Avontuur Thoroughbred Estate’s hugely successful Var was represented by his 43rd individual stakes winner when his 3yo daughter Ghaalla won the G3 Fillies Mile at Turffontein on Saturday.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, the Mike de Kock trained Ghaalla was slotted in mid-field during the Fillies Mile, as Equus Champion Return Flight went out to make the running in Saturday’s R275 000 feature.
Ridden by Randall Simons, Ghaalla ran on strongly down the middle of the track to fight out a thrilling finish with the 66-1 shot I Like It, with Ghaalla narrowly prevailing to land the first feature race win of her career by a short head, with G2 SA Fillies Nursery/G3 Starling Stakes winner Ronnie’s Candy 0.85 of a length back in third place.
Front runner, and last season’s impressive G1 Thekwini Stakes winner, Return Flight was back in fourth place- two and a quarter lengths off the Var sired winner.
Ghaalla, who has won or placed in five of just seven outings, was the top lot sold off the 2017 National Yearling Sale where she set a then new record for a yearling sold at BSA auction –she made R5 000 000 to the bid of Shadwell South Africa.
Bred on the same Var/Captain Al cross as G2 SA Nursery winner William The Silent, the talented filly, runner up in last season’s G2 SA Fillies Nursery and third last time out in the G3 HSH Princess Charlene Starling Stakes, is now likely to be aimed at next month’s G1 Cape Fillies Guineas.
Her sire Var, twice Champion Sire of 2YOs in South Africa, has an excellent record as a sire of high class fillies, with Ghaalla joining the likes of champions Val De Ra and Via Africa, G1 South African Fillies Sprint winner Sommerlied, Oaks winner Princess Of Light and Merchants winner Varikate as high class graded stakes winning daughters of Var.
Var is currently South Africa’s Leading Active Sire by money earned this season, with Var’s runners having already banked over R3.6 million in 2018-2019.