William Robertson – Rafeef’s 3rd Computaform Sprint Winner Is Special

By April 3, 2025SA Racing

William Robertson emerges victor of the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint much to the joy of connections and many punters around the country. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Cape Breeders

Ridgemont’s G1 Computaform Sprint winning stallion Rafeef came up with his third G1 Computaform Sprint winning son when his gelded son William Robertson win the G1 TAB Computaform Sprint (1000m) at Turffontein on Saturday.

William Robertson joins Master Archie (2022) and Thunderstruck (2024) as a Computaform Sprint winning son of Rafeef.

The Corne Spies trained six-year-old picked up his first Grade One triumph when he won Saturday’s R1 000 000 sprint.

Under an inform Ryan Munger, the charismatic William Robertson made it four wins from his last five starts when victorious on Saturday.

Now a 15 time winner, William Robertson hit the front full of running and he stayed on strongly to land the 2025 G1 TAB Computaform Sprint by a neck.

Bred by Ridgemont Highlands, William Robertson, runner up in the 2023 G1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint, has four graded wins to his name, with the gelding having claimed the 2025 G3 TAB J J The Jet Plane Stakes last time out, as well as the 2022 G2 Topbet Mike O’Connor Joburg Spring Challenge and 2023 G3 Tony Ruffel Stakes.

William Robertson, out of the Trippi mare Massachusetts, is bred on the same Rafeef/Trippi cross as G3 winner Leaving Las Vegas.

His red hot sire Rafeef is also the sire of promising two-year-old Esteemed, who ran a close second in Saturday’s G2 TAB SA Nursery.

Spies Racing compiled a compelling poem n honour of William Robertson which deserves publishing.

The poem is printed below:

On Saturday, in the thunderclap moment where noise becomes silence, and then silence becomes awe, William Robertson—the horse, the legend, the living metronome of Spies Racing—did what destiny had threatened to let slip for years. He won the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint.
For those watching, time buckled.
The gates clanged open and he was nowhere and everywhere all at once, a shadow tucked behind the pulse of the leaders. The crowd leaned in—Mover And Shaker, Cruise Control, the bright chaos of bodies—and then, through the cracking dust and spit-slick wind, came the impossible: he found more.
He surged.
He surged not just for himself, but for a stable, for a partnership, for a damn story. Not since Sisyphus reached the summit has a grind felt more earned.
Six years old.
42 starts.
15 wins.
Over R3 million earned.
But none so sweet, none so aching with joy and time and bone and breath, as this one.
The 2025 Computaform Sprint.
Ours.
This was the first Grade 1 for William Robertson. The first Computaform Sprint for Spies Racing. The first for Keegan Govender and Jannie de Lange, who now wake each morning with the taste of glory lingering behind their teeth. To Rob & Sue Macnab, who have been stalwart supporters of the stable for years, they more than deserves this.
It was also a testament to a team who work in a world that never stops turning.
To our grooms, our track riders, to every backstretch whisperer and pre-dawn silhouette, thank you.
To Melandie Taljaard, our veterinary sentinel, whose hands carry both scalpel and salvation—thank you.
To Ryan Munger, the jockey that made destiny manifest, we thank you.
To Duncan, our farrier, we extend our happiest thanks.
Without you, this could not have happened.
And above all, to the owners who kept the faith through every second-place finish, every near-miss, every almost that could have been the end: Messrs R P Macnab, Keegan Govender, X Spies, Waste Glass Recovery (Pty) Ltd (Nom: J H de Lange)
You have carved your names into the eternal ledger.
William Robertson didn’t just win. He claimed what was owed.
He turned a race into narrative.
A finish into fate.
A moment into myth.
Long live the lion.
Long live the roar.
Long live William Robertson.
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