Avontuur Thoroughbred Estate’s proven G1 sire Oratorio looks to have come up with a smart sort in the form of Operetta.
The latter made it three wins on the bounce when she scored a courageous, neck win in the Ladies Stakes, run over 1200m on the Turffontein inside track on Saturday.

Trained by Paul Peter, and ridden to victory by in-form jockey Warren Kennedy, the four-year-old Operetta is unbeaten since being fitted with blinkers, with Saturday being the filly’s sixth victory in total.

Out of the Var mare Varsity Queen, Operetta was bred by Pippa Mickleburgh and she was an R180 000 buy from the 2017 CTS Ready To Run Sale.

She was one of two South African winners over the past weekend for the triple G1 winning Oratorio, with the latter also enjoying success at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday with his well bred daughter Star Vega.

The latter, a four-year-old bred by Dr Ian Heyns, made it win number two from just four starts when registering a 1.3 length win over 1400m on Sunday (with another Oratorio daughter, Mitra Music, finishing third).

Oratorio, whose star performers last season included the graded stakes winners Divine Odyssey, Mardi Gras and Van Halen, is the sire of 54 stakes winners, and nearly 100 black type performers in total.