Quid Pro Quo saunters to an effortless victory in Saturday’s Gr 2 Betway Dingaans and the word “freak” is now being used by some to describe her. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
South Africa has a new horseracing sensation, the Barend Botes-trained Quid Pro Quo.
She became the first to win KZN’s unofficial two-year-old Triple Tiara last season and on Saturday she returned from a four month layoff and treated the boys with contempt in one of Johannesburg’s most iconic three-year-old races, the Gr 2 Betway Dingaans over 1600m, winning by 2,50 lengths without coming off the bit.
Barend said, “I wouldn’t say I was surprised, I expected her to do well, but obviously with Mr de Kock’s horse (Greaterix was backed in to odds on favourite) and with her not having had a run for four months, I had my stress and concerns, but we go all out and hope for the best!”
He said the win had really impressed him … he was not the only one to be impressed as pundits have already started comparing her to the greats.
Barend said, “I think she is just something special.”
The plan for her had always been the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara series of races in Autumn (Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas, Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic and the Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks) and the Dingaans had only become part of her program when it became clear it was a suitable race because she would not have to carry any Grade 1 penalties and she would also get the gender allowance from the boys.
She won the Dingaans so easily that the world looks to be her oyster.
Some were even wondering whether she would be sent down to Cape Town at short notice.
However, Cape Town is out of the question for the time being.
Quid Pro Quo’s owner and breeder Gerald Kalil explained, “She won’t go to Cape Town at this age. Many years ago I had a bad experience with some good horses going to Cape Town from Durban, so that is why I am a little bit nervous about it. Maybe next season when she is a four-year-old she will go. So at this stage we will go for the Triple Tiara and then look at the Durban season. It is up to Barend too, he’s the boss.”
He added, “I don’t think I have ever seen a horse like this in my life, she is one of a kind. The things she has done, she won that race with no shoes on last season, I have never heard of a horse having both shoes taken off and winning. Then on Saturday the odds were against her, she had never had a prep run and she was up against 12 decent horses, I wouldn’t mind owning any one of those other 12 horses.”
Gerald said about his own expectations going into Saturday’s race, “I wasn’t scared. When I look at races I look at times and her times were way better than those other horses. If you are an athlete you go on times and when I was at school I used to run the 100m in 11.1 seconds but if there was a guy who had run 10.9 he was going to beat me. Horses are athletes so times are important. I was confident. I bankered her in my Pick 6.”
It is exciting times for Gerald and Karen Kalil as the owners and breeders of a potential superstar.
At this time of the year the experienced pundits always warn of the silly season, when fans and pundits tend to go overboard about the class of the early three-year-olds.
However, it was hard to not be impressed by Quid Pro Quo such was the ease with which she sauntered to her sixth successive victory and she certainly looks to be something out of the ordinary.