CHAMPION SEASON IN KWAZULU-NATAL

The Champion season in KwaZulu-Natal is now in full swing with feature racing having moved to the Province. Racing here has become competitive and exciting as stars emerge from the pack!

Ambleway has had several runners compete at top level and we are excited that some of them have been very competitive:- TROPICAL EMPIRE started the season with a bang winning the Drill Hall Stakes, a Gr2 race; coming with his usual late burst of speed he has now won another feature race at his favourite track, Greyville. He has done so well for his connections and Duncan Howells, his trainer. He is now being aimed at the Golden Spur over 1200m at Scottsville. ILIAD showed expected steady improvement by running fourth in the KZN Guineas where he ran on well at the finish. As he matures this son of Fort Wood will be a very useful classic horse for Mrs. Oppenheimer and conditioner Robbie Sage. SPEED FOR GOLD ran very well, coming from the back of the field, and got up for a close second in The Sledgehammer, a listed race of 1900m. This son of Goldkeeper has been a very consistent performer for conditioner Dennis Drier and his owners. CHARMING LADY ran a gutsy third in the Poinsettia Stakes, a Gr3 over 1200m. She was nominated as Champion Sprinter in KZN last year and is still showing her mettle for owner/breeders Hans Wagenaar and Owen Jones and conditioner Dennis Drier. I see she is now nominated to run in the SA Fillies' Sprint on Sprint Day. BOLD WONDER ran another honest race in the East Coast Handicap, a listed race over 2000m for fillies. She, like TROPICAL EMPIRE, is a very useful Australian horse and has certainly, over ground, shown a lot for her conditioner Duncan Howells and is worth following.

The forthcoming weekend we have plenty of representation at the Scottsville Sprint Day - watch them! Apart from TROPICAL EMPIRE competing in the Golden Spur and CHARMING LADY competing in the S A Fillies Sprint we have a very promising juvenile LINK MAN who won his last two starts in convincing fashion (7 lengths each!). This strong son of Toreador is now competing in the Gold Medallion over 1200m for his connections and condition Dennis Drier. He should have a big shout in this race for his connections Greg Blank and Darrel Yutar and his dad. He has now raced twice and won twice over the same distance and thus has the advantage of being experienced at this track which is often a difficult track for new horses. We wish all of these horses well on the day.

Apart from the possible sprinting stars to follow one needs to make note of two developing stayers, GOLDEN PARACHUTE and PREDESTINATION. GOLDEN PARACHUTE (by Montjeu) failed narrowly to win the Stayers Handicap in the Cape, and has now come to KwaZulu-Natal to compete in the big races. His conditioner, Mike Bass, will be aiming him at the Lonsdale and then at the Gold Cup. PREDESTINATION (by Dubai Destination) won his first start in KwaZulu-Natal over 2400m in good fashion for conditioner Joey Ramsden and top owner Marcus Jooste. He then followed up this run with a close second over 2500m. He seems to be enjoying the ground now and proving to become quite a useful stayer who will probably also be aimed at the feature races in the KwaZulu-Natal Champion season. Watch both these horses over ground!

On the international scene we have been very excited to watch the rise to fame of LIZARD'S DESIRE. He was pipped in the QE2 Stakes, a Gr1, and then won the Singapore Airlines International Cup, a Gr1! This horse came from Port Elizabeth and had very humble beginnings and in a short time has turned out to be an international star. In the QE2 he raced handier and made up ground on the rail only to be caught late by the ageing local Hong Kong star Viva Pitaca (an eight-year old) who had won the race in 2007. This race has certainly had a lot of South African connections before winning it with London News, Silvano, Iridescence and Archepinko!

In the Singapore International Cup LIZARD'S DESIRE was able to avenge his narrow defeat in the Dubai World Cup by getting the better of Glorio de Campeao. He passed him on the line to win in the mud by over half a length.

A big congratulations must go to Mike de Kock's team for converting this horse from a good horse to become one of the major international stars of the moment. He must currently be one of the world's favourite horse heroes.

There has been plenty of excitement in regular races and once again Ambleway graduates have been successful at the same meeting on more than one occasion. We boast a quartet of wins at a meeting when LINK MAN, TIRADE, CRUSHER RUN and TAMARILLO all won at Scottsville. Again when LINK MAN won at Scottsville we had the two full sisters CANDID GIRL and CANDY TUFT win. There have also been several doubles we achieved with DANCE TO THE STARS and MAKEBA winning. LOVE IS IN THE AIR and FORECASTLE won at the same race meeting and finally Michael Roberts shared our double victory when ARCTIC BEAR and MIKE'S CHOICE were successful.

Craig Eudey has had success for Mrs. Bridget Oppenheimer when he trained FORECASTLE and TAMARILLO to win in the same week. TAMARILLO is a good-looking son of Fort Wood and he had problems earlier in his career. Now that he has found his feet he followed up this win with a very good second. FORECASTLE is a big, strong son of Strike Smartly who has now won two in a row and looks like developing into a useful colt. Apart from the two wins and that of ILIAD who also won, Mrs. Oppenheimer has had a good month with graduates from Ambleway!

Sydney Cassell must have been chuffed with the return to form of HOT EMBER. She came back to a sprint distance and won again, this win giving the Cassell family and Michael Roberts another win apart from ARCTIC BEAR who won over ground. Michael Roberts had a bumper month as he also won races with two other runners of Mr Govender, a new owner, with MAKEBA and MOON RAIDER. The latter is a Victory Moon and has been knocking on the door for his connections for some time and I am sure this win delighted them. Michael has also won with his son of Tambourlaine, MIKE'S CHOICE for his connections. TIRADE is a very good-looking son of Western Winter and has been highly rated by the Roberts' stable for some time. He again proved their judgment of him by winning a very good sprint for Fieldspring Racing who also has a share in MIKE'S CHOICE. Well done to all of you for this last month and Mike in particular with lots of winners - well done!

Owners Des Scott and Robert Muir have bred some good horses locally and Ambleway is proud to have had the full sisters CANDID GIRL and CANDY TUFT who won on the same day over a sprint distance for Dennis Drier. The latter proved to be a useful sprinter and seems to prefer the shorter trip. Des also bred a lovely daughter of Galileo DANCE TO THE STARS who found her success with trainer Duncan Howells. She was placed in her debut then won well over 1600m - well done to you!

Pat and Henry Devine are stalwarts of racing and they have been successful over the last month in Gauteng with STARS IN MY EYES and, in her local debut, LOVE IS IN THE AIR. The former filly is well-bred being by National Assembly out of his Zabeel mare and has been knocking on the door for some time for Geoff Woodruff. She really found her feet and pulverised the field to win by seven and a half lengths over 1450m.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR needs no introduction as she has already proved herself to be a top contender and is proving herself to be one of Jet Master's best daughters. She won the award for Cape Three-Year Old Classic Winter Filly, and then she won the Majorca Stakes, a Gr1 in a dead heat. When brought to KwaZulu-Natal, she competed in her debut against her stable companion and Met winner, RIVER JETEZ. The pace was very slow in a small field but she still came with a late run to catch the three-year old on the day to win and so beat her illustrious stable companion into fourth. Mike Bass, her conditioner, feels that at present she is possibly under-rated so there is still plenty of improvement to come and who knows where she will stop!

Yearlings are the focus of Ambleway at present as most of our two-year olds have matured and gone into yards now. The recent intake from the National Sales is one of our best ever, and it is very exciting to see the classy specimens that we have been sent to grow out and school. We have progeny by new and exciting stallions Black Minnaloushe (3), Miesque's Approval, Go Deputy and Right Approach. Also some exceptional babies by current Champion Stallion Jet Master (3), Silvano (2), Strike Smartly (2), Count du Bois (2) and Spectrum (2). Other stallions who are still doing well and who are represented by their progeny include National Assembly, Western Winter, Kabool, Captain Al and Goldkeeper - all are top horses. This is all very mouth-watering stuff as we have some very good-looking horses whose conformations match their pedigrees.

Of particular interest to me is that we schooled Young Rake several years back and now we have a close relative of his, BUTLER YEATS (Lot 413) here who is by Black Minnaloushe. The connection always producing some emotional reaction and it is very exciting to have a close family member that we have already been involved with.

Congratulations to Highlands Stud as they consigned the two top horses at the sale and I think both were sold for record prices! We were sent one of the top-priced yearlings by Black Minneloushe from Michael Roberts, costing R1,6 million and he was also consigned by Highlands. What a beautiful race horse this is and he looks so athletic already. Considering the current market the statistics of the sale prices were comparable to last year with the average being R336 460,00. It was difficult to buy a nice cheapie at the sale as they were superbly well-bred and horses that were nice did not go cheaply.

We have a long list of horses to watch that have been placed. Juveniles include horses like SNAPPY, STORM THUNDER and HAIL ATLANTIS who was fourth in his debut. Older horses who deserve watching are STRING OF STARS, STAR EMPIRE, CHIFFON, TARRAGON, LEOPARD TREE, THE GIANT, GRACY JONES, IPSI DIXIT, MEDICEAN WOOD, HIGH FLING, ECHO OF THUNDER, SILVER HALO, SHARKS BAY, BULSARA, JUST JETTING ALONG, IRISH DARLING, COUNT IVANSKI, XIS BOY, TWO TONE, NORSE SKY, MSINGELI, HAIL A DUKE, SOLO FLIGHT, CAPTAIN SPIKE, TAMARILLO, DEBONAIR MAN, LUNAR LANDSCAPE, JO PIPER, ETERNAL FLAME, WOMEN'S RIGHTS, KANEVARO and BELOTTO FLASH. Do watch all of these horses, they are knocking on the door and hopefully should pick up a winning cheque soon.

Enjoy the Sprinting Day at Scottsville and the forthcoming month where there are so many feature races in Natal - I hope everybody enjoys them and finds their feature stars there! The next sale is going to be in Johannesburg on Friday, 4th June - the KwaZulu-Natal Sale that has moved to Germiston. If anybody needs any assistance please give me a ring. Otherwise good luck and happy hunting!

Enjoy your racing and see you soon!

JANE TROTTER