What A Winter (SAF) has always looked like a Grade 1 horse and he duly landed his first big one with an authoritative performance in the Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth on Saturday. The race proved to be a triumph for trainer Mike Bass who completed a stable trifecta as Rushing Wind (SAF) and Blue Tiger (SAF) charged through late, with Royal Bounty (SAF) running on for fourth.

Hot favourite Gibraltar Blue broke well but, somewhat surprisingly, did not enjoy an undisputed lead as Gaultier headed her early on with Villandry also pacing it with them. Magico raced just behind the leading trio with What A Winter racing to the inside of the pack, as was Earl Of Surrey. Blue Tiger was further back with Rushing Wind and Royal Bounty at the rear.

Gaultier and Villandry started to feel the pinch as they went past the 400m mark and all eyes were on Gibraltar Blue who was asked for an effort. However, What A Winter was travelling ominously well to her inside and once Karl Neisius pressed the button, the response was immediate. Magico briefly looked as if he might get into it as well, hard up against the outside rail, but his effort petered out as What A Winter, travelling much better than anything in his immediate vicinity, imposed himself to win with a minimum of fuss and land his fifth win from just seven starts.

The winner has shown star quality from day one and was tagged as a Guineas horse following impressive wins in the Sophomore Sprint and Selangor Cup but he failed in the big classic last month, tiring late in what was a fairly hard-run mile. He's clearly best over the shorter distances, for now anyway, and he is probably even better over 1200m. Chances are that there's even more improvement to come and the son of Western Winter looks set to add to his big race tally as the season progresses.

Rushing Wind (25/1) and Blue Tiger (33/1) went off at long odds but are much better horses than those figures suggest. They're both versatile and have been running well in strong company over a range of distances. It wasn't a huge shock to see them featuring in the placings here.

Royal Bounty ran a cracker in fourth. He looked held in this company but ran the race of his life and his connections have every reason to be pleased with this effort.

Gibraltar Blue was the obvious disappointment of the race but she was taking on open company for the first time in this country and could not get away from them early on, as she usually does. She wasn't beaten too far in fifth, so she certainly didn't disgrace herself. Bush Pirate and Magico were next home and also finished less than three lengths off the winner, so they cannot be said to have done too badly.

3 b c Western Winter (USA) - Waseela (IRE) by Ahonoora (GB)
Owners: Messrs G N Shirtliff, M W Bass, Bryn Ressell and N M Shirtliff
Bred by Daytona Stud (Pty) Ltd (Nom: Mr R D Hamilton)
Winning trainer: Mike Bass