The Real Prince, son of champion stallion Gimmethegreenlight and Gr 1-winning Trippi mare Real Princess, saunters to an impressive victory on debut (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Real Princess not only won the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint by a cosy 1,25 lengths in 2016, but has quickly established herself as a fine broodmare.
The Trippi mare was purchased at the 2013 Cape Premier Yearling Sale for R2.7 million by Lady Christine Laidlaw of Khaya Stables.
That price now looks to be a steal, not only because her first foal, the Kannemeyer-trained Gimme A Prince, is a twice Gr 1 winner but also because the Gimmethegreenlight full brother to this one looks ultra promising too.
On Saturday, the fittingly named The Real Prince won a maiden over 1200m on debut by 2,25 lengths over 1200m in as impressive style as Gimme A Prince had won his debut.
The handicappers were also impressed and awarded the atheletic colt a 93 merit rating.
The Klawervlei Stud-bred Real Princess won six races under Dean Kannemeyer’s care, including that impressive Gr 1 victory, which followed a build up win in the Gr 3 Poinsettia Stakes.
She is bred in the purple.
She is a half-sister to Captain Al Gr 1 Cape Guineas winner and now sire William Longsword and to two other stakes winners.
She is the daughter of one of Klawervlei’s best ever broodmares, Pagan Princess (Fort Wood), who was a half-sister to the great Victory Moon (Al Mufti) among others.
In Saturday’s 1200m maiden race Craig Zackey was content to sit right near the back on The Real Prince in the rearly stages.
The athletic good looking bay made his run on the outside and showed a tremendous turn of foot.
He did it effortlessly and still had something in hand when speeding away from the field.
Zackey said the yard had still not been hard on him, so there is still plenty more to come.
He said, “It’s early days and he’s still quite a softy so he can sharpen up quite a bit from here and gain either more speed or more stamina, He came out really nicely, but was then outpaced. I thought they went quite a hard pace and
when they started tiring he started finding a rhythm, getting into his stride, and he won a nice race.”
And he is not the last of the full siblings.
There is a two-year-old unraced full sister as well as a yearling full brother on the ground.
Kannemeyer said, “The Real Prince was based at Varsfontein Stud and is a good looking horse.”
He revealed he had taken him to Durban and he had torn a mscle in his flank just as he was getting ready. Upon his return to Cape Town he tore a muscle on his near side.
Kannemeyer said he felt he was “a bit soft” when saddling him up, so was pleasantly surprised by the perfomance. He had believed he was still in need of one more short, sharp gallop on the grass.
The win was especially pleasing to Kannemeyer because he felt there were some “very good looking individuals in this race.”
“I’m very excited about that,” he said.
He added, “I have the full sister, lovely filly.”
Meanwhile, five-year-old Gimme A Prince gave Charles Dickens half-a-kilogram in the Gr 3 Matchem Stakes over 1400m in his seasonal reappearancea on October 7 and was beaten just 0,30 lengths. The SA weight for age scale stipulates he should have given the half-a-kilogram to the four-year-old Charles Dickens in a race in October, but he would not have given any weight had the race been run in the third month of the season in the U.K.
Gimme A Prince will hopefully be seen again soon with the defence of his Gr 1 Cape Flying Chamnpionship crown being just over seven weeks away.
