Vaughan Marshall accepts the trophy from Hollywoodbets’ Devin Heffer after landing his sixth Cape Guineas with One Stripe. Marshall has won a Cape Guineas in five different decades and has won the big race with three generations of the same sire line. (Picture: Wayne Marks)
The Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas, won in thrilling fashion at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday by the exciting colt One Stripe, saw more history being created by stalwart trainer Vaughan Marshall.
It also saw the boom sire One World going another one up on his champion sire Captain Al, while Drakenstein Stud were to the fore again and it was also a memorable race for Durban owners Rikesh Sewgoolam and Nick Jonsson and for jockey Gavin Lerena.
Marshall has now won a Cape Guineas in five different decades and has won it with three generations of the same sire line.
His first Cape Guineas win was with Sea Warrior (Complete Warrior) in February 1986, more than 38 years ago.
He has subsequently won it with Face North (Northfields) in February 1990, Captain Al (Al Mufti) in January 2000, William Longsword (Captain Al) in December 2016, Tap O’Noth (Captain Al) in December 2017 and made it six with One Stripe (One World) on Saturday.
One Stripe’s sire One World is by Captain Al, meaning Marshall has won the Cape Guineas with Captain Al, with two sons of Captain Al, and now with a paternal grandson of Captain Al’s i.e three generations of the same sire line.
He had actually nearly achieved the latter feat before as Linebacker, who was by Captain’s Al’s son Captain Of All, was unlucky to lose the Cape Guineas in 2020 when caught wide and then hanging in from the whip late when all he had to do was go straight.
One World stands at Drakenstein Stud.
Drakenstein bred the first three past the post on Saturday, One Stripe, Eight On Eighteen (Lancaster Bomber) and Great Plains (Danon Platina), and this might well have been a history-making feat.
One Stripe gave prominent owner Rikesh Sewgoolam his first Gr 1 winner and the second and third horses were both owned by former Cape Guineas-winning owner Nick Jonsson, ensuring the first three cheques went to Durban owners.
It was a first Cape Guineas win for Gavin Lerena, who rode an ultra cool race.
Captain Al was an extraordinary record-breaking sire and was national champion sire in the 2014/2015 season.
However, One World broke Captain Al’s freshman sire record and at the same time equalled his record for number of two-year-old winners in a season, as is well documented, and he is outdoing him again this season too.
Captain Al did not have a Gr 1 winner or even a Gr 2 winner in either of his first two crops, despite reaching a high of five Gr 1 winners in one crop (12th crop).
However, One Stripe has now already had a Gr 1 winner in his first crop and it is no ordinary Gr 1, as the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas is known as the country’s biggest sire-producing event.
It has to be pointed out that One World has had a lot more foals in his first crop than Captain Al had, 92 compared to 57, but that should not detract from his success considering he is the leading sire of three-year-olds this season having had only 66 runners compared to the 74 of Vercingetorix and 86 of Gimmethegreenlight.
In fact One World is now in sixth place on the national log with just one crop plus a handful of early two-year-olds representing him.
Graeme Hawkins of Gold Circle wrote the below report about Saturday’s Gr 1 R2 million Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas:
Graeme Hawkins (Gold Circle)
Veteran trainer Vaughan Marshall reeled in a record-equalling sixth career Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas victory at a festive Kenilworth racetrack on Saturday when One Stripe stormed home under the stand side rail to beat Eight On Eighteen by more than a length. One Stripe delivered heavily invested owner Rikesh Sewgoolam his maiden Grade 1 success and for jockey Gavin Lerena his first Guineas trophy, but for Champion breeders, Drakenstein Stud, it was “business-as-usual” as the first three past the post were all bred and raised at their magnificent Franschhoek-based operation.
While comfortable in the end, One Stripes’ fans had to endure a few anxious moments. Stable companion All Out For Six set a brisk gallop followed by O’Tenikwa, Heather’s Boy and Great Plains with One Stripe in a good position heading into the turn. Midway round the bend One Stripe appeared to lose a few positions, but supercool Lerena never panicked and allowed the son of One World to find his feet once heads were turned for home.
At the 400m pole the front-runners began to feel the pinch. One Stripe was poised to strike and Eight On Eighteen was beginning to make serious inroads from near the back of the field. With Richard Fourie in full cry on Snaith’s Eight On Eighteen towards the inside, and One Stripe gathering momentum while shifting ground to the outside, it was initially not easy to gauge who held the upper hand, but approaching the final 150m it was clear that One Stripe was not going to be denied, and he drew clear to score emphatically.
One Stripe was initially purchased by Grant Knowles for a “mere” R100 000 at BSA’s August 2yo Sale last year and was sent to Julia Pilbeam’s Soetendal Estate to be prepared for Cape Racing Sales’ 2023 November Ready-to-Run Sale. Knowles loves to speculate in the Sales’ market and has done so with great success over many years. But not even he could have expected a R100 000 purchase in August to realise R1,4-million just a few months later. One Stripe put up a spectacular gallop – later described by Marshall as the most impressive he had ever seen at similar sales – and the active buyers’ bench responded accordingly, with Marshall having the final say. And the rest, as they say, is history!
I asked Knowles what it was about One Stripe that grabbed his attention at the August Sale. “He was very correct, walked really well, appeared very athletic with a commanding presence.” Nothing’s changed as all those attributes were on full display in the parade ring on Saturday. One Stripe has now won five of his seven starts and has banked nearly R2,4-million in prize money but, given the history of the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas being a stallion-producing race, Rikesh Sewgoolam has so much more to look forward to.
If all goes according to plan between now and then, the Nick Jonsson-owned Eight On Eighteen will be a tough nut to crack in the Splashout Cape Derby (Gr1) over 2000m in February. The 3yo son of Lancaster Bomber is clearly very progressive and the Derby trip should not be an issue for Eight On Eighteen. His next engagement could be the 1800m Politician Stakes (Gr3) in January, the traditional Derby trial here in the Western Cape.
Great Plains stayed on well from a handy position to finish a creditable third, with rank outsider O’Tenikwa a remote fourth. Mike de Kock’s Heather’s Boy, unbeaten from three starts coming into Saturday’s Guineas, was found wanting over the final 400m but did enough to grab a minor share of the R2-million purse.
The R350 000 Ridgemont Peninsula Handicap (Gr3) over 1800m produced a shock result as the enigmatic and completely unpredictable The Futurist (66/1) led just about from pillar to post under Anthony Andrews. The chasing pack were closing in fast over the final 100m, but the winning post came just in time for The Futurist who held on gamely to beat Otto Luyken and the winner’s well backed stable companion, Infrared, in a blanket finish.
The R225 000 Splashout Victress Stakes (Gr3) over 1800m turned into something of a farce. On a day when most races were run inside of standard time, the Victress was “run” at a pedestrian pace, some three seconds (15 lengths) outside of the average and nearly five seconds (25 lengths) slower than the Peninsula Handicap. Rainbow Lorikeet took full advantage and scored for Aldo Domeyer and Candice Bass-Robinson by the best part of a length over Knockout and Time For Love. The favourite Saartjie cast a shoe during the race and was never a factor, finishing last of the five runners.
Domeyer and Bass-Robinson were also successful with From A Distance in the third race, a Maiden Plate (F&M) over 1200m, and Kaiboy in the sixth race, a Class 3 Handicap over 1200m. Kaiboy was most impressive and the 3yo son of One World looks to be a smart sprinter in the making. From A Distance won readily at the expense Englefield Green and in his post-race interview, Domeyer suggested the daughter of Querari could be even better over slightly further.
Parental Guidance, a half-brother to last season’s Grade 1-winning Proceed, scored an impressive debut victory under Richard Fourie for the Paul Reeves stable in the R250 000 Commonwealth Plate for juveniles over 1000m, which got proceedings at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth under way. The 2yo son of Querari was largely ignored in the market but he stormed home in quick time and is one for the notebook.
The second race, the R200 000 Coronation Plate for 2yo fillies, was won by the Snaith-trained Wild Wild Green who came from a little way off the pace to get the better of Whatastar by a length. Wild Wild Green is a half-sister to Sheela who was trained to Graded-stakes success by the Azzie team on the Highveld.
