Talented five-year-old Sharja Bridge, a full-brother to Maine Chance Farms’ popular young stallion Querari and half-brother to fellow Cape sire Quasillo, made headlines at Doncaster on Saturday when he won the Listed Unibet Doncaster Mile Stakes over a mile.

Trained by Roger Varian, Sharja Bridge made it win number three, from just ten outings, when scoring a fluent two length win in Saturday’s race as the warmly supported 8-13 favourite.

The gelding, who had won the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot last year, is held in high regard by his trainer, who said after the victory, “He’s got loads of talent, always has had, but he’s been a very immature horse and we’ve had to be very patient with him.

He never ran at two and at three he was always chasing a ball that was running away from him. He had a good year last year but didn’t get it right until Champions Day.

We’ll have a look at the Sandown Mile (Group Two), we’ll put him in the Lockinge and there’s a nine-furlong race in France. You would hope he’d make up in to a Group miler of some description.”

Sharja Bridge, who has won or placed in seven of ten starts, is the fourth stakes winner produced by  Acatenango mare Quetena, who, apart from the group winning sires Querari and Quasillo, is also dam of top-class racemare Quidura. The latter, a daughter of Dubawi, earned over $770 000 in stakes, with Quidura’s victories including the G2 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa, G2 Canadian Stakes and G3 Pin Oak Valley View Stakes.

Her G1 winning half-brother Querari made headlines in South Africa on Friday when his son The Highway Man captured the Listed East Cape Guineas for trainer Gavin Smith.

Querari, whose son Head Honcho ran third in this year’s G1 Sun Met, has 31 lots on offer at the 2019 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.