The panel have a hard decision in deciding the title of this year’s Equus Champion Three-Year-Old filly, with all three contenders, Bela-Bela, Juxtapose and Silver Mountain all having strong claims to the title.
It is also interesting to note that Mystic Spring and Our Table Mountain, dams of Bela-Bela and Silver Mountain respectively, in question, are leading contenders for the title of Broodmare Of The Year!

BELA-BELA: f Dynasty –Mystic Spring
This exquisitely bred filly (by an outstanding sire in Dynasty, she is a half sister to five stakes winners including ill-fated champion Rabiya), showed her class first time out when romping home first time out over 1000 metres. Bela-Bela followed that up with a tremendous win over top filly Chevauchee (High Chaparral), before finishing unplaced (behind Silver Mountain) in the Gr1 World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas. However, Bela-Bela made amends for that run when finishing third to subsequent Met winner Smart Call (Ideal World) in the Gr1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes. Taken to KZN, Bela-Bela was a late scratching from the Gr3 Umzimkhulu Stakes but went on to land both the Gr2 Daisy Fillies Guineas and Gr1 Woolavington 2000 before ending her campaign when sixth in the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July.

JUXTAPOSE: f Judpot –Sunsational
Arguably the leading light among the Gauteng 3yo fillies last season, Juxtapose made a winning seasonal debut when scoring a gutsy win over 1400m. Stepped up in class to take on feature race company in the Gr3 Joshua Doore/Russell Hobbs Fillies Mile, Juxtapose finished a creditable, if well beaten, third behind Negroamaro. She would go on to take her revenge on her Fillies Mile conqueror in the Gr1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Classic, where Juxtapose beat her grey rival by nearly half a length. The daughter of Judpot then ended her season on a high with an impressive victory in the Gr2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks –thus capturing two of the three legs of South Africa’s Triple Tiara.

SILVER MOUNTAIN: f Silvano –Our Table Mountain
This blue blooded filly (she is a half sister to undefeated Gr1 winner Cloth Of Cloud, while her stakes winning dam is a half-sister to Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Artie Schiller) was a shining star during the first half of the season. The Bass trained filly reeled off three wins on the bounce in her first three outings of the 2015-2016, with Silver Mountain’s winning spree culminating in victories in both the Gr2 Choice Carriers Fillies Championship and Gr1 World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas. Silver Mountain’s win in the Fillies Championship was particularly impressive as she jumped from a wide draw of 15 and still won well. However, the Fillies Guineas would be the last time Silver Mountain won during the season –although she ran a good fourth, to Equus candidate Noah From Goa, in the Gr1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas, and also finished second in both the CTS Million Dollar and Gr2 Tibouchina Stakes.