South Africa’s reigning champion sire Gimmethegreenlight enjoyed yet another big day on Saturday, when his sons Proceed and Lucky Lad won the G1 Gold Medallion (1200m) and G1 Golden Horse Sprint (1200m) respectively.
Remarkably it was a second year in a row that Gimmethegreenlight had this double, with his sons Lucky Lad and Gimme A Prince victorious in the 2023 Gold Medallion and Golden Horse Sprint respectively.
Gimmethegreenlight’s son Lucky Lad, like Proceed trained by Sean Tarry and ridden by Richard Fourie, had won the 2023 G1 Gold Medallion by over five lengths.
The progressive Proceed is his sire’s 11th G1 winner.
Winner of the G3 TAB Protea Stakes last time out, Proceed unleashed a fine turn of foot to win Saturday’s 1200 contest.
Flying up late, Proceed stormed home to down stablemate Cosmic Speed and win by three parts of a length.
Bred by his part-owner Laurence Wernars, Proceed has now won three of just six starts.
His paternal half-brother Lucky Lad claimed the fifth graded win of his career, and stamped himself as a hugely attractive stud prospect, when he claimed Saturday’s R1 000 000 Golden Horse Sprint at Hollywoodbets Scottsville.
Winner of the G2 Jehan Malherbe Senor Santa Stakes last time out, the Sean Tarry trained three-year-old produced a devastating turn of foot to get up and land the Golden Horse Sprint by a head.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, Lucky Lad was an R850 000 purchase from the 2022 National Yearling Sale.
Lucky Lad, who is out of the Caesour mare Imperial State, has now won six of nine starts, having won all of the G1 Gold Medallion, G2 World Sports Betting SA Nursery and G3 Protea Stakes at two.
His sire Gimmethegreenlight is also sire of this season’s outstanding three-year-olds Gimme A Nother and Green With Envy, who, between them, have won nine graded stakes between them this season.