Ziyasha storms home to win the Bantry Bay. (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Back to back The Bantry Bay Stakes wins for Rafeef
Cape Breeders
Ridgemont’s inform stallion Rafeef made news again this season when his son Ziyasha won the World Sports Betting The Bantry Bay Stakes (1100m) at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
It was back-to-back wins in the race for Rafeef’s sons, with Rafeef’s champion son Thunderstruck having captured the 2023 The Bantry Bay Stakes.
Sent off a 40-1 shot, the Clinton Binda-trained Ziyasha made a mockery of his starting price on Saturday. Given a well-judged ride from Raymond Danielson, the gelded four-year-old kept finding in the closing stages to hold off the well-backed Meu Capitano and win by a short head.
Runner-up in the 2024 G3 Betway National Currency Sprint, Ziyasha has won five of 19 starts and earned R548,550.
The Ridgemont Highlands bred gelding is out of the Kingmambo mare Kelly’s Olympics. Ziyasha was a R325 000 buy from the 2022 National Yearling Sale.
Ziyasha’s G1 Computaform Sprint-winning sire, Rafeef, had a double at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday, with his promising daughter Russian Royal winning the second race on the card.
Trained by Eric Sands, three-year-old Russian Royal, third on her only previous start, had too many guns for her rivals in the Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Welcomes You Maiden Plate (F and M) (1400m) and kept finding to win a shade cosily.
Bred and owned by Wilgerbosdrift, Russian Royal is out of the Windrush mare Tatiana.
Her sire enjoyed further success at Hollywoodbets Scottsville the following day where Rafeef gelding Moya Wa Laliga won the eighth and final race.
