PEDIGREE PROFILE -PINK TOURMALINE
Sarah Whitelaw
When four-year-old filly Pink Tourmaline captured Saturday’s G2 Track And Ball Oaks at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, she not only continued the wonderful season for owner-breeder Drakenstein Stud, she also further enhanced the growing record of her sire Futura.
Futura, whose son White Fang went on to score at Turffontein on Sunday, is not only sire of the 2022 Track And Ball Oaks winner in the form of Pink Tourmaline but also of the Track And Ball Oaks runner up Light Of The Moon.
The latter has proven one of the best three-year-old fillies around this season, with Light Of The Moon not only winning the Listed Ormond Ferraris Oaks Trial but also running second in both the G1 Woolavington 2000 and G2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks.
Light Of The Moon’s Track And Ball Oaks conqueror Pink Tourmaline is herself no slouch, with the Futura daughter having also captured the Listed Ardmore Jamaica Handicap earlier in the season, with Pink Tourmaline also running third to the Drakenstein Stud bred and owned champion Rain In Holland in the G2 4Racing Gerald Rosenberg Stakes.
Pink Tourmaline hails from the first crop of her four time G1 winning sire (who was South Africa’s Horse Of The Year in 2014-2015). Futura’s first crop made a considerable impression with Pink Tourmaline one of four South African graded stakes winners to have emerged from this crop. Others include G2 Durban Golden Horseshoe winner Nourbese, G3 World Sports Betting Variety Club Mile hero Warrior and G3 Poinsettia Stakes queen Vihaan’s Pie. The latter, like Pink Tourmaline, is out of a mare by Trippi.
Light Of The Moon heads Futura’s second crop, while the champion’s third crop includes the very impressive Listed WSB Dahlia Plate winner Ekoria.
The well bred Pink Tourmaline looks sure to be an attractive broodmare prospect, as she is a half-sister to G2 Concorde Cup winner King Of Gems (by Kingsbarns).
Her dam Sapphire Gem won just once -scoring over 1000m-but she made amends at stud.
Sapphire Gem was bred to be well above average -she is a daughter of Drakenstein’s evergreen champion sire, and increasingly potent broodmare sire, Trippi and top-class racemare Sparkling Gem.
The latter, one of a number of top-class prospects on offer at Friday’s CTS Mare, FFS & Weanling Sale, was a game front runner who won all of the G1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas, G2 Tibouchina Stakes, G3 Diana Stakes and Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes, with Sparkling Gem also finishing runner up in all of the G1 Fancourt Majorca Stakes, G1 TBA Paddock Stakes and G1 Garden Province Stakes.
Herself a granddaughter of another Fillies Guineas winner in the form of Flying Snowdrop, Sparkling Gem, dam of four winners thus far, is currently in foal to Horizon.
Picture: Futura scores a one-two in the Grade 2 Track And Ball Oaks (Candiese Lenferna).
