Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm’s leading sire Var, Champion Sire of 2yos last season, had a weekend to remember this past week, when the son of Forest Wildcat was represented by six winners in Southern Africa.

Var kicked off his winning streak when the Sharon Kotzen trained Divar romped home to score his third win over 1400m on Friday. He preceded a trio of Var winners on Saturday, with the regally bred Talk Of The Town making a particularly big impression at Kenilworth.
Trained by Joey Ramsden (who famously handled Var’s greatest son Variety Club), Talk Of The Town defied top weight of 61.5kgs to win the third race, a handicap over 1400m. Ridden by Anton Marcus, the lightly raced three-year-old colt made it back to back wins with a convincing one length win over older rival King Of Aces (who was receiving 9.5kgs from Talk Of The Town).

A handsome chestnut, Talk Of The Town, who sports a real stallion pedigree, was a R3 000 000 buy from the 2016 Emperors Palace Select Yearling Sale.

Var also enjoyed a double at Turffontein on Saturday, with daughters Distant Call and Varsity Girl winning races four and six respectively. Closely inbred to Storm Cat, the Maine Chance Farms bred Distant Call made it win number two from four outings when successful over 1160m, while paternal half-sister Varsity Girl (who had won on debut earlier on) also scored over the same trip, but this time for breeders Klawervlei Stud.

Var’s fabulous weekend continued at Borrowdale on Sunday when his offspring Countess Varovski and Life Is Good won races one and six respectively, with the regally bred Life Is Good lifting the Zimbabwe Challenge over 1450m.

The sire of 20 G1 horses, headed by champions Variety Club, Val De Ra and Via Africa, Var has also enjoyed a memorable stint in the sales ring this year, with his offspring making up to R5 000 000.

The sprint king has 13 lots on the Cape Premier Sale next month, including a half-sister to dual G1 winner Thunder Dance (Lot 135).