PAARL-based Rod Mattheyse was delighted to enjoy his second Listed success in a long owning career when Three Two Charlie (6-1) scored a convincing victory for Candice Bass-Robinson and Greg Cheyne in Saturday’s Listed Sophomore Sprint over 1200m at Kenilworth.
Mattheyse’s previous Listed win came when Brett Crawford-trained Parabola won the 2018 Scarlet Lady at Greyville and he said: “This was a similarly exciting win and we are chuffed about him.”
Three Two Charlie was quoted only fifth on the boards behind Captain Tatters, Finding Camelot and others and Mattheyse said: “On the implied formlines through Armando, Three Two Charlie had a length or so to find with Captain Tatters, but he was gelded after his run on 8 June. Candice has brought him on patiently and he’s obviously improved by several lengths.
“He had his first run after being gelded on 27 August and ran a fair race in third, the first runs after gelding are often average in my view. I was a bit worried that the Sophomore would come too soon after that, but Candice had kept him fresh. He’s a horse that hasn’t been a machine at home, seems to reserve his best for the track. Well done to her and the team.”
Mattheyse has a number of mares boarding with Anton Shepherd at Beaumont Stud and he joked: “I literally don’t know how many there are so I don’t have to lie to my wife. There is an old Irish parable that says, ‘Don’t count them!’ “
Three Two Charlie was produced from Mattheyse and Shepherd’s mare Mairingi Bay, mated with What A Winter. “She died after Three Two Charlie was born,” said Mattheyse, who bought the colt back in the 2018 Cape Premier Yearling Sale for R250,000. “He was a cracking yearling and when we didn’t get the right bid, I decided to keep him.”
As for the colt’s name, Mattheyse explained: “Anton and I discovered that we went to the army at more or less the same time, we were both at Tempe and we’ve shared many army stories. I was a gunner in my day and my call sign was Three Two Charlie, so we thought that this colt, being a ‘tank’ of a horse, could do with a name like that!”
Three Two Charlie shows two wins and three places from five starts. He’s won R188,300 in stakes.
Photo: Wayne Marks.
