. A nice sloping shoulder and deep girth, she is very correct and is a good size and a good head.

Lot 118 Colt by Elusive Fort ex Beautiful Noise: A strong scopey colt with a great backside, strong and correct, he is a very active horse who walks like he is going somewhere. He is correct, has plenty of heart room and has a very handsome head.

Additional Notes:

De Beyer said: “My two colts are both very nice specimens but the Master of my Fate out of Tequila Blush is my preferred one as she has already produced the stakes winner Helen’s Ideal.

“The filly out of Sylvie by Canford Cliffs is the pick, given that Sylvie already has a stakes winner in Sarah, and is an ideal candidate for the sales incentive race.

“The Gold Standard filly out of Elusive Heart is a lovely first foal, and Elusive Fort is already the broodmare sire of Sound of Warning, by Trippi. Elusive Heart was a top race filly.”

There are a couple of very important updates since the catalogue was published:

Lot 37: Second foal Golden Tatjana won the Trippi Stakes for juveniles on Kings Plate Day, beating a very smart field

First foal: Treasure Hunt now 4 wins

Lot 101: Celtic Rumours (by Vercingetorix) 2019 foal now a winner – so now 4 runners all winners.

Lot 111 the first foal, Pascali, now a winner

Under the second dam, Jimmy Don (Pathfork- Joshlin) 3 wins, including the Listed Secretariat Stakes.

Sire Power for Klawervlei at CPYS!

Multiple Champion Breeders, Klawervlei Stud, have a wide variety of very good stallions represented in their yearling crop drafted to the Tattersalls Cape Premier Yearling Sale at CTICC this week.

Klawervlei’s John Koster commented: “We can start by looking at the progeny of two sons of Captain Al, namely One World and Captain Of All. There are three yearlings by One World from top international families including Alexander Goldrun, Capetown Noir and particularly Lot 46 (see picture below), the third foal of In Other Words, by Trippi. She is a stunning filly! The Captain Of All (Lot 6) is the first offspring of a Listed winning mare by Silvano.

Lot 46

“William Longsword is another son of Captain Al doing exceptionally well, quietly going about his business, climbing the logs. He is a Top 10 stallion now, with only two crops to race, and his two-year-olds are coming along this year. He is third on the sires of three-year-olds log. Lot 26 is a late foal, a very athletic full-brother to Venus De Milo, and I think he is a proper horse.

“We have put a lot of our faith in champion sire Gimmethegreenlight, we rate him highly. He has rewarded us handsomely. Lot 13 is a colt out of Dance At Dawn, by Trippi, a great broodmare sire with 5.1% stakes winners to runners. The mare’s first two foals, Gimme’s Laddie and Robert Burns, both won in December, not reflected in catalogue, so she has everything going for her.

“Lot 45 is a colt by Gimmethegreenlight out of I Lived by Western Winter. The dam is a half-sister to Vercingetorix, which makes the colt very special. The Gimmethegreenlight/Western Winter cross has already produced six stakes winners.

“Lot 76 is a lovely grey Gimmethegreenlight filly out of Primrose Hill by the great Giant’s Causeway. This is an international pedigree, the second dam Marylebone won the G1 Belmont Matron Stakes (see picture of Lot 76 below).

“Lot 81 is a Gimmethegreenlight filly – she is the first foal of champion mare Return Flight (Pomodoro). Gimmethegreenlight over Jet Master (Pomodoro) has already produced five stakes winners including Green Plains.

“Lot 106 is a Gimmethegreenlight filly out of Varsity Girl, by VAR. Her sister Exchange Student won at her second attempt for Candice Dawson last week and looks smart. VAR is a top broodmare sire in the making, this is a great filly family with Consensual, Gimme Five, etc (see picture of Lot 106 below).

“Lot 112 is a Gimmethegreenlight colt – he is the first foal of African Daisy, by Captain Al, himself a serious broodmare sire running at nearly 6% stakes winners to runners. Gimmethegreenlight over Captain Al is already responsible for 9.7% stakes winners to runners including G1 winner, Gunner.

“Let’s go on to a colt and a filly by Trippi, one of those rare stallions able to produce top class horses well into the twilight of his career, as can be seen with Charles Dickens. Lot 1 is a beautiful, high quality filly out of a duel Listed winning mare by Captain Al. She comes from the wonderful filly family of stakes winners Moon In June, Shamrock Wind, Golden Belle and others.

“Lot 90 is a stunning, very athletic colt by Trippi – and he is the first foal of Listed winner Shamrock Wind, from the same family as Lot 1 above. He is well-balanced, and the Trippi/Captain AL cross has produced 15,4% stakes winners (see picture of Lot 90 below).

“We also have smart yearlings by Rafeef (Lots 122, 87) and Querari (Lot 11).”

Jacobs, In-depth About Maine Chance’s Best

Dr Andreas Jacobs of Maine Chance Farms shared his thoughts on his acclaimed Robertson farm’s draft consigned to the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, powered by Tattersalls, at the CTICC this Thursday. He laid claim on the depth of quality in their female lines.

Jacobs suggested that Lot 107 (see picture above the headline to this article), Valley Ofthe Kings, is one of the jewels in Maine Chance’s crown for this auction and explained: “He is a Gimmethegreenlight colt out of a Listed winning Captain Al mare, Victoria Lavelle – I don’t need to explain the potency of Captain Al as a broodmare sire, and this colt has Western Winter below that as sire of the grandam. And what a beautiful name, Valley Of the Kings. If you go down further, his fourth dam is by Surumu, who is to Germany what Northern Dancer was to the United States. He is a well-bred, early born, well developed type, well-muscled with a dark bay colour. He has a fantastic walk. What is interesting, and not on the page, is that his seventh dam, Crape Band, was bought by my grandfather. We bred with her and she produced Caracol the first G1 winner for our family in 1972. He was a very tough horse who won two G1s in one week and later became a stallion. (Watch Andreas Jacobs interview about Lot 107, here).

“Lot 119 is a colt by super stallion Vercingetorix called Boundless. He is out of a Dynasty mare and as we know Dynasty is a quality broodmare sire. If you look down the page, this family has produced a lot of winners, has a high ratio of winners to foals. His three-quarter sister Bella Siccome (Silvano) just recently won the Listed Christmas Handicap and she now has five wins to her name. This yearling is not too tall, he is well framed and stands over ground. Very correct, walks well, has everything that makes him a very attractive prospect at this sale.

“Lot 89 is a wonderful colt by Lancaster Bomber. He is bred over Oratorio/Silvano which makes him 3×4 Danzig, but if you remember what John Magnier always said, ‘you can’t get enough of Danzig!’ so this is wonderful, especially over Silvano and his sire, Lomitas. They work fantastically well with Danzig sire Iines, like Daydream, the former Arc winner. The horse itself is well-balanced, looks very athletic and comes from the oldest and the best family of Maine Chance Farms, the Scented Royal family including Janoobi, Phillipa Johnson, Franny, Sweet Sanette and others. He looks like a true racehorse (see picture of Lot 89 below).

“Lot 78 is a filly called Praiseworthy, by Vercingetorix out of a Trippi mare, a mating that can result in legs that are not perfect. She doesn’t have perfect legs but as we know with progeny of Vercingetorix and Trippi, this happens and they run fast, regardless. Her full-sister Phedra is a six-time winner. This is another good old Maine Chance family, I actually bought her third dam Paraguya in Argentina, at about the same time I bought Maine Chance. This filly is closely related to Paraca, Punta Arenas and Pomp and Power. She looks very racy and I believe she will come early. A nice buy for breeders as there is not much of this family in South Africa. I am keen on her (see picture of Lot 78 below).

“Lot 96 is a colt by Erupt, a pretty head like his dad, and he has an interesting pedigree. Being Dubawi (Erupt) over Silvano/Galileo he would have been a £1-million yearling in Europe, the breeding is all there and with the fantastic start of Erupt, especially with two-year-olds, like last weekend at Kenilworth. I am keen to see this horse get to the track. He is a November foal, still growing, his walk is okay, but we all know the Dubawi’s don’t walk too well, Erupt is a better version of him, they walk better but not perfect. His X-rays are perfect, all is good with him, his dam has a black-type winning sister so this shows the family has quality. He’s wide in front, going to grow into a beautiful horse.” (see picture of Lot 96 below)

“Lot 34 is Gregarious, a nicely bred filly by Vercingetorix out of a Horse Chestnut mare, and Horse Chestnut is a wonderful broodmare sire. If you go further back you will find Al Mufti, no need to explain value of that over Silvano/Vercingetorix. Her dam is a sister to Gothic (by Silvano), a Listed winner and G1 Derby-placed, so we have the same Silvano-Horse Chestnut cross. The breeder and former owner of the mare is Judy Brannigan, who is a very smart breeder in her own right. You are in safe hands when you consider this yearling! (see picture of Lot 34 below)

The horse in question won the German Derby, whose 2009 renewal is pictured above. (thoroughbredracing.com)

Today’s Question

Which 1974-born horse became one of the cornerstones of German thoroughbred breeding?

Answer at bottom of newsletter 

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Surumu (Sporthorse-Data.com)