Avontuur Thoroughbred Farms’ exciting young sire Oratorio has made a smart start to his South African stud career, and was represented by two more promising sorts at Greyville on Wednesday.

Danehill’s triple G1 winning son was represented by his fifth South African first crop winner yesterday when his son Opera Royal made a winning polytrack debut over 1400m.
Trained by Glen Kotzen, Opera Royal came with a late rattle to land his maiden victory by three and a half lengths going away –and judging by the ease of this win, Opera Royal won’t stop here! Out of the stakes winning Albarahin mare Fakazi, Opera Royal was a R300 000 buy from the 2016 Cape Premier Yearling Sale.
Just two races later, another son of Oratorio, Chantyman, caught the eye when making an impressive debut, in open company, when running on very smartly for third over 1400m –despite being slow away and racing very wide.
Bred by Avontuur, Chantyman is held in high regard by trainer Dennis Bosch, who has entered the colt in the G2 Golden Horseshoe on Vodacom Durban July day next month.
His sire Oratorio, now represented by five juvenile winners from his first South African crop, has enjoyed good success of late, and was represented by two more stakes performers when son Ancestry and daughter Sequined ran second in the Listed Gatecrasher and Listed Devon Air Stakes respectively on Saturday.
A former champion sire in Italy (twice), Oratorio will be represented by five yearlings at the 2017 KZN Yearling Sale.