The Hollywood Racing-owned Curious Girl has SA Derby winner written all over her, despite there not having been a filly winner of this race for 108 years (JC Photos)
Mike de Kock is already part of SA Derby history having won the big race six times, which is reportedly a record, and he and his son Mathew can make more history on April 4 by becoming the first trainers to win this classic with a filly for 108 years.
Their charge Curious Girl is among the entries and if she does do it this season will be remembered as the year of the Derby girls, because the Justin Snaith-trained Wish List became only the ninth filly in history to win the Gr 1 Lucky Fish Cape Derby.
The SA Derby had its inaugural race at Fairview in 1885 before being moved to Turffontein in 1907.
It used to be regularly won by a filly.
Among the filly winners was the great Peerless, who won it in 1902 and went on to win the Durban July in the same season on 25 July 1903.
Peerless later became the dam of a July winner, the 1911 winner Nobleman, who is the only two-year-old to have ever won the July.
Nobleman, who was by the great many-times champion stallion Greatorex, failed to win the SA Derby later in the year when he was a three-year-old, finishing second.
However, six years later on Boxing Day in 1917 his full-sister Noble Lady became the ninth filly in history to win the SA Derby.
However, the trend of fillies winning regularly then ended.
She was the last filly to win the SA Derby.
One of the reasons for this could be that the SA Oaks is today held on the same day as the SA Derby.
Noble Lady had the luxury of running in both races and in fact she won the SA Oaks three days after winning the SA Derby.
So, the De Kock-trained filly Curious Girl will be attempting to end a winless streak for fillies in the SA Derby that stretches all the way back to Noble Lady, a 108-season drought.
One irony is that she is vying for favouritism in the SA Derby with Texas Missile, who is trained by Alec Laird.
Alec’s grandfather and namesake Alec Laird rode Noble Lady’s full-brother Nobleman to victory in the July 115 years ago.
Curious Girl has a fine chance.
In fact she has SA Derby winner written all over her.
In her last start in the Non-Black Type Ormond Ferraris Oaks Trial she romped home by 5,75 lengths under Gavin Lerena.
Her time was 1,63 seconds quicker than the time for the Listed Hawwaam Stakes on the same day over the same 2000m distance and she was carrying 6kg more than the winner of that race.
The Hawwaam Stakes is the name these days of the traditional Derby Trial and Curious Girl will be meeting eight of the contestants from that race.
On the time factor she has their measure and, furthermore, she will be receiving a 2,5kg gender allowance from them.
On pedigree Curious Girl will relish this course and distance.
In fact there are a number of lines in her pedigree that are already steeped in SA Derby history.
Her sire Futura is by July winner and champion racehorse Dynasty and Futura himself won the Gr 1 Champions Cup over 1800m twice and also did the Gr 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate/Met double.
Futura is a stamina influence who produces tall, rangy, backward types, so she is very much in the mould of a typical Futura.
Futura’s grandsire Fort Wood, the sire of Dynasty, has a fine record in the SA Derby.
He produced the greatest SA Derby winner of all time, Horse Chestnut, who was trained by Mike de Kock, and he also produced SA Derby winner Elusive Fort.
Dynasty has produced the De Kock-trained SA Derby winner Irish Flame, who won the race by 9,5 lengths.
Elusive Fort has produced the SA Derby winner Out Of Your League.
Curious Girl hails from the same female line that the SA Oaks winner of two years ago, Frances Ethel, had and they share this female line with a former De Kock-trained SA Derby winner Bouquet-Garni (Strike Smartly)..
Frances Ethel’s third dam was the imported Roberto mare You’re My Lady, while You’re My Lady is Curious Girl’s fourth dam.
You’re My Lady is one of the best bred females to ever be imported here as she was out of the Buckpasser mare Spring Adieu, who was a half-sister to the mighty Northern Dancer.
Frances Ethel’s second dam by Golden Thatch out of You’re My Lady was the Golden Thatch mare Daphne Donnelly.
Daphne Donnelly is Curious Girl’s third dam and she was Bouquet-Garni’s second dam..
Interestingly, Frances Ethel was out of a Fort Wood mare and so was Bouquet-Garni, while Curious Girl is out of an Ideal World mare, who was out of a Fort Wood mare.
De Kock’s last SA Derby winner Malmoos, is also out of a Fort Wood mare.
Ideal World, who is very much a stamina influence, brings another copy of Spring Adieu to Curious’ Girl’s pedigree, because he is out of a Danehill mare and the mighty Danehill was out of a daughter of Spring Adieu.
Curious Girl could not have a better SA Derby pedigree and on top of all that she has landed a plum draw of two.
She is going to take a power of beating under Gavin Lerena and will become the first SA Derby winner to be by a great grandson of the SA Derby king, Fort Wood.
