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An outside draw and the services of Anthony Delpech was all that Fly By Night needed to record her first Gr.1 victory in the Mercury Sprint at Clairwood.
Coming into the race, the four-year-old daughter of Jet Master(SAF) may have only been a two-time winner, but she had come close to causing an upset in the Gr. 1 South African Fillies Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville recently, when flying up late to almost collar multiple Gr.1 Equus Sprint Champion, Via Africa, on the line.
With the favourite, Normanz, a late scratching, Casual Var under Donovan Dillon jumped best and led the field up the Clairwood straight, with Happy Forever and Stuart Randolph on his inside, hugging the standside rail. In the compact field, Delpech settled Fly By Night midfield on the rail, content to wait for the business end of the race, before setting the speedy filly alight.
Coming to the 500m mark Sean Cormack sent Barbosa forward to challenge for the lead, while Delpech found himself firmly boxed in on the standside rail behind Happy Forever.
Delpech however, is not a champion jockey for nothing and he patiently waited till Happy Forever rolled slightly off the rail at the 200m mark, before sending Fly By Night through the gap and into the lead.
Showmetheway(Brandon Lerena) chased hard but could make no impact on the flying filly, while six-year-old Copper Parade, who seems to have gained a new lease on life, came storming home from the rear of the field under Piere Strydom.
Up front though, Delpech had done enough to secure victory and Copper Parade had to settle for second beaten half a length, while Showmetheway and Brandon Lerena finished in third a further quarter length back, with Midnight Run (Athandiwe Mgudlwa) in fourth. The winning time was 1.09.75 on the Good track.
By Jet Master(SAF) out of the Model Man(SAF) mare Fly The Wind, Fly By Night was recording her third victory and her first Graded victory from seventeen starts, for owners Messrs M J Jooste, Bryn Ressell and N M Shirtliff.