Klawervlei Stud’s exciting young stallion Pomodoro had a hugely impressive first crop winner at Turffontein on Saturday.
His daughter Return Flight, making just her second racecourse appearance, romped to an 11.25 length over 1450m- and she appears a filly going places!

Bred by Mike Sharkey, the two-year-old was ridden to victory by Lyle Hewitson, who rated Return Flight as a “very nice filly”. Runner up on debut, Return Flight was a bargain R20 000 purchase from the 2017 March Yearling Sale. She looks a potential feature race contender, and clearly has a bright future ahead of her.
Fittingly, Return Flight is trained by Sean Tarry (who said the filly was his pick at the March Sale) and owned by Chris Van Niekerk –who both enjoyed such success with Pomodoro himself.

She was one of only two runners at Turffontein for leading young sire Pomodoro, whose only other starter on the day ,My Boy Caloi, was a close second over 1450m. Now placed in his last two outings, it is surely only a matter of time before the Stephen Moffat trained My Boy Caloi gets his head in front and gives Pomodoro more first crop success.
Pomodoro has made a tremendous start to his stud career, with his first crop success even more notable when taking into account he himself never raced at two.
Other notable first crop runners for the former Vodacom Durban July winner include debut winner Lethal Weapon and the very talented colts Cirillo and Royal Italian. Cirillo, by far and away the best horse thrown by his dam Miss Wordsworth, has been second in both the G3 Protea Stakes and Kuda Sprint, while the promising Royal Italian was a smart second in the Listed Storm Bird Stakes.
Remarkably, the dual G1 winning Pomodoro was represented by a pair of runners in each of the Listed Storm Bird and G3 Protea Stakes.
A son of seven times champion sire Jet Master and Broodmare Of The Year Golden Apple, Pomodoro’s stakes winning half-sister Quest Of Gold is dam of this season’s top class filly, and potential G2 SA Oaks contender, Chariot Of Gold.