Drakenstein Stud’s top-class stallion What A Winter was responsible for a pair of feature race winners at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday.
Not only did the stallion’s son Mid Winter Wind land Sunday’s G3 Byerley Turk (1400m), a filly by What A Winter, Winter Greeting, ran an impressive winner of the Listed KwaZulu-Natal Stakes (1000m) on the same card.
Both Mid Winter Wind and Winter Greeting are trained by Sean Tarry  with Tarry having also conditioned What A Winter’s G1 One winning son Warrior’s Rest.
Exciting three-year-old Mid Winter Wind made it four wins in a row when he sauntered home to claim the Byerley Turk convincingly. Under S’Manga Khumalo, the gelded son of What A Winter came with a late flourish and stayed on strongly to win by a length and a half.
Bred and owned by Drakenstein Stud, the blue-blooded Mid Winter Wind is out of the Dynasty-sired champion Lady In Black.
Mid Winter Wind, who looks destined for bigger and better things, has now won four of seven starts with the three-year-old yet to finish out of the first three.
His paternal half-sister Winter Greeting picked up her first black-type win when she won Sunday’s Listed KwaZulu-Natal Stakes, a race won previously by such champions as Val De Ra and Via Africa.
Under a confident ride from Serino Moodley, the four-year-old hit the front 200m from home and drew away to win by nearly two and a half lengths.
Bred by Syrilla Stud, Winter Greeting, who won each of her first three starts, has now won five of just nine starts.
Winter Greeting is out of the Kahal mare Eastern Greeting.
South Africa’s Leading Sire of 2Yos in 2019-2020, What A Winter has now been responsible for 26 stakes winners and both Mid Winter Wind and Winter Greeting look more than capable of adding to their feature race victories.
His flagbearers this season include the very promising two-year-old Winds Of Change, who finished second in both Listed World Sports Betting Summer Juvenile Stakes and G3 City Of Cape Town Cape Of Good Hope Nursery.
A four-time G1 winning son of triple South African champion sire Western Winter, What A Winter has a cracking draft on offer at the upcoming National Yearling Sale, where he is represented by, among others, a colt (Lot 144) out of G1 Mercury Sprint winner Fly By Night, a half-brother (Lot 194) to G1 Woolavington 2000 queen Silver Darling, a full-brother (Lot 216) to dual graded stakes winner Celestial Love, and a half-brother (Lot 231) to the G3 Victress Stakes winning dam of Equus Champion Bless My Stars.