Highlands Stud part of Ridgemont’s G1 winning young stallion Potala Palace was represented by an eye catching first crop winner at the Vaal on Thursday.
His son Basilius made a winning debut when scoring impressively over 1200m, for trainer Tobie Spies and jockey Jarryd Penny.

It was no race, with Basilius romping home to score by two and a quarter lengths from the well bred favourite Whitehaven.

Bred by the Pecan Hill Stud Farm, Basilius was a R70 000 buy from the 2017 National 2YO Sale.

The gelding was produced by the mare Fashion Queen, whose sire Spectrum sired Potala Palace’s close relatives, and G1 winners, Gamut (Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud) and Golan (2000 Guineas).

He is a second first crop winner for Potala Palace, whose stakes placed daughter Watsonia (the first runner and first winner for Potala Palace) is a runner in Friday’s Listed Lady’s Slipper Stakes at Fairview.

A son of champion racehorse and top international sire Singspiel (responsible for more than 160 stakes horses), Potala Palace ranked among the best of his generation at two, when he won the G1 Premier’s Champion Stakes-beating G1 winners Gimmethegreenlight, Fighting Warrior and Master Plan.

Also victorious in the G3 Joburg Spring Challenge, Potala Palace is a half-brother to Line Ahead (dam of graded winners Excellent Result and Midnight Crossing) and he shares his broodmare sire Alzao with current sire sensation Deep Impact.

The G1 winner has four lots on offer at the 2018 KZN Yearling Sale, with Potala Palace’s draft including a colt whose dam is a half-sister to globetrotting sprinting star Tiza (Lot 70), and a colt whose winning dam is an own sister to Singapore G2 winner Thundering Jet (Lot 208).