June was a truly great month for the stallions of Klawervlei. Four of the feature races run last month were won by offspring of a Klawervlei stallion.
June was a month which belonged to Casey Tibbs. The son of Sadler’s Wells, who will be based in Colesberg next season, was responsible for three individual feature races winners. Remarkably, his feature races winners came from 1200-2400 meters, which was yet another feather in the cap for this fine stallion.
Big City Life bounced back to his back with a convincing win in the Gr1 Gold Challenge. He produced a fine turn of foot to down Blue Tiger and triple Horse of the Year Pocket Power and win going away. It was the second time Big City Life had defeated Pocket Power, and the handsome 4yo has now won four times at the highest level. Big City Life, whose dam, Dollar Crisis, is by Goldmark, has now won nearly R4 million for trainer Glen Kotzen.
Casey Cool captured his first win when landing the Gr2 Post Merchants at Greyville last month. The talented gelding, under a great ride from Kevin Shea, produced his trademark turn of foot to beat a smart field of sprinters convincingly. He had earlier finished third in the Cape’s Merchant Stakes. Trained by Darryl Hodgson, Casey Cool has now won eight races and over R800 000. His dam, Some Dame, is by the leading broodmare sire Complete Warrior.
Casey’s third feature race winner came in the form of Cree Lodge. A top-class juvenile last year when his wins included a score over Ancestral Fore in the Gr3 Langerman, Cree Lodge bounced back to his earlier form when winning the Gr3 Winter Derby at Kenilworth. Trained by Dean Kannemeyer (whose horses ran 1-3-4), Cree Lodge overcame a wide draw to beat East Cape Derby winner Robert The Bruce into second. His dam, Fiery Spirit, won four races, and is from the same family as Champion Hidden Fortune.
Splinter got back on the winning ways, when she won well over 1800 meters at Kenilworth. A model of consistency, the Mike Bass trained mare came with a late rattle to down the well bred Illuminere. Splinter, who ran second in a listed race a few starts back, looks like she could make a good broodmare prospect, as she is a talented and tough racefilly. Her dam, Northern Broadway, is a winning daughter of outstanding broodmare sire Northern Guest. This is the family of SA Oaks winner Serena.
Other winners for Casey Tibbs last month include Golden Dane, A Little Tibsy and Solstice Bell.
Big City Life
Captain Al is having another cracking year with his juveniles. At the time of writing, he is the leading sire of juveniles (by prize money) in the country. His daughter, Emerald Cove, gave him yet another top-class daughter when she waltzed home in the Irridescence Stakes. She has now won three in a row, and looks like a filly worth watching. Her dam, Resolution Bay, was a top-class stakes winning juvenile herself. Justin Snaith, who trains Emerald Cove, looks to have another cracking Captain Al filly in Fragrant Al.
Rated very highly by her connections, Fragrant Al won very impressively by over five lengths at Clairwood Park. Said to be showing top-class work at home, Fragrant Al couldn’t have won any easier, and she will step up to feature races next time out. Out of Fort Wood mare Kindling, she is a half-sister to the stakes winner,Rekindle.
Captain Al has yet another smart looking juvenile in Captain’s Catch. The Dean Kannemeyer trained filly ran in a stakes race first time out and finished a good fourth. Two starts later she was in the winners enclosure, after outclassing some promising fillies over 1200 meters at Durbanville. Clearly a filly with a bright future, Captain’s Catch is out of the Argosy mare Brilliant Brook.
Zara gave inform trainer, Paul Matchett, another win when the juvenile filly got up to win by a head. Placed on her first three starts, Zara showed courage to win nicely. She has more wins in her to come. She is out of the winning Muhtafal mare First Choice.
The useful 3yo, Captainoftheguard, won a good race at Kenilworth over 1200 meters. Taking on some useful older horses, Captainoftheguard, under a good ride from Karl Neisius, showed heart to deny Upton Park. He had shown smart form at 2yo, and is clearly a horse with plenty of ability. His dam, London’s Delight, is half-sister to former Fillies Guineas winner Sport’s Chestnut.
Other winners last month for Captain Al were Chrysalis and Eva Marie.
Emerald Cove
National Emblem was also among the winners last month. Sean Tarry has done very well with the stock of National Emblem, and Arewehavingfunyet gave the combination another winner, when successful at Greyville recently. It was a great win, as she was conceding plenty of weight to the rest of the field.
The 4yo filly, Arewehavingfunyet, was winning her fourth race, and second in her last three starts. She should have more wins in her. Her dam, Ile Saint Marie, is a daughter of the French St Leger winner Braashee, and Arewehavingfunyet clearly inherits her speed from her sire.
Other winners for the veteran sire include Mon Ami Misty and Gleneagles.
Arewehavingfunyet
