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It is ladies day on Saturday at Kenilworth as the fillies and mares contest two Graded races. The day, sponsored by Avontuur Stud farm, promises to be a spectacle of superb horseracing that is not to be missed, with two Equus champions in action.
Photo by Gold Circle
In the R750 000, Grade 1, Avontuur Fillies Guineas(1600m), the reigning Equus Two Year Old Champion Filly of the Year, Princess Victoria takes her place and she is likely to continue breaking the hearts of the fillies unlucky enough to take her on.
While in the R200 000, Grade 2, Tony Taberer Southern Cross Stakes(1000m), Avontuur Stud's very own reigning Equus Sprinter of the Year, Val De Ra, makes her Cape debut.
The flying daughter of Avontuur speed sire Var is unlikely to find much opposition in the field of ten runners, and trainer Dennis Drier has confirmed he is using the race as a stepping stone to the Grade 1 Cape Flying Championship(1000m) back at Kenilworth in January.
Interestingly the chestnut filly was led out of the ring unsold after not reaching her reserve at the 2008 National Yearling Sale. Eventually Durban trainer Dennis Drier was offered the filly.
Initially Drier was not impressed, as she was not much to look at, and offered nothing at home.
“She was so laid back that she didn't show us anything. But the first time I asked her to do something it was a different story,” he said.Val De Ra has only been beaten once in ten starts, despite an attack of peritonitis that kept her off the track for nine months.
Pippa Mickleburgh, general manager at Avontuur, thought that if they could save the filly the best that they could hope for was a stud career, never dreaming that she would ever race again.
“After five weeks in hospital, we thought she might survive but never race again. It was her quiet disposition that helped her make a complete recovery. She handled all the treatment without getting stressed and took everything in her stride” she explains.
Val De Ra then bounced back to win a Grade 1 in April at Turffontein and another in May at Scottsville, showing she had lost none of her brilliance.
The purchase of her sire European Champion Sprinter, Var, was a lifelong dream of Avontuur's late owner, Tony Taberer and it would be a fitting tribute if his homebred daughter by Var wins the race named in his honour.
Other runners with chances include the Mike Bass trained Covenant, who is making her seasonal debut and the Justin Snaith trained State Blue.
