Last season’s Leading First Crop Sire Gimmethegreenlight had a memorable feature race double this weekend, with his son Gimme The Stars landing the East Cape Guineas, and two-year-old daughter Green Plains picking up the G3 Pretty Polly Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday. Another by the sire, former G3 Daily Sun Magnolia Handicap winner Green Pepper, ran a good second in the G3 Man O’War Stakes at Turffontein.
Trained by Yvette Bremner, Gimme The Stars made it four wins on the bounce when romping home to a decisive 2.25 length win in Friday’s Listed East Cape Guineas at Fairview.
The Patricia Devine bred gelding has now won four on the bounce and his fifth win in total, with Gimme The Stars having previously lifted the Listed Ibhyai Stakes.
Gimme The Stars, a R250 000 purchase from the 2015 Cape Premier Yearling Sale, also continued the great run that Gimmethegreenlight’s progeny have enjoyed in the Eastern Cape lately, with the son of More Than Ready’s daughter Beataboutthebush having lifted the recent Breeders Guineas in the province.
Just one day later, the Gary Player Stud bred Green Plains gave her sire yet another feature race winner when victorious in the G3 Pretty Polly Stakes over 1160m on Classic Day. The 2yo filly, like Gimme The Stars out of a Jet Master mare, made it two wins from just three outings when lifting the R200 000 contest.
A former G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner, and by one of the world’s most prolific dual Hemisphere sires, Gimmethegreenlight has 10 lots on this month’s Emperors Palace Select Yearling Sale, including a colt out of G3 winner Success Counts (Lot 45), a filly out of an own sister to multiple G1 winner Copper Parade (Lot 86), and a colt out of a four time stakes winning daughter of top sire and broodmare sire National Assembly (Lot 97).
The half-brother to G1 winner Ofcourseican also has a 19 strong draft on next month’s National Yearling Sale, including a colt out of a stakes winning Elliodor half-sister to champion Argonaut (Lot 79), a filly out of a seven time stakes winning daughter of champion and top sire Singspiel (Lot 104), a filly out of a stakes winning own sister to G1 winners Nania and Red Ray (Lot 238), and a filly intensely inbred to G1 Golden Slipper and successful sire Canny Lad (Lot 317).