EXCITING RACING IN GAUTENG FEATURES  

Ambleway graduates have won two Grade 1 races in Gauteng over the past few weeks! LOVESTRUCK  and THUNDERING JET have won the Classic and the Empress Club Stakes!  

LOVESTRUCK travelled to Gauteng for the Guineas and stayed on for the Classic and I believe the stay with Joey Soma was well worth it as he ran such a great race in the 1800 meter Classic! He held on despite an objection to beat the favourite Tellina for trainer Paul Lafferty (who was enjoying the World Cup Day in Dubai!) and his proud owners Alesh Naidoo,Jason Moodley and L Salsone. For them, in particular Alesh "it was a dream come true," winning a Grade One with such a star like LOVESTRUCK. He has now travelled round the countryside and won in every centre! He boasts a record of winning over R1.5 million and has won 5 races with 3 times being placed out of 13 starts! Every owners dream horse!!!!  

THUNDER DANCE won the Paddock Stakes Grade 1 as a three year old then travelled to KZN last year to compete in the big races and did not live up to expectations. She was rested with us for a few months then returned to Brett Crawfords yard in the Cape and first time out beat the subsequent Met winner Martial Eagle in her comeback race over a mile. Her next two Cape starts were below par and so she was sent early to Gauteng to be cared for by the De Kock team. It certainly all paid off as she won an amazing race beating a top class field of fillies in the Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes which she won for Klawervlei Stud, nominee John Koster and Ian Longmore. She is out of Captain Al's sibling Shadow Dancing who was herself a Grade 1 winner!  Being by the ill-fated sire Jet Master she boasts a special pedigree too having now earned overR1,5 million and having won 6 times and been placed 2 times from 14 starts!   The racing on Classic Day was amazing to watch as was the SA contingent in Dubai! Mike de Kock's South African runners, in particular, on the day were outstanding. Soft Falling Rain started off the vibe winning the Grade 2 Godolphin Mile from an outside draw!  What a horse to remain unbeaten in 7 starts and over a distance where there was serious stamina doubts. He is by National Assembly who had a great day as the next win came from Shea Shea in the Grade 1 Al Quoe Sprint and he is by National Emblem, a son of National Assembly. Shea Shea won an amazing race from off the pace. Then in the Grade 1 Dubai Duty Free SA horses ran 2nd and 4th. Both the Igugu and The Apache took part in the race and the son of Mogok ran on strongly to finish second in the Grade 1! In the richest race of the day, The Grade 1 World Cup, the owner of the winner, Animal Kingdom, Barry Irwin, is represented here in SA as an owner! Rodney and I also saw the same horse win the Kentucky Derby in the USA two years ago! What a horse to win grade one races on all the different tracks, continents etc! Congratulations to all, and what a day to remember!

  Talking of champion horses the mare Black Caviar notched up her 25th straight victory! She had already notched up 14 Grade 1 races and was taking on More Joyous who sadly ran below par in the Grade 1 TJ Smith stakes. She now will now be retired, unbeaten, and will be covered by Frankel!  At the recent Easter Yearling sale in Australia, her half brother by, Redoute’s Choice was sold for $5million -a new Australian record price for a yearling! Her dam has been such a producer that who knows what this colt may do on the track!   It may seem quite a change to talk about the local scene but records were also broken at the Cape Sales Book 2! The sales were held at Durbanville at the end of March and records fell again with the average increasing 36% from  R96,000 last year to the average of R131,000 this year. The median was also up from R60,000 to R 80,000 this year with people paying R100,000 mainly for colts. The incentives offered did seem to attract buyers and Trippi topped the sires board for colts (R575,000) and fillies (R325,000) with Mayfair Speculators also paying over half a million for 2 colts they bought by Greys Inn and Jay Peg!   We were delighted to be sent 4 babies from this sale to grow out and later school or sell by new stallions Right Approach (2), Kings Apostle and Royal Airforce. The latter colt is so like his grandfather Jet Master being tall and rangy while the Kings Apostle colt is very neat and racy like his sire! We will watch them grow with interest …..  

At the races we at Ambleway have been very proud of our graduates who have won their debuts, doubles and trebles of successes have also been scored. UMOYANA and VIVA LA VAR won their debuts and DANCE ALLEY and IKATHI, and THE FLYING MACHINE and SHIMMERING JET won doubles while BARBOSA, COOL STYLE and SOARING FREE notched up a treble! Quite a lot of excitement for the various days racing!  

UMOYANA is a daughter of RAVISHING, and she has been given plenty of time by her owners Messrs Harrison, Pereira Phillips and Bentley. She was spelled here by Charles Harrison and when she returned to racing she rewarded the group their patience and confidence by winning her debut for Tony Rivalland by 1.75 lengths and in good style too! VIVA LA VAR showed so much pace in his debut and it looked like this speedy son of Var would win by lengths for team Drier and N. Papgeorgiou. He however seemed to hang at the death however stayed on under Sean Cormack to win.  

DANCE ALLEY won for the St John Gray team over 1700 meters as a prep run for the Classic. She is a half sister to Dancewiththedevil, and by Jam Alley. The mare IKATHI won another sprint at the Vaal for Mayesh Chetty and trainer Com Naidoo. Bought at the Ready To Run Sale a few years back this daughter of Cataloochee has won her fair share of races!  Another double was scored at Clairwood when THE FLYING MACHINE snuck through a gap to win on the line beating CUCUMBER ALLEY.  

Sean Cormack rode a brilliant race to judge his final spurt to win his second sprint race in a row. This gelding is also owned by N.Papagoergiou and was trained by the Drier team. The second winner on the day was SHIMMERING JET who won from a handier position over further. She has been a model of consistency for her new owner W. Smith as she raced previously for her breeders Pat and Henry Devine. This daughter of Jet Master has now won 5 races for the Mike Bass yard. Congratulations all!  

The treble at Scottsville started off when BARBOSA , having returned from the Cape, recouped some of his losses on Met day to reverse the tables over favourite Tevez. He wore blinkers for the first time and although jumped slowly he showed plenty of interest in the race and was brilliantly guided home by Cormack for the Drier yard, who had done a great job getting this big boy ready to win! His owners Bruce Campbell, Rod and Jane Trotter lead him in while Ian Longmore and Rob Alexander were glued to the TV! This colt by Captain Al out of the mare FINE FEATHER  (7 wins) has now won 3 from 6 starts and has a bright future!

 The next race was won by outsider COOL STYLE who is trained by Craig Eudey. His owners, Bennie and Shaylan Naidoo must have been thrilled with his second win. He is by Miesque Approval out of a mare we had here JENIKYM! The final win of the day was a popular one with the favourite SOARING HEIGHTS coming home over 1400 meters from a wide draw! Anton Marcus rode a copybook race for Markus Jooste and team Drier. This son of Strike Smartly was well liked here at Ambleway!

BUTLER YEATS, also owned by Markus Jooste and previously conditioned by the Drier yard, won in Borrowdale! Well done to you all!   The Drier team were again in the winners enclosure with MURMERING SKY. This filly had also come back from the Cape having competed against useful fillies, and when raced over 1400 meters in KZN, won a nice race for her owner Mrs Rhona Beck. She was bred by Highlands Stud and is a daughter of a mare from the USA, FAR OFF THUNDER, that we schooled some years back.   St John Gray also won with CHESTNUT CHARGER, VIDEO GAMES and YER MAAN, later in the month. The former is a son of ANNOUNCE and he won his maiden over 1400 while the grey filly, VIDEO GAMES having been very consistent won over the trip of 2000 meters. This daughter of Jam Alley shows a lot of the grey Kilconnel in her looks.

YER MAAN is also by Jam Ally and he won over the trip of 2000m. Well done to you!   There were 2 winners at Kimberley CODE RED and WIND AT YOUR BACK. Both of these horses have won their fair share of races there for their new connections. Congratulations to them and to Highlands Stud Farm as they were bred there and sold by Ambleway for them at the Ready To Run Sale in Gauteng.   Apart from being successful with winners graduates have been placed and deserve following….in particular FORMATION ran 2nd in the NKOSASANA Stakes a listed race over 1450 meters and the colt BRASILIA ran a gutsy 4th in the Grade 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes over 1100 meters. The latter has only had two starts, both in features and when he comes back to a maiden he will be difficult to beat. He was prepared for and sold at the 2012 ready To Run Sale and at that stage was a great mover just an immature son of Toreodor.

Also ALONG CAME POLLY ran on well to finish second in the controversial and much talked about Kings Pact Stakes. Such was her performance that she has since been purchased by another yard!            

Other horses to follow are TIGER QUEST (favourite and 2nd in her debut) TULLYNALLY, LAMORNA, NORDIC LASS, BADGER FRIENDLY, OWLS DO CRY, DYNAMIC STAR, DANSEUSE, MAJESTIC EMBLEM, HEADS UP, DIVIDE N RULE, BLIZZARD OF OZ, COME WITH ME, SACRED CALL, TRANSCENDENT, JET EXPLORER.

Follow them as they should be victorious soon!   We are going to The National Sales at Germiston from Thursday for the sale on Friday 26 April until Sunday 28 April. If you need any assistance to look at yearlings or need to send your "dream" purchase to be grown out and later schooled at Ambleway please contact me!

My cell is 082 800 40 48.   Enjoy your racing……it is such fun…..    

Jane Trotter.