CHERRY ON THE TOP TRIUMPHS IN SA OAKS AND TRIPLE TIARA

Watch Cherry On The Top winning the SA Oaks and Triple Tiara
(Image and Footage : Racing International)

WILGERBOSDRIFT SA OAKS (Grade 2)
Final leg of the Triple Tiara
Turffontein, Turf, 2450m
27 April 2013

Mike Moon
TAB NewsCherry On The Top became only the second filly after the mighty Igugu to claim the coveted Wilgerbosdrift Stud Triple Tiara with her scintillating victory in the Grade 2 SA Oaks at Turffontein on Saturday.

Having doddled the first two legs of the Tiara series - the Gauteng Fillies Guineas and the SA Fillies Classic - Cherry On The Top was quoted at odds of 1-6 to complete the hat-trick.

She proved worthy of every bit of that respect, cruising to a two-length triumph to claim the R1million Tiara bonus for her owner Bridget Oppenheimer.

It was a real family affair with Mrs O - as she’s affectionately known - accepting the bonus cheque from her daughter Mary Slack, owner of sponsor Wilgerbosdrift Stud. Also, Mrs O’s Mauritzfontein Stud bred the winner from her top broodmare Carolina Cherry from a service by Wilgerbosdrift’s stallion Tiger Ridge.

The 2450m was taken at a slow pace, with the favourite’s rivals clearly plotting to ambush her with a sprint run-in. But the dark bay from the yard of wily veteran trainer Ormond Ferraris was just far too good in the end.

Cherry On The Top jumped away on terms from the rails draw and jockey Nooresh Juglall eased her into position behind the eager Moikavano, Rue De Rivoli, Secret Obsession and Princess Line. Second favourite Do You Remember was tucked in a few lengths behind.

The bunched field approached the final turn at little more than a canter, with Cherry On The Top just two lengths off the pace. In the Fillies Classic last month Juglall felt compelled to go early, getting plenty of criticism for his trouble, despite winning by six lengths. This time Juglall was all patience, waiting and watching as the front runners tired and a bunch of backmarkers moved up to challenge. With 250m to go, the young Mauritian rider shook the reins, the filly picked up her feet and the big crowd roared.

Do You Remember must be tired of watching Cherry On The Top’s rump disappearing into the distance. Geoff Woodruff’s filly was second for the third time in the Tiara races - some kind of record in itself, surely. Jet Bell (14-1), who trailed the field for most of the trip, ran on very well for third and Sky Pirate (15-1) was fourth.

Cherry On The Top has now won eight of 11 starts and many racing fans will be wondering why she hasn’t been nominated for the upcoming Vodacom Durban July. It’s possible the connections feel the three-year-old needs a rest after the extreme rigours of the eight weeks of the Tiara and will be a better winter season prospect as a four-year-old.

Mrs O isn’t keen to race her overseas.

Extract from TAB News

MARY SLACK'S WILGERBOSDRIFT TO SPONSOR SA TRIPLE TIARA

Mary Slack
(Photo : Sporting Post)

WILGERBOSDRIFT
SA TRIPLE TIARA

Doyenne of South African racing and breeding, Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift Stud is to sponsor the 2013 SA Triple Tiara for three-year-old fillies.

The Triple Tiara comprises three races:

The R500,000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas (Grade 2)
Turffontein, 1600m, Saturday 2 March

The R1million Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic (Grade 1)
Turffontein, 1800m, Saturday 30 March

The R750,000 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks (Grade 2)
Turffontein, 2450m, Saturday 27 April

The Triple Tiara is the ultimate test for a filly and carries a R1million bonus for winning all three legs. Summerhill’s Igugu (2011) is the only filly to have won the Triple Tiara since its inception in 1999.

Mary Slack said: “Wilgerbosdrift is delighted to be associated with the Triple Tiara, three top-class races that cater for the country’s best fillies. It is essential for the breeding industry that fillies race for excellence in South Africa and are rewarded accordingly. Superior fillies produce champion racehorses and they are the flag bearers of our industry in generations to come. Igugu is the only filly in South Africa to have won all three legs and let’s hope that there is another champion in the wings,” she added.

Phumelela Sales Executive Clyde Basel said: “We are privileged to have Wilgerbosdrift as the sponsor of the Triple Tiara. They have bred multiple graded winners and are having a super season. To have a top breeder’s brand associated with the Triple Tiara series is fantastic for the event. Many thanks to Mary Slack for making this sponsorship possible.”

Extract from Tab News

WHICH WAS THE BEST FILLY TO RACE IN SOUTH AFRICA?

Click above to watch Igugu winning the SA Oaks and Triple Tiara (2011)
(Image : JC Photos - Footage : Tellytrack)

“Kings Pact, Dignity, Olympic Duel, Ipi Tombe,
Empress Club, Renounce or Igugu”

There have been numerous debates over the years as to who was the best horse ever to be bred in South Africa. However, the question of which was the best filly ever to race in this country has largely been overlooked.

Pedigree buff Sarah Whitelaw recently compiled her list of top fillies and mares for the Sporting Post based largely on their South African record, although Ipi Tombe’s feats both locally and abroad have made her a definite inclusion.

KINGS PACT (His Excellency - Magna Carta)

A truly great racemare, Kings Pact had to overcome a really tough campaign as a 2-year-olad which included a remarkable nine race winning streak. She won the Clairwood Winter Handicap (now Champions Cup) as a 2-year-old - an all but unheard of achievement. Kings Pact went on to land the Champion Stakes as a 3-year-old, winning the WFA race by nearly ten lengths in the process, and setting a new race record in the process. She went on to land the Natal Derby at the remarkable odds of 10-1 ON, but was beaten narrowly in the Cape Derby. Kings Pact also ran fourth in the Duban July giving the winner nearly two stone!

DIGNITY (Minor Forfeit - Stuck Up)

Not only was Dignity a champion on the racetrack, she is also the dam of champion racehorse and sire Dignitary. She was unbeaten at two in five starts, but was defeated, as the favourite, in the SA Derby. She won a Durban Merchants and put up a staggering display to win a Merchants carrying 9 stone 12! Her son, Dignitary, was the first South African bred horse to top the general sires list.

OLYMPIC DUEL (Dancing Champ - Mashka)

Despite being injured in a float accident, Olympic Duel recovered to establish herself as a true champion. She beat the colts in some of the biggest races, winning the J&B Met, Champion Stakes and Mainstay International. In the latter race, Olympic Duel had to tote top-weight, and still managed to defeat J&B Met winner Divine Master. In total, Olympic Duel won no fewer than seven G1 races, and was twice placed in the Durban July. She went onto become a successful broodmare. Her descendants include recent G3 Champagne Stakes winner, Northern Heritage.

IPI TOMBE (Manshood - Carnet de Danse)

The Zimbabwean bred overcame an ordinary pedigree to become a champion both locally and internationally. During her career, Ipi Tombe made 14 starts, and won 12 of them. She was unbeaten in her overseas campaign, winning feature races in both USA and Dubai - where her wins included a facile triumph in the Dubai Duty Free (where she thrashed subsequent Duty Free dead heater, Paolini). Ipi Tombe won South Africa’s most famous race, the Durban July, as a 3-year-old, and won four of her five starts in South Africa. Unfortunately, she is yet to replicate her success on the track at stud, despite being sent to some of the world’s top sires.

EMPRESS CLUB (Farnesio - Elysee)

The Argentinian-bred was a true superstar, and one of the best fillies ever to set foot on a South African racetrack. Nicknamed the “Galloping Goldmine”, Empress Club was unbeaten at two, where her wins included easy scores in the Smirnoff Plate and SA Nursery. At three she was named Horse of the Year, and beat colts in the Cape Guineas, SA Guineas and Administrator’s Classic. Remarkably, she then downed older males when landing the rich Administrator’s Cup. At four, Empress Club won both the Met and Queen’s Plate, beating champion Flaming Rock on both occasions.

A half-sister to champion Ecurie, Empress Club was later exported to the US, where she won the G3 Hillsborough Handicap. Retired to stud, Empress Club produced the minor stakes winners Azouz Pasha and Empress Pegasus. She died suddenly in 2004.

RENOUNCE (Arctic Flower - Cleanse)

One of the best fillies in a vintage era of great horses, Renounce had the misfortune of competing against the likes of Sea Cottage, William Penn and Java Head. Nontheless, this great filly managed to win both the Cape Guineas, Paddock Stakes and Met. She also landed the spoils in the Garden Province Stakes by a whopping seven lengths. Raced from two to five, the daughter of Arctic Flower won ten times, and competed against some of the greats of the sport.

Unfortunately, Renounce proved disappointing at stud, producing just a single winner.

IGUGU (Galileo - Zarinia)

One of just a handful of horses to win both the July and Met, Igugu did all that was asked of her during her South African campaign. The daughter of Galileo looked special right from the start, and was sold for R1million at the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready to Run Sale. Recently exported to Dubai, Igugu won ten of her 12 starts in South Africa - and looked slightly unlucky in her only two defeats. She is the first filly ever to win the Fillie’s Triple Tiara, and her six length romp in the G2 SA Oaks (over the very talented staying filly Princess of Light) was majestic. In her only two starts against older, open competition, Igugu proved triumphant - despite a poor prep for the 2012 J&B Met. She is expected to add to her trainer’s superb record in Dubai.

Extract from Sporting Post

HIGHVELD RACING AWARDS 2011 : RESULTS

Igugu - Horse of the Season
(Photo : JC Photos / Summerhill Stud)

HIGHVELD RACING AWARDS
21 May 2011

Igugu was named Horse Of The Season at the Racing Association’s Highveld Feature Season Awards on Saturday night.

The Mike de Kock-trained filly was a worthy winner of the accolade after becoming the first filly in history to win the SA Triple Tiara, which comprises the Gauteng Fillies Guineas over 1600m, the SA Fillies Classic over 1800m and the SA Oaks over 2450m.

The 2009 Summerhill Ready To Run graduate won by a landslide with every member of the panel of judges, comprising Nicci Garner, Jack Milner, Lennon Maharaj, Germaine Maharaj, Shaheen Shaw, Patrick Davis and Darryl Maree, giving her the nod. The equine awards were adjudicated by the panel, while the winners of the champion breeder, apprentice, jockey and trainer awards were calculated on a point system according to graded and listed races won. The champion owner was decided on stakes earned in feature races during the season.

Igugu also won the award as Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, while her trainer Mike de Kock was named Champion Trainer and his stable also collected Ilsanpietro’s Champion Stayer award.

One other horse collected two awards, and that was Horse Chestnut Stakes and Empress Club Stakes winner Dancewiththedevil, who took the awards as Champion Older Horse and Champion Middle Distance Horse. She was bred and is owned and trained by St John Gray.

2011 HIGHVELD SEASON AWARDS

Champion Two Year Old Filly
HIDDEN BEAUTY Trainer Paul Matchett Owner Fred Crabbia
Champion Two Year Old Colt / Gelding
DELAGO DELUX Trainer Charles Laird Owners Ingrid and Markus Jooste
Champion Three Year Old Filly
IGUGU Trainer Mike de Kock Owners Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and Andre & Joyce Macdonald
Champion Three Year Old Colt / Gelding
ENGLISH GARDEN Trainer Mike Bass Owner Lady Lilford
Champion Older Horse
DANCEWITHTHEDEVIL Trainer St John Gray Owner St John Gray
Champion Sprinter
VAL DE RA Trainer Dennis Drier Owner Avontuur Estate (Pty) Ltd (Nom: Mr B A I Taberer)
Champion Middle-Distance Horse
DANCEWITHTHEDEVIL Trainer St John Gray Owner St John Gray
Champion Stayer
ILSANPIETRO Trainer Mike de Kock Owner Fazenda Mondesir International (Nom: P C P de Castro)
Champion Sand Specialist
IRON CURTAIN Trainer Robbie Sage Owner Bridget Oppenheimer
Horse Of The Season
IGUGU Trainer Mike de Kock Owners Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and Andre & Joyce Macdonald
Champion Apprentice
JP VAN DER MERWE
Champion Jockey
ANTHONY DELPECH
Champion Trainer
MIKE DE KOCK
Champion Breeder
SUMMERHILL STUD (PTY) LTD
Champion Owner
INGRID AND MARKUS JOOSTE

Extract from Tab Online

IGUGU DELIVERS SA OAKS AND SA TRIPLE TIARA

Click above to watch Igugu winning the SA Oaks (Grade 2)
(Image : JC Photos - Footage : Tellytrack)

SA OAKS (Grade 2)
Turffontein, Turf, 2450m
30 April 2011

“FINAL LEG OF SA TRIPLE TIARA”

England was presented with a new princess on Friday when Prince William married his Catherine with much pomp and ceremony writes Nicci Garner. A day later on Champions Day at Turffontein, South Africa crowned its own princess with almost as much revelry when Igugu (AUS) (Galileo (IRE) - Zarinia (IRE) brought a huge crowd to its feet as she annihilated her opposition in the R750,000 SA Oaks (Grade 2) to take the SA Triple Tiara, and the R1-million bonus.

Igugu, a Summerhill Stud graduate from the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale, tracked pacemaker Princess Of Light and took over as the field cornered into the long straight. She never looked like getting beaten after that. Princess Of Light battled bravely, but could not sustain her effort as Igugu went away in the final 400m to win by 5.75 lengths.

Princess Of Light kept going gamely to finish second, 6.50 lengths ahead of Igugu’s stablemate Ilha Grande.

Igugu had been impressive in winning the first two legs of the Triple Tiara, beating Hollywoodboulevard by 4 lengths in the Gauteng Fillies Guineas (1600m) on 26 February and scoring a 10.25 length victory over Las Ramblas in the second leg, the Grade 1 SA Fillies Classic (1800m) on 26 March.

Her victory in the Grade 2 SA Oaks on Champions Day rewrote the history books. No other filly had managed to win all three Triple Tiara races since the series was introduced by Phumelela in 1999. That year her trainer Mike de Kock saddled the mighty Horse Chestnut to win the Triple Crown, the male-female equivalent of the Triple Crown, and he is still the only trainer to have accomplished that feat.

Many racing fans globally agree that, in the words of jockey Anthony Delpech: “Mike de Kock is a legend.”

De Kock said afterwards that he had studied the methods used by American trainers in preparing their horses for the famous USA Triple Crown and that together with the knowledge he acquired from Horse Chestnut had been invaluable in preparing Igugu for her Triple Tiara bid.

When asked to compare Horse Chestnut and Igugu, he said: “It’s tough to compare generations. I wouldn’t slot her in second behind Horse Chestnut, but she is right up there with the best fillies I have trained.”

All being well, Igugu will now head to KwaZulu-Natal for the winter season and is set to run in the Woolavington Stakes (Grade 1) and the Vodacom Durban July (Grade 1) before heading overseas for the 2012 Dubai International Racing Carnival.

SA OAKS (GR2)
FINAL RESULT

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	IGUGU (AUS)	58.0	109	2	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
2	5.75	PRINCESS OF LIGHT	58.0	92	6	M Mienie	Geoff Woodruff
3	12.25	ILHA GRANDE	58.0	90	4	G Lerena	Mike de Kock
4	22.00	MAR LODGE	58.0	75	1	G Wrogemann	Robbie Sage
5	25.00	STORMY COAST	58.0	92	9	S Brown	George Scott
6	27.50	CHERRY ON THE CAKE	58.0	85	7	D Mansour	Gavin van Zyl
7	27.75	MICRO JET	58.0	73	3	M V’Rensburg	Stuart Pettigrew
8	31.00	KEEP ON DREAMING	58.0	77	5	*N Juglall	Kumaran Naidoo
9	43.00	JUSTTHEWAYYOUARE	58.0	95	8	A Marcus	Geoff Woodruff
		Late Scratchings
10	0.00	CHECCETTI	58.0	97	1	K Shea	Mike de Kock
11	0.00	NAUTICAL	58.0	68	4	D David	Brian Wiid

Extract from TAB Online

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