One Stripe becomes the first horse for over 50 years to complete the WSB Cape Guineas/L’Ormarins King’s Plate double in the same season. (Picture: Wayne Marks).
Hollywood Racing’s pioneering overseas campaigner Isivunguvungu will be joined by their part-owned SA-bred colt One Stripe at Graham Motion’s Herringswell yard in Maryland USA later this year, meaning Hollywood could well have two SA-bred runners at this year’s Breeders’ Cup, which will once again take place at Del Mar racecourse in California.
Isivunguvungu is in Florida at present, where Motion is campaigning at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay racecourses.
Hollywood Racing’s racing manager Anthony Delpech said, “He’s doing well, he is not far off a run. He will most probably be having his next run in the next couple of weeks and then he goes to Dubai if he gets accepted to run on World Cup night.”
The race Isivunguvungu will likely be targeted at in the World Cup meeting is the US$ 1,5 million Gr 1 Al Quoz Sprint over 1200m on turf.
As a dual Gr 1-winning sprinter in South Africa and a winner of Da Hoss Stakes in the USA, as well as an unlucky fifth place finish in the Gr 1 Breeders Cup Turf Sprint, he should be accepted for the Al Quoz, whose list of winners include SA-breds J J The Jet Plane (Jet Master), who won it for Mike de Kock in 2009 and Lucky Houdalakis in 2011, as well as Shea Shea (National Emblem), who won it for De Kock in 2013.
The Narrow Creek Stud-bred What A Winter gelding will always have a special place in the Hollywood success story as they selected him as an unraced youngster.
One Stripe’s immediate targets are the R5 million Cape Racing Sales Big Cap on March 16 at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth after which he will be exported to the USA, where he will prepare for the Breeders’ Cup, with the most likely race he will be aimed at being the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile.
He will run in Rikesh Sewgoolam’s orange and dark blue colours in the Big Cap and in his overseas campaigns will run in the yellow and purple stars colours of Hollywood Racing.
Hollywood Racing proved just how big their racing ambitions are when managing to land a share in the country’s best three-year-old as even they admitted the Vaughan Marshall-trained colt had not been on the market before the deal was struck.
Owner Rikesh Sewgoolam was asked about overseas ambitions for One Stripe a couple of days after the One World colt had become the first three-year-old since the great In Full Flight to do the King’s Plate/Cape Guineas double and he had replied, “We haven’t really decided. I leave all of it to Vaughan. There’s been a lot of interest, but as Vaughan said to me yesterday, we’ve waited our entire lives for a horse like this … Vaughan fortunately has had some brilliant horses over time, but I haven’t. So we’ve waited all our lives, we’ve done the hard work with him, so why just simply hand him over to someone else? So for now, no real plans.”
However, a deal was struck just under two week later whereby Rikesh retains a share in the horse, who now has big overseas ambitions.
Common ground must have been found by Rikesh and Hollywood Racing.
This can be seen in the words of Hollywood Racing’s racing manager Anthony Delpech.
He said to the Sporting Post, ““What an honour it is to have shaken hands in this transaction with a passionate racing man like Rikesh Sewgoolam, who shares many of the ideals and harbours the dreams that we at Hollywood Racing do for the sport in South Africa. One Stripe was not on the market, but we are pleased to have clinched a mutually beneficial deal that works for both parties,” added a delighted Delpech, who said that the plan was to travel One Stripe to the USA, as they had done with champion sprinter Isivunguvungu in 2024, to take on the world’s best at the Breeders Cup in November.
One Stripe also holds an invitation for the LONGINES Hong Kong International races in December this year.
Delpech continued, “In the space of under twelve months One Stripe has gone from a runaway maiden 1200m winner to a dual Grade 1-winning 3yo miler, with outstanding scope to go further, and he literally has the world at his feet. Hollywood Racing wish to showcase the quality and class of SA bloodstock to the world and the Breeders’ Cup remains a goal for the team for 2025. Horseracing is about dreams and reaching for the stars and who knows where One Stripe could land up as a stallion prospect? Hollywood Racing invite all racing fans to join us on this incredible journey.”
Rikesh said to the Sporting Post, “I look forward to beginning our shared journey with such a phenomenal and special racehorse. It will be remiss of me not to mention the gratitude I have toward Vaughan Marshall and the VHM Milnerton team for the ongoing mentoring of One Stripe and the invaluable time and care invested in turning this special colt into a multiple Gr1 Champion, and to Owen and Devin Heffer, and Anthony Delpech, I say thank you for the confidence and belief in One Stripe. May he have a safe and successful international journey.”
One Stripe’s form could be given a boost in this weekend’s Gr 1 wfa R5 million WSB Met by any of Eight On Eighteen, runner up in the Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas, or Montien and Royal Aussie, who were close up in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate. Oriental Charm, Atticus Finch, Al Muthana and See It Again were well beaten in the LKP and are also running in the Met, so they could give his form a boost too.
On Saturday at the WSB Met meeting, Hollywood Racing will have three chances to make amends for last year’s disappointment when Isivunguvungu was scratched at the start of the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship (this year’s race is sponsored by the HKJC World Pool).
They run Asiye Phambili, who is drawn 13 with Richard Fourie up, Ziyasha, who is drawn five with Raymond Danielson up, and Cruise Control, who is drawn two with Muzi Yeni up.
Asiye Phambili, who is trained by Duncan Howells in KZN and by Gareth van Zyl in the Cape, has come into her own and has won the Gr 3 WSB Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m and the Gr 2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes over 1200m in her last two starts.
Delpech said about the What A Winter mare, “She is drawn on the outside which is probably not the best part of the course at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, but I think they are going to be going a hundred mile and hour and she is going to be coming from behind, so she will just need a bit of luck in the running. It is obviously her toughest task to date.”
Ziyasha and Cruise Control are fast horses drawn on the right side and Delpech felt they would be competitive too.
One of Hollywood Racing’s biggest goals is to land the SA owners championship. They have lacked the Gr 1 fire power to oust the champions for the last three seasons, Drakenstein Stud, but they were less than R1 million behind last season and this season they are more than R2 million ahead of Drakenstein just before the halfway point. It is the big meeetings like the WSB Met meeting and Hollywoodbets Durban July meeting where Drakenstein usually rake in the winning amounts, but this season they are not looking as strong as usual and it might be Hollywood Racing’s turn to lift the trophy.
