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Thursday double for The United States

By Farm news

Moutonshoek’s top-class sire The United States started the 2024-2025 season with a bang with supplying two eye catching winners on the first day of the new season.

The United States’s three-year-old son Stated made a big impression when he won the Cape Turf Club Syndicates Maiden Plate (1400m) at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Thursday.

Under Sean Veale, the Justin Snaith trained colt turned the race into a one horse contest as he romped home to win as he liked by six and a quarter lengths.

Bred by Syrilla Stud, Stated is out of the Duke Of Marmalade mare Duchess’s Greeting.

The United States is also the sire of the smart mare Indian Ocean. The latter picked up her third win, from 12 starts, when she won the Take A Bet Wina Numba Numba FM 93 Divided Handicap (1800m) at the Vaal on Thursday.

Under a great ride from Piere Strydom, the five-year-old unleashed a fine turn of foot which propelled Indian Ocean home to score by a long neck.

Bred by Wynand Nel, the Lorenzo Karriem trained Indian Ocean, who had contested feature races in each of her six starts prior to Thursday’s win, is out of the Windrush mare Lil’ Bacio. The mare was a R160 000 purchase from the 2021 August Two Year Old Sale.

Her G1 Ranvet Stakes winning sire The United States went close to having a graded stakes double when his son The Specialist and daughter Rodeo Drive ran second in the G1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes and G2 World Pool With Gold Circle Debutante respectively.

By the same sire as Galileo, Teofilo, Gleneagles, and Nathaniel, The United States has 17 lots on offer at the August Two Year Old Sale.

Smart debut winner for Danon Platina

By Danon Platina

Mauritzfontein’s exciting resident sire Danon Platina came up with a very smart looking debut winner when his son Luhamba Phambili won at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Wednesday.

Trained by Gareth Van Zyl, Luhamba Phambili proved to be a class apart in Wednesday’s Nashua PMB Maiden Plate (1000m).

Under a confident Serino Moodley, the two-year-old cruised into the lead 200m from home and coasted home to win as he liked by nearly two and a half lengths.

Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, the gelded Luhamba Phambili is out of the Querari mare Simply Royal.

The well bred two-year-old was a R550 000 buy from the 2023 National Yearling Sale.

Luhamba Phambili’s full-brother made R900 000 at this year’s National Sale.

His sire Danon Platina went close to having a two-year-old double on Wednesday, with his son Landoftherisingsun finishing third in the second race at Hollywoodbets Durbanville.

Japan’s Champion 2YO Colt of 2014, Danon Platina has some very smart two-year-olds this season, including Listed Hollywoodbets Sharks Gatecrasher Stakes winner Great Plains. The latter is a runner in Sunday’s G1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes.

A son of legendary racehorse and sire Deep Impact, Danon Platina has 20 lots on offer at the August Two Year Old Sale, including a half-brother (Lot to graded stakes winners Aragosta and Mrs Browning.

Saturday double for Ideal World

By Uncategorized

Mauritzfontein’s successful sire Ideal World had a good day at Turffontein on Saturday, when his son Diwali Rocket won the third race and daughter Cape Lights landed race six.

Two-year-old Diwali Rocket got off the mark at the fourth time of asking when he won the For Hospitality Bookings Call 011 681 1796 Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1600 metres.

Under Raymond Danielson, the Lorenzo Karriem trained gelding unleashed a smart turn of foot which saw him get up to win, going away, by a length and a quarter.

Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Diwali Rocket was a R300 000 buy from the 2023 August Two Year Old Sale.

Diwali Rocket is out of the Jet Master mare Jet Trail, making him bred on the same cross as the Ideal World sired Horse Of The Year Rainbow Bridge.

Ideal World is also the sire of Cape Lights, who claimed her fourth career when she won Saturday’s Take A Bet Wina Numba Numba Pinnacle Stakes over 1400 metres.

Making a mockery of her 16-1 starting price, the Robbie Sage trained four-year-old stormed home to get up and win by nearly half a length.

In the process, Cape Lights defeated several classy fillies including 2023 G2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Lady Of Power and 2023 G1 Douglas Whyte Thekwini Stakes heroine Bavarian Beauty.

Bred and owned by Ian Van Schalkwyk, Cape Lights is out of the Pathfork mare Secret Star.

Her sire Ideal World is responsible for 31 stakes winners, including Met winning champions Rainbow Bridge and Smart Call, and a further 22 black type horses.

IDEAL WORLD RELATIVE STARS AT TATTERSALLS

By Ideal World

A close relative of Mauritzfontein’s successful sire Ideal World made 300 000 guineas to jointly top the second day of the Tattersalls July Sale.  Kingman daughter Calabria (Lot 559) was knocked down to Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock. The filly was consigned to the auction by Juddmonte.

Unraced three-year-old Calabria is a half-sister to the stakes placed Brunnera (Dubawi) and her G1 Prix Jean Romanet winning dam Romantica, a daughter of Breeders’ Cup winning champion Banks Hill, is a half-sister to Ideal World.

McStay said of his purchase, “As we know, Juddmonte blood is very hard to come by; the farm is the best breeder in the world. They’ve both been bought for the same client and we were delighted to be able to get them. We had to dig deep to get the filly from Banks Hill family but it is probably the best pedigree in the book B when you see Banks Hill, Dansili, Hasili, Champs Elysees on the page, it doesn’t need much explanation as to why you had to dig so deep and why there was such stiff competition.”

Sire of champions Rainbow Bridge, Smart Call and Hermoso Mundo, Ideal World has a smart two-year-old this season in the form of Parisian Walkway. The latter holds an entry for the G1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes at the end of the month.

Danon Platina son lands Gatecrasher Stakes

By Danon Platina

Japanese champion, and Mauritzfontein resident, Danon Platina looks to have a very smart two-year-old to his name this season in the form of Great Plains.
The latter made it three wins in a row when running out a convincing winner of the Listed Hollywoodbets Sharks Gatecrasher Stakes (1400m) at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday and Great Plains appears destined for bigger and better things.

Under a great ride from Richard Fourie, the Justin Snaith trained gelding was dropped out early in an attempt to overcome his wide draw.

Fourie bought his mount with a sustained late run down the inside of the track and Great Plains stormed home to land his biggest win to date by nearly a length and a quarter, with stablemate Makazole back in second spot.

Bred by Drakenstein Stud, Great Plains has now won three of just four starts.

The gelding, who is out of the Var mare Mara, was a R700 000 buy from the 2023 Cape Premier Yearling Sale Powered by Tattersalls.

His sire Danon Platina, a son of legendary racehorse and sire Deep Impact, made a pleasing start with his first crop headed by Cape Racing Gold Rush winner Rapidash, the stakes placed Oni San and White Pearl. The latter has finished second or third in seven graded races with White Pearl having already earned more than R620 000 in prize money.

Danon Platina has six lots on offer at the 2024 KZN Yearling Sale.

2024

By Timeline

WILGERBOSDRIFT & MAURITZFONTEIN EQUUS CHAMPION BREEDERS

 

CATS PAJAMAS

  • Wins Umkhomazi S, Gr.2

GIMME A NOTHER

  • Equus Champion 3YO Filly
  • Wins Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic, Gr.1
  • TAB Empress Club S, Gr.1
  • Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas, Gr.2

JOY AND PEACE

  • Wins East Cape Oaks, L
  • TAB East Cape Derby, L
  • Jockey Club S, L

KINDA WONDERFUL

  • Wins Irridescence S, L

LAURELIN (IRE)

  • Wins Tepin S, L (USA)

MOVER AND SHAKER

  • Wins TAB JJ The Jet Plane S, Gr.3

MRS BROWNING

  • Wins TAB Camellia S, Gr.2

DIGITAL AGE RELATIVE WOWS ON DEBUT

By Digital Age

Mauritzfontein’s G1 winning stallion Digital Age got a handsome update to his pedigree page when relative Sea Just In Time made a winning debut at Newmarket on Friday.

The William Haggas-trained 11-2 chance and jockey Tom Marquand swept past their rivals two furlongs from home to win Friday’s Class 2 Darley Maiden Fillies’ Stakes by four and three quarter lengths, with the Charlie Appleby-trained Precious Jewel in second and Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Mallavelly three lengths further back in third.

Maureen Haggas, wife of trainer William who was also celebrating her 63rd birthday today, was impressed with what she saw on the three-year-old’s first racecourse outing.

 

She said: “That was nice – I thought she did that well. We always thought she was nice and is well-rated, being a sister to Truthful and we had the older sister as well (Sea On Time) who sadly injured a tendon after winning a maiden when she looked nice.

 

“There is no rush to decide where she goes next, I’ll leave that to William. I think she probably needs three weeks before she runs again and we could look for a Listed contest for her.

 

“There are lots of things later in the year like the Irish Oaks. Sea Of Class was second here before going on to win a Listed race and then on to win the Irish Oaks.

 

“If you look at her – she still needs some time and some sunshine – like we all do!”

 

 

A three-year-old daughter of Sea The Stars (whose grandsire Green Desert is also grandsire of Digital Age) and the Street Cry mare My Timing, the promising Sea Just In Time holds entries for both the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes and G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks.

Sea Just In Time’s fourth dam is the outstanding racemare Time Charter, who also ranks as the fifth dam of Digital Age.

By the same sire as I Am Invincible and Kingman, Digital Age was a top-class racehorse whose five career wins included the G1 Old Foresters Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs.

NATIONAL SALE SUCCESS FOR DANON PLATINA

By Danon Platina

Mauritzfontein’s popular resident stallion Danon Platina enjoyed some good results at the recently concluded National Yearling Sale.

The champion son of legendary champion Deep Impact had all 13 of his yearlings on offer sell, with Danon Platina’s National Sale draft fetching a total of R7.705 million.

Danon Platina’s yearlings averaged a very healthy R592 692, and he had eight lots make R500 000 or more at the National Sale in 2024.

The Mauritzfontein resident’s top lot was the Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd consigned colt Percolating (Lot 284), who was sold for R1 200 000.

The well bred Percolating is out of the Silvano mare Possibility, a full-sister to triple graded stakes winner, and G1 Vodacom Durban July runner up, Punta Arenas and three-part sister to G1 Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby winner Pomp And Power.

Danon Platina made a great start to his stud career with his promising first crop headed by R5 million plus earner Rapidash, G3 Betway Fillies Mile runner up White Pearl, and the smart pair of Harajuku and Oni San.

The son of Deep Impact is also the sire of promising two-year-olds Grey Fantacy and The Promise, both of whom have been entered in Sunday’s G3 Tabgold Strelitzia Stakes.

Debut winner for Danon Platina

By Danon Platina

Mauritzfontein’s well bred stallion Danon Platina came up with a smart looking winner at at Fairview on Friday afternoon.

His two-year-old son Hideki made a winning debut on Friday when he won the second race run at Fairview.

Under the record chasing Richard Fourie, the Alan Greeff trained colt put his head down where it mattered most to claim Friday’s Racing240 For Racing. For You Maiden Juvenile Plate (1000m) by a neck.

Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Hideki is out of the Captain Al mare Captain’s Dove.

The colt was a R375 000 purchase from the 2023 August Two Year Old Sale.

His sire Danon Platina has made a bright start to his stud career, with the Japanese champion’s first crop headed by Cape Racing Gold Rush winner Rapidash, G3 Betway Fillies Mile runner up White Pearl, the stakes placed Oni San and G1 SplashOut Cape Derby contender Harajuku.

A son of legendary racehorse and sire Deep Impact, Danon Platina has 14 lots on offer at the 2024 National Yearling Sale, including a half-brother (Lot 15) to dual G1 winner Desert Miracle, and a filly (Lot 268) out of the Silvano sired G1 winner Orchid Island.

GOLD RUSH GLORY FOR DANON PLATINA

By Danon Platina

Mauritzfontein’s popular young stallion Danon Platina made headlines at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday when his son Rapidash, a member of his sire’s first crop, won the R7 500 000 Cape Gold Rush over 1600 metres.
Dropped out by Grant Van Niekerk, Rapidash, who had to overcome a wide draw in Saturday’s race, was bought with a strong late run which saw the three-year-old get up close home and go on to win by a neck.

Rapidash  took his earnings to over R5.1 million with his Gold Rush triumph.

Bred by Kilimanjaro Bloodstock, the gelding has now won two of seven starts and he looks unlikely to stop here.

Rapidash, who is out of the War Pass mare My Lovely, hails from the first crop of Japanese champion Danon Platina.

The latter, a son of legendary racehorse and sire Deep Impact, has made a pleasing start with his first crop including not only the aforementioned Rapidash, but also the stakes placed Oni San, Bloodstock SA Sales Cup (Fillies) winner Betula and the classy filly White Pearl. The latter has finished runner up in all of the G3 HSH Princess Charlene Starling Stakes, G3 Betway Fillies Mile and G3 Mother Russia Stakes this season.

Danon Platina, Japan’s Champion 2YO Colt of 2014, has three lots on offer at the 2024 Cape Yearling Sale.