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Oriental Charm (light blue colours) fought on gamely to get up by a head on debut (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Greg Bortz first hit the headlines in recent times not for the great things he has done for Cape Racing but for going on a Vercingetorix buying spree at the 2022 BSA National yearling Sale.

He bought seven Vercingetorix’s in all at that Sale, among other horses, and today the R375,000 purchase Oriental Charm became the first of them to win.
The Brett Crawford-trained colt ran a good race in a Maiden Plate over 1250m and if jockey Raymond Danielson’s word afterwards are anything to go by he could have a bright future.
The colt was ignored in the market and drifted right out to  50/1.
Crawford had expected the colt to be outpaced so had asked Danielson to try and get him up there, but to the surprise of both the horse showed good gate speed and then took the lead under a strong hold.
He was green around the turn, but luckily a horse on his outside helped him straighten for home.
Oriental Charm then stayed on resolutely and repelled both of the two most fancied horses in the race, Lindbergh and Tenango, to get up by a head.
Danielson said on the upside the horse had refused to be passed and found the necessary extra, while on the downside he had run too strongly and been green.
He added that therefore with experience and if learning to settle there could be plenty more to come.
The Cheveley Stud-bred colt is out of the Greys Inn mare Souk, who won three times from 1200m to 1600m and was a Listed runner up.
Souk has already produced two three-time winners both trained by Adam Marcus, the mare Athalia (Oratorio) and the  four-year-old filly Touch Of Grace (Querari).
All six of the wins from those two have been over 1200m.