Varsfontein Stud’s outstanding sire Gimmethegereenlight, South Africa’s Champion Sire of 2022-2023, ended the 2022-2023 season on a high note, when he supplied a trio of graded stakes winners at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday afternoon.
His first stakes success on Sunday came when his two-year-old daughter Cala Muretta stormed home to land the G2 World Pool With Gold Circle Debutante (1200m) for the training partnership of Harold Crawford and Michelle Rix.
Under Muzi Yeni, the well bred filly fought out a titanic duel with eventual runner up Captain’s Christy, which saw Cala Muretta prevail by a short-head.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, Cala Muretta was making her first start for her trainers on Sunday, with the filly having begun her career with Ashley Fortune.
In landing Sunday’s G2 feature, Cala Muretta became Gimmethegreenlight’s 58th stakes winner.
Cala Muretta, who has won twice from five starts, was an R300 000 buy from the 2022 National Yearling Sale.
Out of the Fort Wood mare Scandola, Cala Muretta is bred on the same Gimmethegreenlight/Fort Wood cross as fellow graded stakes winners Green Pepper, Hack Green and Second Base.
Gimmethegreenlight is also the sire of top-class filly Bless My Stars, who justified tote favouritism when running out a convincing winner of Sunday’s G2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet (2000m). Third in the G1 Hollywoodbets Durban July last time out, the three-year-old was given a confident ride by Richard Fourie, who bought Bless My Stars wide around the turn in Sunday’s R300 000 contest before the pair powered home to win convincingly by nearly a length and a half.
Trained by Sean Tarry, Bless My Stars (who had to carry 60kgs in Sunday’s race) has now won five of 13 races (she was also victorious in the 2023 G1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic) for earnings of R1 781 250.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, Bless My Stars, an R250 000 buy from the 2021 National Yearling Sale, is out of the Silvano mare Star Express and she is a full-sister to promising filly Let’s Go Now.
Gimmethegreenlight looks to have sired yet another outstanding prospect in the form of star two-year-old Sandringham Summit. The latter became his sire’s eighth G1 winner when he romped home, defying a poor draw of 14, to a brilliant win in Sunday’s G1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes (1600m), while stamping his Equus Award claims.
A first G1 winner for trainer David Nieuwenhuizen, the Varsfontein Stud bred Sandringham Summit powered home, under Calvin Habib to win Sunday’s R700 000 feature as he liked by nearly two and a half lengths. The star colt’s beaten rivals included another G1-winning son of Gimmethegreenlight in the form of Gold Medallion victor Lucky Lad.
Sandringham Summit, who had won the G2 Durban Golden Horseshoe (over yet another son of Gimmethegreenlight in the form of Gimmeanotherchance) last time out, has now won three of just five starts and is clearly something very special.
Out of the Captain Al mare Townsend (and thus bred on the same cross as G1 winner Gunner), Sandringham Summit was an R1 700 000 buy from the 2022 National Yearling Sale.
His sire Gimmethegreenlight was not only South Africa’s Champion Sire of 2022-2023, but also the country’s Leading Sire of 2YOs and 3YOs for that period.