Varsfontein Stud’s homebred stallion Erik The Red came up with his first stakes winner on Sunday when his first-crop son Zalatoris won the G2 Follow@World Pool On X Umkhomazi Stakes.
In landing the 1200m contest, Zalatoris emulated his own sire, with Erik The Red having won the G2 Umkhomazi Stakes in 2020.

Trained by Paul Matchett, Zalatoris had impressed when winning on debut, before going on to finish second twice. His runner up efforts sandwiched a fifth place finish by Zalatoris in the G1 Gold Medallion.
Under Keagan De Melo, two-year-old Zalatoris stayed on strongly, down the centre of the track to get up and land the 1200m sprint by a long neck.

Bred by Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm, Zalatoris races for Messrs M and A Kapnias.

The promising colt, a winner of two of five starts, is out of the Silvano mare Charisma.
Zalatoris was a R200 000 buy from the 2024 Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

He is one of 14 first-crop winners for his multiple graded stakes winning sire Erik The Red, with the latter set to be crowned South Africa’s Leading First Season Sire of 2024-2025.
A son of legendary sire Captain Al, Erik The Red has 12 lots on offer at the August Two Year Old Sale.