Varsfontein owner Susan Rowett took time out to visit ‘Equus 2017 Broodmare of the Year’ Mystic Spring at Cheveley Stud. Here she is pictured with Vaughan Koster and the prized matron, whose six stakes winners include the Varsfontein owned Champion Bela-Bela (below right) and Touch The Sky (below left). Mystic Spring is due to foal a Dynasty full sibling to Bela-Bela later this season. Bela-Bela is in foal to Gimmethegreenlight, while TouchThe Sky is due to Judpot any day now.
GIMMETHEGREENLIGHT – The Racing Association Eastern Cape Chapter in conjunction with Phumelela hosted the annual East Cape Racing Awards where Gimmethegreenlight’s Beataboutthebush and Gimme The Stars were awarded Champion 3yo Filly & Colt respectively. Champion 2yo Filly was awarded to Gimmethegreenlight’s daughter, Queen Forever.
Varsfontein-bred Beataboutthebush (above) won the Listed Breeders Guineas at Fairview and was subsequently runner-up in the Listed East Cape Oaks. She went on to register a stakes double when handing her rivals a galloping lesson in the Listed East Cape Paddock Stakes on July 21.
Trained by Allan Greeff for Lee & Celso Scribante, Beataboutthebush is a half-sister to former Gr.3 East Cape Derby hero True Master (Jet Master), who notched up his tenth win at the advanced age of eight this season! They are amongst five winners from as many runners produced by our talented broodmare, the dual Gr.3 winner Bushra (Badger Land).
BLACK TYPE FOR MR FANTASTIC – Singapore-based Mr Fantastic (Jet Master) who was foaled and raised at Varsfontein Stud on behalf of client Anthony Peter, earned his first black type when a close-up second in the Gr.3 Committee’s Prize at Kranji in Singapore (pictured below).
Stepping up in class following a gutsy win over 1400m, the Ricardo le Grange trained six-year-old pulled out all the stops under jockey Barend Vorster to get to within a half length of last year’s winner Twickenham at the end of the mile race. The seven-time winner is out of Peter’s fine sprinter Jalberry, a dual stakes winner of the Gr.3 Pretty Polly Stakes and Listed Goldfields Sprint, who also ran third in the Gr.1 SA Fillies Sprint. A permanent boarder at Varsfontein, the daughter of Jallad and Oaks winner Taineberry is also the dam of last season’s Gr.2 Golden Horseshoe hero Purple Diamond (Var) and Zimbabwean stakes winner On This Rock (Trippi).
VARSFONTEIN BRED FILLY IS ON THE UP – Fiorella, a Captain Al daughter of our Gr.2 SA Oaks winner Arcola (Caesour), continued her progress through the ranks with an impressive victory at Scottsville on September 24. The Varsfontein-bred Fiorella (pictured below) outclassed a number of stakes-performed rivals to win going away in Dave MacLean’s silks. Trained by Duncan Howells, the bay has tasted defeat just once in three starts, that when going down by a neck over 1200m. As a daughter of an Oaks winner, she clearly relished the 1400m trip and fingers crossed, we witnessed a classic prospect in the making!
