CHAMPIONS AT THE EQUUS AWARDS

Ambleway salutes its loyal supporters who received awards at the recent Equus Award evening; DENNIS DRIER had an amazing season with his star filly Val De Ra and she was voted the Champion Sprinter of the year ST JOHN GRAY also had one of his most successful seasons with horses he has bred and was duly awarded Breeder of the Year and his filly Dancewiththedevil was awarded Champion Older Mare PAT AND HENRY DEVINE'S stallion Jet Master won the Champion Stallion award for the fifth successive time. It has been a stressful time for them and we are very relieved to hear that Jet Master is slowly on the mend.

A big congratulations to all of the connections of these successful horses and a big thank you to all of the above for their ongoing great support of Ambleway.

At Super Saturday, the end of the Champion season here in KZN, we had plenty of runners and were successful in some of the big races. BEACH BEAUTY competed in the Gold Bracelet a Grade 2 race for fillies over 2000 metres. She raced handy and came with her anticipated late run to mow down her opposition and to win going away, despite the heavy underfoot conditions. She has given her proud connections so much pleasure and success having won 6(being placed in the other two) out of 8 of her starts and being the first daughter of Dynasty to win a graded race! She is now being given a breather before her trip to compete in the Cape feature season with her excited trainer Dennis Drier. Well done to her team of owners! BULSARA ran an amazing race to get within a neck of The Apache, his stable companion in The Champion Stakes a Grade 1 event over 1800 metres for Mrs Bridget Oppenheimer and conditioner Gavin Van Zyl . MADAME ROONEY kept on going to run a super fourth place in the juvenile filly feature the Thekwini Stakes a Grade 1 over 1600 metres. She was prepared, by Ambleway for Highlands Stud where she was bred, for the Ready To Run Sale and was sold on the Graham Beck Reduction Sale in January this year to her new connections.

Another of the fillies that was sold on the Graham Beck Reduction Sale was IRISH MAID who has had a super juvenile season in PE and was nominated there for the Champion Two Year Old Filly Racing Award. She is another daughter of Dynasty that is making her presence felt on the track.

We attended the National Two Year Old Sale last week and were delighted to be sent 13 youngsters to prepare for the track. The sale had its ups and downs, with the average down on last year, however there was really good value for buyers. The two sale toppers were both sired by Dynasty who had a great year (as mentioned above!) We came home with 3 Victory Moon colts which are stunning, and 3 racy fillies by Miesque Approval. Other stallions that are represented by their progeny are Casey Tibbs ,Mogok, Daylami, Right Approach,Tiger Ridge Toreodor and Go Deputy. These two year olds are really nice individuals and compare well with the horses purchased at the National Sale in April!

Apart from the new sale horses arriving we have 4 babies that came in from Klawervlei Stud-colts by Captain Al, Casey Tibbs and Albert Hall and also a robust filly by Albert Hall. These horses are currently being built up and will later be prepared for training with Dennis Drier

After the hype of the KZN season a lot of horses are resting and therefore we have had fewer graduates run and score wins. We did have a double when TYLERS TALENT and MIGHTY MARS who both won at the same meeting. These two horses were both bred at Highlands Stud Farm. TYLERS TALENT broke his maiden for Michael Roberts and his connections and MIGHTY MARS notched up his second win in a row for Dennis Drier and his happy owners. This son of Spectrum has won his second sprint for the team.

PSALTERY has moved to the Charles Laird stable and obliged her connections winning again over 1600 meters. She is a lovely strong daughter of Strike Smartly and we wish Team Valour and Anant Singh the best with her.

Another filly to have done well in KZN is the daughter of Camdens Legacy-COUNTRY ROSE who won another sprint for Andre Fouche and trainer Jeff Freedman. She really is turning out to be useful!

In the Cape SOLO FLIGHT won again for Pat and Henry Devine. He won over a mile and looks like he is putting his best foot forward for conditioner Mike Bass. He is a racy son of Jet Master and his brother Jet Jamboree was the final winner that helped his sire Jet Master retain his title!

In PE, AVILA and IRISH MAID fought out the finish over 1400 metres with the older filly AVILLA finally prevailing. SPY GLASS also won for his new connections over 1800 metres in his new racing centre.

FESTIVAL SPIRIT made light of his opposition in Gauteng to win for his new conditioner Lucky Houdelakis. He has moved up there so his owners the Cassel family can easier watch him running. The daughter of ANNOUNCE, PENNY FARE won over the trip of 1000 metres for St John Gray. I hope that you visit the winners box with more of your owner\breeder horses!

There is a list of horses to follow that are knocking on the door……. SEA OF ICE, PHANTOM FIGHTER, DANCE TO THE STARS,KALAAM,PUNTE DEL ESTE, BAY LEAF, MEDICIAM WOOD, MALKIA, ISLE OF DOGS, XIS BOY, FRENCH REEF, WE HAVE LIFT OFF, RUBY QUEEN, and BOLD PRINCESS. Watch these horses as I am sure they will visit the winners box soon.

We have been delighted to receive the news from Craig Carey that our 2 mares at Arc En Ciel have both foaled down. FINE FEATHER has produced a big strong colt by the former SA star, Horse Chestnut and STRAWBERRY FLEECE has had a pretty filly by Go Deputy who looks just like her dad! Well done and a big thank you to the team at the farm. We can now watch these babies grow and develop! We wish all other breeders the best of luck with the new foaling season ahead!

That is all for now.

Enjoy your racing! Enjoy your breeding!

Jane Trotter