Querari filly Furious Queen wins well on debut under Sean Veale at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday and has a sibling on the BSA National Yearling Sale which starts on Thursday (Wayne Marks) 

The Eric Sands-trained Lammerskraal Stud-bred first-timer Querari filly Furious Queen started at odds of 16/1 in the first race over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday, but she lived up to her pedigree and got up to win by 0,40 lengths under Sean Veale, just three days after her Alyson Wright-trained full brother Ultra Quick had won easily on the poly at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

The pair gave a boost to Lot 152 at the BSA National Yearling Sale to be held on Thursday and Friday this week and also to Lot 24.

Lot 152 is a What A Winter filly half-sister to Furious Queen and Ultra Quick.

However, it is not that she really needed a boost because she is also a half-sister to the smart Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Listed-winning Var gelding Future Variety.

The latter finished a 0,30 length second in the Gr 2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes over 1200m at the Splashout Cape Derby meeting in his most recent start and looks to have the scope to develop into a top sprinter.

The above-mentioned siblings are the progeny of the Parade Leader mare Furina, who only won one race, but she is turning out to be a top class broodmare. Her first foal was What A Winter gelding Fabian, who won a Listed race over 1400m and came third in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint.

Lot 152’s pedigree runs deep as she is from one of South Africa’s most successful families and Lot 24, as will be mentioned later in this article, is from the same family.

The origins of this family are well documented but worth repeating.

The story starts with Anthony Kalmanson, a Durbanite who used to enjoy riding in jumps races in England. He used to look for fillies in Europe to bolster his broodmare band at Varsfontein Stud, which he founded in 1974. He would race them over in Europe and sometimes ride them in hurdles races before bringing them out to South Africa.

In the early 1970’s he bought a filly called Lucky Libra, who was by the Fair Trial line sire Great White Way. She won three races in England, one over 1600m on the flat and two over hurdles. Despite winning a hurdles race over two-and-a-half miles, she was destined to become the founding mare of a family whose most famous names are sprinters, although some members of the family are versatile.

Her first South African-bred foal Crown Sable (Peacable Kingdom) won nine races from 1000m to 1900m, including a Grade 3 over 1000m. Lucky Libra was then sent to Scott Brothers’ five-times champion sire Jungle Cove and the result was the filly Enchanting, who was a superb racehorse and became a matriarch at stud. She won two Grade 1s and a Grade 2 over 1600m, inlcuding the Gosforth Park Fillies Guineas.

Anthony Kalmanson passed away in 1979 and the running of Varsfontein had been handed down to his twin offspring, John and Susan (Rowett) . The twins, to their lasting regret, sold Enchanting. However, they always look for her family members at the Sales and are sure to be interested in Lot 152.

Enchanting was exported to the USA after her racing feats out here and stood at her owner Graham Beck’s Gainesway Farm.

She was later sent back to SA to stand at Beck’s Highlands Farm Stud, but not before she had produced four USA-bred foals, including the Spend A Buck filly Enchanted Dollar.

Enchanted Dollar won twice in South Africa before standing at Highlands. She produced two Graded winners including the champion National Assembly colt National Currency.

The latter was purchased for R500,000 at the National Yearling Sales and Beck took a share in him together with A Christoforou, C J W and N Hilt and J E H Clarke.

National Currency, trained by Mike Azzie, broke 1000m course records at Turffontein and Newmarket on his way to nine career wins, including three Grade 1s.

He was an Equus Champion two-year-old and an Equus Champion three-year-old sprinter.

The big 16-hands-2-inch bay earned the nickname “the horse with the movie star looks” and was still said to be maturing when tragically passing away as a four-year-old.

In his penultimate start in South Africa in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Clairwood, when still a three-year-old, he destroyed them by 5,25 lengths.

He then went over to Hong Kong and ran second to the legendary Silent Witness, who was named world champion sprinter for three years in succession.

Azzie had claimed before that race that had it been over six furlongs and not five the opposition would have been better off not pitching up.

National Currency’s next start in Dubai in a Listed race over 1200m on the dirt perhaps proved him correct as he cruised in by six-and-a-half lengths.

National Currency had the world at his feet and it was a devastating blow to Azzie and SA racing fans when his life was then claimed by a suspected snake or scorpion bite.

Azzie was once asked by the Racegoer when he had a runner in the Mercury Sprint to compare the favourite of that race to National Currency and he said, “National Currency could have stopped for a cup of tea at the 400m and still beaten him.”

That is how much he revered him.

Enchanting’s first SA-bred foal was Harry’s Charm, an ARCSA Champion two-year-old and three-year-old filly and she was later a Champion Older Sprinter.

Later in 1998, just a year before National Currency was born, Enchanting produced a filly by National Assembly called Enchantress.

Her eight wins included the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint and she was named Equus Champion Older Female Sprinter in 2002.

Enchantress was purchased in training from Graham Beck by Lammerskraal Stud.

Enchantress has produced the Grade 1 Thekwini winner and Equus Champion two-year-old filly Laverna and the Grade 3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup winner Nevvay, proving there are still lines of stamina coming through from Lucky Libra.

Laverna is the dam of this season’s promising Justin Snaith-trained three-year-old Querari colt Underworld, who was a Listed winner as a two-year-old.

Furina was the sixth foal of Enchantress.

Wylie Wench, a Wylie Hall filly bred by Lammerskraal Stud, was the ninth foal of Enchantress and won the Gr 3 Acacia Handicap..

Susan Rowett (nee Kalmanson) of Varsfontein bought Wylie Wench at BSA’s National Two-year-old Sale for R600,000 and raced her.

At this Thursday’s first day of the BSA National Yearling Sale, Varsfontein are selling Wylie Wench’s first foal, a What A Winter filly (Lot 24).

Mike Azzie, not surprisingly, was asked to train Wylie Wench.

Azzie will surely be interested in Lot 24 and also likely in Lot 152.

Sally Bruss, now a director and the stud manager of South Africa’s newest stud farm, Paardeberg Stud, was behind the purchase of Enchantress for Lammerskraal, where she was the long-time stud manager.

She will also have lot 24 and 152 high on her list of yearlings to buy on the first day of the Sale on Thursday.

Narina Trogon (pink cap) holds on in courageous fashion to win the Listed WSB Sledgehammer and give the Drakenstein Stud-based broodmare Beach Beauty her fourth stakes win of the season, achieved by two individual winners. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

When the former champion racehorse Beach Beauty, a five-time Gr 1 winner, lost her first foal at Drakenstein Stud their looked to be an anxiety-ridden road ahead, but she has bounced back and every one of this Dynasty mare’s five runners to date have been stakes performers, with four of them being stakes winners.

On Sunday the Mike Miller-trained Narina Trogon scored Beach Beauty her fourth stakes win this season.

Two of these wins were by the now USA-based Beach Bomb, who was trained by Candice Bass-Robinson to do the notable double of the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas and the Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes, This tiny Drakenstein Stud homebred Lancaster Bomber filly, smaller even than her small mother, had also won a Listed race as a juvenile.

Now, in KZN’s curtain-raiser season before the Champions Season starts, Beach Beauty’s four-year-old Silvano gelding Narina Trogo has also done a notable double, winning the Listed Kings Cup over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville and the Listed WSB Sledgehammer over 1750m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville. He might be among the Hollywoodbets Durban July entries announced next Monday on 22 April.

On Sunday Narina Trogon showed he had inherited his mother’s courage. It was obviously not the plan to lead on him, but that is where he found himself and he had tgo be hard held. However, that did not stop him continually finding extra down the straight to fend off the challengers.

He converted 3/1 odds under Tristan Godden and beat Imilenzeyokududuma by 0,30 lengths with Navajo Nation next best.

Narina Trogon was also originally a Drakenstein Stud-homebred but was bought by the Miller yard at the BSA September Online Sale last year for R390,000.

That could turn out to be a value buy for the bay gelding’s new sole owner Morgan Govender as the Kings Cup and Sledgehammer carried total stakes of R150,000 and R200,000 respectively.

Futura Park-based trainer Lunga Gila hugs jockey Grant van Niekerk after the latter had ridden Go It Alone (Gimmethegreenlight) to an easy victory last week (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Black trainers are, at long last, galloping to the fore

Mike Moon (The Citizen) 

A scarcity of black trainers has long been a vexed issue in South African horse racing, but prospects of a better future have brightened.

When a horse called Lightning Jimmy won at Scottsville in March, trainer Bo Ngcobo revealed in his post-race interview that the gelding was the sole resident of his Summerveld yard.

That focused attention for the umpteenth time on how black trainers have battled to establish themselves – as opposed to black jockeys, who are becoming dominant in the local game.

New dawn of trainers
Perceived lack of “transformation” in any area of life is a niggle in this country, so it was a relief for the racing world to see three black trainers saddle winners last week.

At Kenilworth, it was Lunga Gila who celebrated his first winner in Cape Town after recently relocating from Gqeberha.

Much more than a mere equine race
Three-year-old Go It Alone did the job for a young man who has found some success in his hometown, but had a nightmare experience with allegedly unplayable owners when he tried his luck on the Highveld.

Cape Racing have given Gila support and encouragement and he is loving life at his new base at Philippi training centre. Jockey Grant van Niekerk brought home the gelding by a handsome 3.25 lengths at a price of 12-1. It was the trainer’s eighth win of the current season (including his wins at Fairview).

At the Vaal, Alson Ndzilana led Red Knot into the winner’s box after an equally dominant performance in a fillies’ maiden plate. Work rider Anathi Feni was resplendent in the blue and white silks of national champion owner Drakenstein – in a clear indication that leading lights in the game are starting to get behind black conditioners.

Ndzilana has all the pedigree needed to make it in a notoriously hard school. Until he took out his licence in August 2023, he was an assistant to the great Mike de Kock at Randjesfontein. Before that he was former Cape Town trainer Joey Ramsden’s right-hand man – and it’s well known that he played a pivotal role in The Conglomerate’s victory in the 2016 Durban July.

Racing treasure James Goodman has made it his mission to ensure Ndzilana has a solid career foundation, helping him secure sponsorships, set up a proper admin system and recruit a few prominent owners.

Red Knot was Alson Racing’s third winner (from 30 starts).

Struggles
When his assistant went on his own, De Kock commented: “There have been really good previously disadvantaged horsemen who have tried to start up, but failed because they spent their time looking to pay bills. And then they don’t make it. Alson will have a proper platform to start from. His horsemanship and talent as a trainer are beyond doubt.”

Capping the week, at Turffontein, an older hand, Billy Ruiters, sent out Halberdier to win at 12-1 under Muzi Yeni.

Ruiters, Chris Erasmus’s trusted lieutenant at the Big-T for many a year, enjoyed a fair degree of success when starting out a few years ago, but has recently struggled – along with many other smaller trainers with limited financial cushioning in tough times. That he has the skills to bounce back seems obvious.

To return to Bo Ngcobo: his remarkable story and appeal for more horses to train have borne fruit. A syndicate has dispatched a filly to his Summerveld yard, a one-time winner called Colorado Creek. And racing’s biggest benefactor, Hollywoodbets, has jumped in as a sponsor.

Bo heads to this week’s National Yearling Sale with some bank guarantees in the back pocket.

Prolific winner Grazinginthegrass (Philanthropist) has been selected to win Race 5 (Pauline Herman Photography)

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

Stories about Richard Fourie attempting to win his first SA jockeys’ championship and the goal of breaking Anthony Delpech’s record of 334 winners in a season appear almost every day in racing publications but looking at the numbers, the first part of the job is done and dusted.

At the time of writing Fourie had ridden 251 winners and was 106 wins clear of Muzi Yeni in second spot.

With just three-and-a-half months left of the 2023/24 season the following mob will now have accept Fourie has the championship in the bag. He is at the point that he can almost stop riding and no one could catch him.

So, it is now all about the numbers – and the magical 334 and the R1-million pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Bookmakers are taking no chances, and it comes as no surprise that the betting on Tuesday’s Fairview card on the Polytrack has him riding six favourites, one second favourite and one third favourite.

History tells us that he is unlikely to ride eight winners but if he did, that would not come as much of a surprise either.

Fourie and Alan Greeff are in hot form and it is worth noting that 80 of his wins this season have come in the Eastern Cape.

Greeff already has a number of juvenile winners this season so he will by now have a good line on the strength of his juveniles. As a result, it could be worth watching filly Fire Alarm in Race 1, a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m.

The signs are all there that the daughter of Fire Away is ready to win on debut as stable jockey Fourie was aboard Can’t Say No last time and that filly ran a cracker in her second start.

She chased home a good sprinter in Global State and is clearly ready to win, but Fourie ha chosen to ride Fire Alarm.

Outer Dimension was not disgraced on her local debut and will be smarter this time around and can go close to winning Race 2, a Maiden Plate over 1600m.

She will like this longer distance and has a decent draw.

There is also every reason to believe Crystal Maiden, who represents the Fourie-Greeff combination, will not be out of the first three and could win Race 3, a Maiden Plate over 1900m.

The Flower Alley filly has been very consistent without winning and did run well with blinkers fitted last time out.

On The Guest List has been very costly to follow and is badly drawn in Race 4 but is another who ran well in blinkers last time but has yet to win on the Polytrack.

Grazinginthegrass won six-in-a-row earlier in his career but has tasted defeat in his last three starts. There were excuses for some of those defeats but he is back on his favourite surface and is weighted to win Race 5, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1900m.

Canford Cliffs filly Concerto could be getting better the further she goes but she did quicken nicely when winning over 1400m on the turf last time out and could follow up back on the Polytrack.

Fourie has plenty opportunities and it will be interesting to see how many winners he will come away with.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 7 Fire Alarm, 4 Golden Link, 6 Can’t Say No, 8 Magical River

Race 2: 7 Outer Dimension, 3 Specmagic, 5 Master Of Defense, 1 Hat Hot Hat

Race 3: 4 Crystal Maiden, 5 Imhotep, 3 Wolfram, 11 Sundrop

Race 4: 4 Lady Writer, 7 On The Guest List, 1 Fire Glow, 11 Lady Zultanite

Race 5: 1 Grazinginthegrass, 2 Runaway Song, 3 Global Ally, 5 Brenden James

Race 6: 4 Rose Of Bayeux, 9 Slings And Arrows, 5 Whatever Next, 1 Inherit The Rain

Race 7: 3 Concerto, 4 Dream Scape, 2 Raising Quinn, 10 Princess Azariah

Race 8: 9 American Dream, 10 Coastal Path, 3 Donny Tee, 1 Life On Mars

BEST BET

Race 5 No 1 Grazinginthegrass

VALUE BET

Race 6 No 4 Rose Of Bayeux

BEST SWINGER

Race 3 4×5

BIPOT

R162

Leg 1: 4, 6, 7

Leg 2: 3, 5, 7

Leg 3: 4, 5

Leg 4: 1, 4, 7

Leg 5: 1

Leg 6: 4, 5, 9

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R108

Leg 1: 3, 5, 7

Leg 2: 4, 5

Leg 3: 4, 7

Leg 4: 1

Leg 5: 4, 5, 9

Leg 6: 3

Leg 7: 3, 9, 10

PICK 6

R500

Leg 1: 3, 4, 5, 6, 11

Leg 2: 1, 4, 7, 11

Leg 3: 1

Leg 4: 1, 3, 4, 5, 9

Leg 5: 3

Leg 6: 1, 2, 3, 9, 10

JACKPOT 1

R20

Leg 1: 1, 4, 7, 11

Leg 2: 1

Leg 3: 1, 3, 4, 5, 9

Leg 4: 3

JACKPOT 2

R25

Leg 1: 1

Leg 2: 1, 3, 4, 5, 9

Leg 3: 3

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 9, 10

Dreamland makes it two in a row on Saturday at Turffontein Standside (JC Photos)

The Non-Black Type Betway Mythical Flight Sprint for three-year-olds over 1100m saw the well-bred Lucky Houdalakis-trained Dreamland converting favouritism under Gavin Lerena and putting the cherry on the top of a good weekend for the former Equus Champion Sprinter Val De Ra and her breeders Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm.

It was the annual Henneman Memorial meeting and all of the nine races were named after the victims of the airplane tragedy of April 12 1988 which claimed the lives of 13 jockeys, one trainer, five officials and two owners.

The Avontuur-bred gelding Dreamland is out of Val De Ra’s placed British-bred daughter Dream De Ra, who is bred in the purple. Val De Ra, who won the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint, the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint and the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship, was by European champion sprinter Var and Dream De Ra was by another European Champion Sprinter in Oasis Dream, who has produced the winners of 27 Group 1 races.

On Friday Val De Ra’s Gavin Smith-trained Avontuur-bred three-year-old daughter by Oratorio, Cabaret, won her first start in the Eastern Cape, over 1300m on the poly at Fairview, by 6,25 lengths under Muzi Yeni. It was only in an open maiden for fillies and mares and she only had to carry 57,5kg after a previous record of a second and five unplaced runs in the strong centre of Cape Town, but the manner of the victory suggests she has a good future ahead of her in Gqeberha.

Dreamland has always shown a lot of promise and in his fourth start over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville waltzed in by 3,75 lengths.

He ran second off a 90 merit rating after that, but then went off the boil for three runs between October and November last year.

However, he went down to an 87 and in his last five runs has a fourth, a third, a second (to the useful Time Fo Orchids) and two wins.

He won off an 86 over 1160m on March 23 and on Saturday won off an 89 in the handicap Non-Black Type event.

Dreamland broke well from draw five of seven and shared the early lead with Gocekwithlove.

However, at the 400m mark he shot forward and nobody was ever going to catch him.

Richard The First, Just Be Lekker and Mount Pilatus closed in, but Gavin Lerena kept Dreamland going to beat them by 0,25 lengths, 0,75 lengths and 1,25 lengths respectively.

Lerena has ridden Dreamland to both of his last two wins.

It was a quick double for Houdalakis as he had also pulled off a fine training feat in the previous race when the promising Judpot filly On The Horizon returned from a three-and-a-half month layoff to record a fourth career win in a MR 90 Handicap over 1400m for fillies and mares under Raymond Danielson.

The next race was a Mr 106 handicap over 1160m and it also saw a follow up win. The Johan Janse van Vuuuren-trained Erupt four-year-old gelding Cosmic Star had won by 2,75 lengths over 1000m on March 16, but the seven point raise he was given did not stop him running on strongly on Saturday to beat the consistent Captain Hindsight by 1,25 lengths. Gavin Lerena is his regular pilot and the win secured him a treble on the day.

Lerena had also waltzed in by 4,25 lengths in the first race of the day, a Juvenile Plate over 1160m, on the Candice Dawson-trained Truth. This Heavenly Blue colt is out of the Frankel mare Frankly, who is out of a Fastnet Rock mare and disappointingly only won one race. However, she could make amends in the breeding shed. Truth is her second foal and second runner and the first one, Courageous, has also won a race. Futhermore, Frankly’s half-sister, the Brett Crawford-trained Mont Loisir by Vercingetorix, bolsted the pedigree about an hour-and-a-half later when winning a maiden over 1400m in the strong centre of Cape Town by an easy 2,50 lengths under Richard Fourie.

Lerena was the only treble scorer on the day at Turffontein, but the double scorers were all of Muzi Yeni, Houdalakis, Janse van Vuuren and Fanie Bronkhorst.

Pritti Victory wins easily under 4kg claining apprentice Brevan Plaaitjies to give Vercingetorix a treble on the day (Candiese Lenferna Photography)

Newly arrrived Cape horses or horses returning to KZN from campaigns in Cape Town have proved to be ones to follow, even if their Cape campaigns had been disappointing.

It is well known that horses who have travelled from Cape Town often begin to thrive in KZN, although they also often arrive ahead of the handicapper having faced stronger fields in Cape Town.

The latest example was at the Hollywodbets Scottsville meeting on Sunday where the Gareth van Zyl-trained Vercingetorix filly Pritti Victory waltzed home by 2,5 lengths in a MR 76 handicao for fillies and mares over 1200m, after being backed in to 5/2 favourite.

She provided stalwart stallion Vercingetorix with a third win at the meeting and he is eating into Gimmethegreenlight’s lead in the national Sires Championship, although he is still more than R3 million in stakes behind the reigning champion.

This three-year-old Pritti Victory made a winning debut in KZN over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville in late November. Four other winners have come out of that race, including Littleblackvelvet who has won twice.

She went to Cape Town to run in the R7.5 million Gold Rush over 1600m, where she was not digraced in a 7.05 length seventh, considering it was only her second afeer start.

She then stayed for one more run there and ran a 1,75 length fifth to Pinapplemintgreen in a Class C handicap over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth at odds of 4/1 after being backed in from 8/1.

One other winner, the Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Nordic Quest, has come out of that race.

So Pritti Victory running off just a 83 merit rating and carrying 61.5kg minus the 4kg claim of Brevan Plaaitjies looked to have a great chance on Sunday and duly obliged.

Van Zyl was in fact the trainer who got the boom status of Pritti Victory’s sire Vercingetorix rolling as he won the sire his first Gr 1 when landing the Allan Robertson with Vernichy.

Pritti Victory looks to be one who can progress further.

It was in fact a fine meeting on Sunday for the Maine Chance Farms-based stallion Vercingetorix as he also produced the winner of two other races.

The promising Tony Rivalland-trained Mary Liley-owned three-year-old daughter of Vercingetorix Celtic Beauty kept going in courageous fashion under Richard Fourie to win the Listed WSB Scarlet Lady over 1750m. She has  now won three of her five starts. She was bred by Klawervlei Stud, but Rivalland and Liley raced her NZ-bred dam Killer Woman (Rip van Winkle), who won three races from 1400m to 1800m.

The classy Andre Nel-trained Cape Eagle put his hand up as an exciting staying prospect when held up at the back in his first attempt at a staying trip in the Non-Black Type WSB Highland Night Cup over 2400m and flying home under Serino Moodley to get up by a head. He carried 60kg and did admittedly receive 1,5kg from the Justin Snaith-trained One Way Traffic, who finished an encouraging second. Dynasty gelding One Way Traffic, who is now a six-year-old, has put up one top class performance in his career, when winning the Hollywoodbets Durban July consolation race, the Vodacom 2200, by three lengths on July day 2022. He has not won since, but has beome consistent this season with that runner up finish following three thirds and two fifths in Cape Town. He can hopefully fulfil his potential in staying races this Champions Season.

At the previous KZN meeting, on the poly last Wednesday, the Dean Kanemeyer-trained Master Of My Fate gelding Royal Swan Master was another example of a horse having his first run after returning from Cape Town and winning.

Last weekend at Hollywoodbets Scottsville the Peter Muscutt-trained Lancaster Bomber colt Cold Shine won first time out back from the Cape in his third career start and the promising Rivalland-trained King Of The Gauls (Vercingetorix) also won first time back from the Cape.

At the April 1 meeting at Hollywoodbets Scottsville Justin Snaith’s treble was all with Cape horses having their first runs in KZN, Great Plains (Danon Platina), Lightning Glow (Vercingetorix) and Get Impressed (Vercingetorix).

The previous day at Hollywoodbets Greyville Snaith had won the Gr 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes by 5,30 lengths with Double Grand Slam (Vercingetorix), who was also having her first start in KZN.

Other recent KZN winners having their first runs since traveling from the Cape are the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Spelling Bee (Futura) and the Peter Muscutt-trained Isivivane (Erupt).

THe Mike Miller-trained Silvano gelding Narina Trogon is also clearly thriving in KZN. This former Cape-based horse was bought at an in-training sale and in four starts in KZN has a seventh, when he needed it, followed by a second in a Non-Black Type event and then two Listed wins in the Kings Cup over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville and then on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in the Sledgehammer over 1750m.

Joy And Peace wins the Listed East Cape Oaks (Picture: Pauline Herman Photography)

Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein Stud have won the breeders champions twice this millenium, in 2018/2019 and in 2021/2022, and they are leading the championship this season by about R1.4 million from the holders Drakenstein Stud.

On Friday they scored their 12th individual stakes winner of the season when the Alan Greeff-trained Master Of My Fate filly Joy And Peace won the Listed East Cape Oaks over 2000m under Richard Fourie.

The classy three-year-old has now won four of her 12 races and is unbeaten in two since being stepped up to middle distances.

Drakenstein have broken the record for the number of stakes winners in a season for the last two seasons and are on their way to doing so again.

They had 18 individual stakes winners of 25 races in the 2021/2022 season and 20 individual stakes winners of 35 races last season.

This season they have 16 individual stakes winners of 22 races with more than a quarter of the season still remaining, so they are on track.

However, Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein could also possibly be challenging them in that statistic this season as they have now had 12 individual stakes winners of 17 races.

Elizabeth Taylor in the 1944 film National Velvet (Picture: Everett Collection/Rex Features (The Guardian)).

Iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor starred as a twelve-year-old in the famous movie of 80 years ago about the Grand National, the 1944 Clarence Brown-produced National Velvet. But could Taylor actually ride horses and did she have any involvement iin the sport of horseracing?

In “National Velvet,” she plays a young girl named Velvet Brown, who trains a horse for the Grand National Steeplechase, ends up disguising herself as a male jockey, and rides the horse to victory. Many of the scenes from that movie were filmed at Santa Anita Park in Southern California.

Later in life, Taylor attended several Thoroughbred races in Europe and the United States. She was pictured with her third husband, Mike Todd, and their friends Eddie Fisher (who she would later marry) and wife Debbie Reynolds at Epsom Downs on Derby Day in 1957.

Taylor also attended the 1968 Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris with fifth husband Richard Burton, Maria Callas, and Peter O’Toole.

Another one of Taylor’s husbands, John Warner, a Virginia politician to whom she was married from 1976 to 1982, was a horse owner and breeder. The couple lived on his Atoka Farm near Loudoun County, Va., and was photographed at the Washington D.C. International Stakes at Laurel Park.

In 1986, Taylor was pictured with one of her close friends, the late pop star Michael Jackson, during opening day festivities at Hollywood Park. That same year, Taylor and actor George Hamilton came to Lexington with Hollywood Park’s chief operating officer, Marj Everett, and they were guests of officers of Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup.

During her trip, Taylor presented Keeneland’s inaugural Beaumont Stakes trophy to trainer Joe Bollero, who saddled Classy Cathy to victory.

That was not the first time Taylor had been to Lexington, however. She originally visited Central Kentucky three decades prior, during the filming of “Raintree County” in 1956.

A further tie with Taylor and horse racing comes through prominent stakes winner and sire Nashua. The Hall of Famer died in 1982 and is buried at the Lexington-area Spendthrift Farm. In the mid-1980s, the farm commissioned a statue to be raised over him, and the sculptress was Lisa Todd, the daughter of Taylor and her aforementioned third husband Todd.