Winter Cloud wins the Gr 3 Champagne Stakes as easily as she won her last start and in similar manner, both times ridden by Anthony Andrews (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Drakenstein Stud went to 17 individual stakes winners for the season when The Candice Bass-Robinson-trained What A Winter three-year-old Winter Cloud stormed to victory under Anthony Andrews in the Gr 3 Champagne Stakes over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
Bass Robinson claimed the exacta as the Trippi three-year-old filly October Morn finished a 1,25 length second. She was giving the winner 2kg and gave an immediate boost to BSA National Yearling Sale lot 245, a Avontuur Thoroughbred Farms and David Abery-bred Vercingetorix half-brother to October Morn called October Storm, who was purchased for R2.8 million by Brett Crawford at Friday’s day two session.
The Champagne Stakes winner is a Drakenstein homebred and the runner up was bred by Avontuur Thoroughbred Farms and David Abery and is owned by David Abery.
Drakenstein have broken the record for inidvidual stakes winners in a season for the last two years running.
They had 18 individual winners of 25 stakes races in the 2021/2022 season and had 20 individual winners of 35 stakes races last season.
Winter Cloud’s victory took them to 17 individual winners of 23 stakes races this season, so they are in with a fine chance of breaking the record again.
Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein are their nearest challengers this season with 12 individual winners of 17 stakes races.
Graeme Hawkins of Gold Circle wrote a report on Saturday’s meeting (read below):
Graeme Hawkins
Candice Bass-Robinson was the toast of Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday as her two 3yo fillies, Winter Cloud and October Morn, dominated the outcome of the R250 000 Champagne Stakes (Gr 3) over 1200m.
Winter Cloud (13/2) and October Morn (5/2) were at the rear of the field as Captain Fontane cut out the early pace followed closely by Jerusalema Rain and Countdown. The race changed complexion approaching the final 300m as the leaders came under pressure and Winter Cloud swept through towards the inside rail under Anthony Andrews to win in dominant fashion. This victory boosted Winter Cloud’s earnings to well over the R1-million mark and the daughter of What A Winter is now likely to be aimed at the South African Fillies Sprint at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on 1 June.
October Morn delivered her run down the middle of the racetrack, making good late headway to snatch second spot a nose in front of Questioning (20/1) with Dance Variety comfortably beaten into fourth position. Rio Querari threatened briefly with 200m to race but he flattened out quickly and finished fifth a further half-a-length behind Dance Variety.
Punters got off to a flying start with favourites winning the first three races on the programme. Kaiboy was heavily backed from 13/10 to 5/10 to win the opener, a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1000m, and the son of the sensational One World duly delivered for Aldo Domeyer and Bass-Robinson. Bagatelle Flash ran on powerfully to finish a good second ahead of Worldly and the son of Gold Standard should be worth following.
Talk To The Master was all the rage for the second race, a Juvenile Plate over 1200m, but he had to dig deep to get the better of a persistent challenge from the filly Miss World. Billy Cool made the early running and stayed on well to finish a creditable third and is another for the notebook.
Richard Fourie got on the board when scoring aboard the short-priced favourite Conner in the third race, a Maiden Plate over 1000m, but here again the favourite had to call on all his reserves to thwart the determined finish of Maneki Neko. These two had the finish to themselves with Approach Shot beaten some way into third position.
The inevitable Pick 6 upset came in the very first leg, an Open Maiden (F&M) over 1200m, as the Lunga Gila-trained A Thousand Kisses (25/1), a chance ride for Josh Solomons, made all the running and had enough in hand to hold off the favourite Charlene (5/2) by a diminishing half-a-length. The consistent Charlene is overdue a maiden victory but found the task of conceding 8kgs to A Thousand Kisses a little beyond her.
Stars in Heaven (6/1) and King Viserys (7/1) disputed the finish of the fifth race, an Open Maiden over 1200m, with the former just getting home by a neck. Trained by Gareth Van Zyl and ridden by JP van der Merwe sporting the Hollywood silks, Stars in Heaven kept finding extra in the closing stages when challenged by King Viserys, with the balance of the field trailing in a long way behind.
Craig Zackey rode his 100th winner of the Season when steering the Eric Sands-trained Green Isle (28/10) to a hard-fought victory over Sansa Stark (2/1) in the sixth race, an Open Maiden (F&M) over 1600m. Green Isle hit the front a long way from home and despite hanging towards the outside, the daughter of Gimmethegreenlight stuck to her task well and fought off the attentions of Sansa Stark.
The eighth race, a competitive Middle Stakes over 1000m, was won in superb fashion by the upwardly mobile Nordic Chief (5/1) who has been tried over a variety of distances but may well be at his best over the minimum trip. Last time out he was a close fourth behind Tough Terrain and The Abdicator, but he turned that form around in no uncertain terms and drew clear to win comfortably. Icy Blast edged out the favourite The Abdicator for the runner-up berth with only two lengths covering the first six past the post.
The ninth race produced a nail-biting finish between All About Ronnie (10/1) and Big Unit (13/2) with the former snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Big Unit looked all over the winner when bursting out the pack at the 200m marker, but never-say-die Richard Fourie had other ideas and riding a powerful finish got the Des MacLachlan-trained All About Ronnie home by a whisker, thereby ensuring yet another Kenilworth Pick 6 carryover.
Fourie was on the wrong side of an extremely close photo finish in the tenth race as Zackey and Sands secured a double for the day when the well supported 4yo gelding Kebonalesedi put his nose down on the line to hold out the faster finishing Hang Out The Stars in a blanket finish. Lady Loxton took third spot ahead of the 2yo World Of Pleasure, who was not disgraced carrying 60kgs in open company.
