VARSFONTEIN homebred Erik The Red (Captain Al - Covenant by Western Winter) graduated from Listed to Gr.3 winner in one fell swoop with a game victory in the Gr.3 Cape of Good Hope Nursery.
A dominant winner of the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes three weeks before, the Captain Al colt had paternal half-brother Joseph Barry snapping at his heels in the closing stages but  grimly stuck to his task to score by a neck.
This was a third win on the bounce for the son of our Gr.1 winner Covenant, whose previous foals include Gr.1 Gold Medallion runner-up Varallo (Var) and stakes-placed Scandola (Fort Wood). 
As it is our policy to sell all colts and race a number of fillies,  Erik The Red is somewhat of a rarity.  As Susan explained: "He was going to be our star lot at the National Sale, but a veterinary issue forced his withdrawal at the last minute before the truck left. We were devastated but we believed in him, so decided to race him ourselves."
A decision which it seems, has paid off handsomely!

OLEKSANDRA ON TRACK FOR DUBAI

DUBAI World Cup-winning owner Team Valor International is hoping for more Meydan glory at the world-leading $35 million meeting at the end of March. If all goes well, its exciting California-based Gr.3 winner Oleksandra could take her chances in the $2 million Gr.1 Al Quoz Sprint.
The daughter of Barry Irwin's Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom and Varsfontein-bred Gr.1 victress Alexandra Rose, began her career in birth country Australia but has blossomed into a stakes winning turf sprinter in the USA. Successful in Keeneland’s Gr.3 Franklin County Stakes over 1100m in October for trainer Neil Drysdale, she has been working steadily this winter at Santa Anita.
“We are pointing her for the Gr.1 Al Quoz,” Irwin  remarked. “Neil Drysdale will start cranking her up at Santa Anita, ship her to Palm Meadows Training Centre in Florida to breeze on the grass on March 16 to break up the trip to Dubai, then fly her to UAE on March 17. Joel Rosario will ride her at Meydan.”
Oleksandra is not Team Valor's first Dubai runner with South African roots, the famed outfit also owned the remarkable Ipi Tombe, winner of the Gr.1 Dubai Duty Free in 2003.
Irwin reports that Oleksandra's four-year-old own brother Macedonian Ruler is now in full work and could be racing in April. As for their dam, Alexandra Rose, she is currently in foal to Gr.1 winner Mendelssohn.

MASTER OF MY FATE JOINS THE BIG GUNS
IT'S official. Master Of My Fate has made the breakthrough into the top ten sires on the General Sires List.
Latest NHRA stats show our homebred is the ninth-leading stallion on the General Sires List. If one takes into account that both Captain Al (2nd) and Dynasty (6th) are deceased, he is the seventh leading active sire, ahead of stalwarts such as Ideal World, Duke Of Marmalade and former champion Trippi. No mean feat!

February ended on a high note for the son of Jet Master when his Gr.2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Basadi Faith (pictured above) scored a super-impressive victory at Turffontein.

Unbeaten in her first four starts, she sadly went wrong in the Gr.1 Allan Robertson Championship and was not seen out again until her pipe opener in December.
Razor sharp in her second start since that layoff, she hit top form in a hotly-contested 1000m sprint. On the lead from the jump, she blitzed her way up the track to humble Gr.1 Allan Robertson winner Mighty High by just over three lengths, while those behind her also included Gr.2 Post Merchants victresss La Bella Mia and Gr.3 Lebelo Sprint winner Rebel's Champ.
Well done to trainer Paul Matchett and the connections!

CAPE YEARLING SALE
The Cape Yearling Sale has been consigned to the history books and given the current economic climate, coupled with a reduction in stakes, the sale held up remarkably well.
Although there were drops in both the aggregate and median, the average price rose marginally, from R64,410 to R66,992.
We were more than pleased that two of our draft featured amongst the top lots.
Master Of My Fate's handsome son Gem King (Lot 52), fetched R250,000, the joint fourth highest-price of the sale. Out of Gem Queen, the dappled bay is a three-part brother to high-class filly Victoriana (Jet Master) and a half-brother to millionaire and Equus Champion, Hammie’s Hooker (Trippi).

Lot 52 - Master Of My Fate - Gem Queen colt.

At R240,000, our filly Mychancetodream (Lot 138) was the sale's top priced filly. Just hours before she stepped into the ring, her exciting young sire Global View notched up a third first-crop winner, a feat which did not go unnoticed by prospective buyers. It was trainer Paul Peter who snapped up his elegant daughter out of Silvery Dream, a two-time winning half-sister to dual Gr.1 ace Eyes Wide Open.

Lot 138 - Global View - Silvery Dream filly.

LASER IN CLASSIC FORM
GIMMETHEGREENLIGHT's Varsfontein-bred son Green Laser threw his hat into the ring for the upcoming Gr.1 SA Classic with an honest third in the Gr.2 Gauteng Guineas.
Fresh off his exciting win in the Gr.2 Sea Cottage Stakes, Robbie Sage's three-year-old contested a high-class renewal of the first leg of the Triple Crown, with only Ikigai and Frosted Gold proving his superior over the mile. He will no doubt relish the extra furlong of the Classic, which incidentally, is run over the same distance as the Sea Cottage.

To say that Gimmethegreenlight's 4yo son Green Haze is overdue a first stakes success, would be an understatement.
Alec Laird's charge lugged top weight when third in the Listed Wolf Power 1600, his third stakes placing in his last four starts, having run second in the Gr.3 Victory Moon Handicap and Gr.3 London News Stakes.