Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm’s top class sire Var has an outstanding record in the Listed Bauhinia Handicap and his daughter Exquisite Touch gave her sire yet another win in the race when running out a one and a quarter length winner of the 2017 race on Saturday.
Bred by the Waterford Stud, the 3yo filly was winning for the third time in just six starts-and it was a second feature race win for Exquisite Touch (who is bred on the same Var/Elliodor cross as former Equus Champion Val De Ra).
The Sean Tarry trained Exquisite Touch, one of the best of her generation at two, had won her first two outings by 4.5 lengths, with her wins including the Listed Ruffian Stakes.
She is one of five stakes horses to have emerged from Var’s current crop of 3yos, with this crop having also produced the G1 performer Rivarine and G2 The Debutante winner A Womens Way.
(Another of this crop, Star Burst Galaxy, ran a close second in Friday’s Listed Breeders Guineas).
Var daughters have now won the Listed Bauhinia Handicap on no fewer than five occasions, with the 2016 winner, Easy Game, also being sired by the son of Forest Wildcat.
The former sprint star has also been enjoying another great season with his juveniles to date this season, and Var, whose sons Dollar Dazzler and Kingoftheworld both hold entries for the G2 Senor Santa Stakes, is currently South Africa’s joint second leading 2yo sire (by winners).
Var has two well related lots on offer at Thursday’s Cape Yearling Sale – a colt out of regally bred stakes winner Victorian Secret (whose own sister Snowdance made an impressive recent winning debut) (Lot 75) and a colt out of G3 Acacia Handicap winner Amur Affair (Lot 92).
He also has four lots on offer at the weekend’s March Yearling Sale –including a filly (bred like Varallo and Valedictorian) out of a winning three parts sister to 2yo champ and sire Argonaut (Lot 16), a colt from the family of champion sprinter and Breeders’ Cup winner Sheikh Albadou (Lot77), a colt from the family of SA legend Horse Chestnut (Lot 97) and a filly from the famed Best In Show family, responsible for great fillies as Rags To Riches and Peeping Fawn (Lot 140).