Sandown Stud’s red hot sire Pathfork enjoyed yet more feature race success on Sunday when his son Royal Victory ran out a courageous winner of the Listed PinkDrive Michaelmas Handicap (1900m) at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
Just days earlier, the stallion’s three-year-old son Main Defender had shown his class when romping home to a six-and-a-half length win in the G2 Betway Joburg Spring Challenge at Turffontein.
Classy four-year-old Royal Victory, one of the best of his generation at both two and three, bounced back to form when he won Sunday’s Michaelmas Handicap. Under a driving ride from Calvin Habib, the Nathan Kotzen-trained gelding powered home down the inside of the track to get up close home and land the 2023 Michaelmas Handicap by a head.
Bred by Dr Marianne Thomson, Royal Victory has now won three of 14 starts, with his previous wins including the 2023 G3 Tony Ruffel Stakes. The classy four-year-old was also runner-up in all of the G1 Premiers Champion Stakes, G2 Durban Golden Horseshoe and G2 WSB Gauteng Guineas.
Out of the Kahal mare Kailani, Royal Victory, who has earned more than R750 000 in prize money, was an R90 000 buy from the 2021 National Yearling Sale.
His G1 boylesports.com Vincent O’Brien National Stakes winning sire Pathfork has made a tremendous start to the 2023-2024 season. At the time of writing, Pathfork, a Distorted Humor half-brother to G1 Preakness Stakes winner War Of Will, is the joint leading sire of stakes winners in South Africa this season, with Pathfork’s progeny having already earned more than R1.777 million this season.

Also sire of G1 winners Mighty High and Pearl Of Asia, Pathfork has two lots on offer at the November Two Year Old Sale.