The speedy Glen Kotzen-trained Visionaire filly Royal Pleasure could well earn the nickname “the dream filly” as this mere R30,000 purchase remained unbeaten when winning the Gr 3 Strelitzia Stakes over 1100m at Scottsville yesterday and she now has the Gr 1 Allan Robertson over 1200m at the same course on May 23 firmly in her sights.

At that same meeting on May 23 Dennis Drier could land his fourth Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion in succession and his fifth in the space of six years as his Seventh Rock colt Seventh Plain showed his class with an impressive win in the Gr 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes over 1100m.

The Brett Crawford-trained Gulf Storm and the Mike de Kock-trained Moofeed put their hands up as contenders for the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint with eyecatching performances in a competitive Listed In Full Flight Handicap over 1100m.

The Kotzen-trained Jet Belle later showed how effective she is over sprints when destroying the field in the weight for age Gr 3 Poinsettia Stakes over 1200m and if ever there was a horse that deserved to win a Champions Season Gr 1 it is her as she has had her fair share of bad luck in her career.

Royal Pleasure has provided a dream for the youthful 3A Racing syndicate, who have done a lot to promote horseracing in KZN to the younger generation. The closely knit group of friends took a small share in bargain buy Royal Pleasure after she had been knocked down at the Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale and could hardly have dreamed that the first horse they owned, as opposed to leased, could have turned out so good. The majority share in the horse was repurchased by her breeder Barry Irwin’s Team Valor International from bloodstock agent Andy Williams after her first start, so Royal Pleasure now runs for the passionate 3A clan in a set of famous colours. Yesterday, carrying joint topweight in just her third career start, she showed her usual pace under Anton Marcus and held off the Paul Peter-trained maiden Miracle Rising, to whom she gave 4kg. The runner up was a touch unlucky having lost a length or two at the start and the jockey then lost his crop five strides from home, so she is another to follow. Visionaire, who was brought to South Africa by Irwin, has made waves with his first crop and it showed at the recent National Yearling Sales as his progeny averaged close to R300,000 and he was the ninth best sire on aggregate.

Seventh Plain is full of class and will not only be limited to sprinting. The big horse came from a high draw, but Marcus could afford to sit off the pace on the Klawervlei Stud-bred colt before sauntering through in impressive style to beat three well regarded sorts, the Alistair Gordon-trained Beat The Retreat, the Alyson Wright-trained Mr Roy and the Charles Laird-trained Red Hot Poker, by 1,5 lengths, 3,5 lengths and 5,75 lengths respectively.

Jet Belle later streaked away from the Poinsettia field under Greg Cheyne to beat the Justin Snaith-trained Varikate by four lengths with the Paul Lafferty-trained Goldie Coast next best. The five-year-old Jet Master mare could possibly take in the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint over 1200m on May 23, although Alboran Sea and Carry On Alice will both be hard to beat there, so the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes will likely be her main target.

Brett Crawford got his Champions Season off to a good start by winning the Listed In Full Flight Stakes over 1100m with Gulf Storm. This tough four-year-old gelding by Sail From Seattle always looked likely to be suited to the tough Scottsville sprint track. After getting good cover early behind a strong pace he was switched out by Corne Orffer and soon had the measure of the horses on his inside. Moofeed, a Gr 3 winner to whom Gulf Storm gave 2kg, then loomed up on the outside and put his head in front. However, a measure of Gulf Storm’s toughness is that he fought back and got up to win by a head. The first two shouldn’t be punished two severely by the handicapper as the third horse Al Ciberano, a consistent sort who finished 3,6 lengths back, was 1kg under sufferance.

The Listed Scarlet Lady over 1750m turned into a thriller but it was the Charles Laird-trained Captain Al filly who proved her liking for the course, finding extra late under Anton Marcus to beat Euphoria by a length with all of San Trip, Ash Cloud and Gathering Flame close up.

In the Listed Sledgehammer over 1750m Dean Kannemeyer’s good run continued and his Kahal gelding Solar Star took one step closer to a place in the Vodacom Durban July field by producing an impressive late burst under Stuart Randolph to win going away by 0,5 lengths from the resolute Justin Snaith-trained Dynamic.

– By David Thiselton

With six graded and listed races on the card, the nail-biting battle to the line between favourite Moofeed and the lesser-fancied Gulf Storm set the ball rolling on a high note in the Listed In Full Flight Handicap over 1 100m where the Sail From Seattle gelding Gulf Storm prevailed by a narrow margin.

Jockey Corne Orffer showed he was more than capable of mixing it with the top riders in the country when he got the better of Anthony Delpech in the final strides to give trainer Brett Crawford his first local feature winner of the season.

Two very exciting juveniles gave notice of much better things to come in the two Grade 3 races for two-year-olds, the Strelitzia Stakes and the Godolphin Barb Stakes, and both are likely to be short-priced for their big Grade 1 races at Scottsville next month. Both were ridden by Anton Marcus.

Trained by Glen Kotzen, the Visionaire filly Royal Pleasure retained her unbeaten record with a fluid win in the Strelitzia and Seventh Plain, a colt by Seventh Rock from the Dennis Drier stable, put his hand up as a potential winner of the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion on May 23. A performance of note in this race was that of the Argonaut colt Beat The Retreat from the Alistair Gordon stable that came on strongly in the closing stages of the 1 100m event and could be dangerous over the 1 200m of the big race next month.

In the Grade 3 Poinsettia Stakes over 1 200m, the Kotzen-trained Jet Belle showed her class when she won comfortably from the Justin Snaith stable inmate Varikate. Having her first race since January, the Jet Master mare shifted about a little in the closing stages but Greg Cheyne steadied her and she won comfortably.

The Listed Scarlet Lady saw Anton Marcus back in the winner’s enclosure with the Charles Laird-trained Captain Al filly Captain’s Daughter. Marcus had raced her up handy as San Trip set the gallop and moved her to the outside for her run as Euphoria tackled San Trip and looked a potential winner. However, Marcus was at his best and drove Captain’s Daughter up the outside rail to win by a length.

Trainer Dean Kannemeyer can hardly put a foot wrong since bringing his team to Durban and his four-year-old Kahal gelding Solar Star put up a gutsy and impressive performance to beat the opposition under a good ride from Stuart Randolph to close off the meeting in The Sledgehammer over 1 750m.

Joey Ramsden said: “We worked him with Brutal Force at Kenilworth last Wednesday and he went really well.”

Ramsden, who also won the Winter Guineas 11 years ago with another of his stable stars, Winter Solstice, will wait to see how Act Of War is drawn in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge (June 6) before deciding on future plans. The Cape Guineas winner was drawn 23 out of 23 at the entry stage for Sunday’s race but quite a number are expected to drop by the wayside at this morning’s declarations and Ramsden is confident that his star will cope with the outside pen.

Last season’s Mercury Sprint winner Fly By Night will take her chance in the City of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint at Scottsville on May 23 despite disappointing in last Saturday’s Computaform Sprint in which she finished last.

Mike Bass said: “She is fine. The course vet said she was not striding out on her right front but I could find nothing wrong unless it was the tiny saddle that Bernard was using, and even then maybe it was just that I was trying to find something.”

Stable companion Tevez (seventh) goes to Durban although not exactly on his trainer’s wishes. “I can’t get him home without him having to stay somewhere for two weeks in the mountains because of African Horse Sickness regulations. He tends to bleed in Durban but I might run him towards the end of the season.”

The benefits of Mike Stewart’s beachside operation were given a proof-positive by Chris Snaith after Trackmaster returned after nearly three months away to secure a battling win under Richard Fourie in yesterday’s Silicone & Technical Maiden. Snaith said: “He was suffering from sore shins and we were tearing our hair out. In the end we gave him a blister and sent him to Mike.” Stewart said: “When I thought he was ready I rode him myself on the pan, the stretch of my hardest sand, and he went really well. I said to the Snaiths: ‘This is going to be a top horse and he won’t get beaten next time he runs.’”

Andrew Fortune is now riding work for Darryl Hodgson most days of the week and the former champion is being rewarded with more and more of the stable’s rides. He scored a narrow win on Natatela in the Multifix Maiden despite the filly drifting right across the course and owner Hassen Adams ruefully remarked: “I thought he was a bit of a Jonah in my colours as he hadn’t had a winner for me for a long time!”

> Anthony Delpech, 14-1 for the title a fortnight ago, is now 16-10 joint favourite with Gavin Lerena, having reduced the leeway to four. Lerena is on 130 winners and S’Manga Khumalo (129) is a 5-2 chance.

Some might have felt that Majmu let the crop down on Saturday by finishing runner up in the Gr 1 R2 million President’s Champions Challenge over 2000m, but that is probably only due to both the enormous reputation she had  before the event and the fickle nature of the South African racing public. In reality she carried a Gr1 penalty, as opposed to the victor  Wylie Hall who only carried a Gr 2 penalty, so if the performance was equated to weight for age terms she actually put in a marginally better performance than the winner – she was beaten 1,25 lengths over 2000m on 1,5kg worse terms than weight for age.

Wyle Hall was considered by many as unlucky to have been demoted in the Vodacom Durban July at the expense of the Equus Horse Of The Year Legislate last year. He ran on just a one point lower merit rating than Legislate in the July, which puts into perspective just how good a horse he is. Furthermore, Wylie Hall looks to have come into his own this season, while Majmu, having her second run after a layoff, might have run a slightly flat race by her standards on Saturday.

When Majmu won the second Gr 1 of her career in the WFA Empress Club Stakes over 1600m, her runner-up was fellow three-year-old filly Trophy Wife and another three-year-old filly, Tamanee, was third. Tamanee was the only three-year-old in Saturday’s WFA Gr 2 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes over 2000m and she duly thrashed them by 3,75 lengths. The tough and ever improving Trophy Wife has consistently finished second to the brilliant Siren’s Call this year in Johannesburg’s big three-year-old fillies races.

Pine Princess edges out Siren’s Call (JC Photos)

Siren’s Call was ever so unlucky to fail in her bid to win the Triple Tiara on Saturday when losing a shoe at the start of the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks over 2450m and then pipped in the final stride by Pine Princess. Pine Princess has joined Majmu as the only female to have beaten Siren’s Call to date. Pine Princess has always been looking for the Oaks trip and considering the strength of her crop she will be a leading contender for the Gr 1 eLan Property Gold Cup, if she takes that route.

Majmu beat Trophy Wife by three lengths in the Empress Club and in her previous start over that trip she beat Inara by 2,5 lengths in the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Fillies Guineas. Inara then went on to win two WFA Gr 1s in succession against older females, the Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m and the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m. Furthermore, she only just touched off her top class three-year-old contemporary Cold As Ice in the Majorca.

Cold As Ice was denied the opportunity of facing Majmu in the Cape Fillies Guineas when bursting through the stalls, dumping her jockey and running back to the parade ring. However, she followed up by beating older fillies in both the Listed Laisserfaire Stakes over 1100m and the Gr 2 Sceptre Stakes over 1200m. Her respective runner ups in those races were Rosier and Double Whammy, both three-year-old fillies.

Three-year-old filly Alboran Sea proved herself the best sprinter in the country on Saturday by winning the WFA Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m against older males, having also beaten them in the WFA Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship over the same distance. However, on Saturday she was hard pressed to beat her contemporary three-year-old filly Carry On Alice, who had finished third in the Cape Flying despite having been made to stand in the stalls for ages while others were backed out after a horse had broken through the front gates.

The time on Saturday also told a story, 55,59, just 0,63 seconds outside the course record despite the race having been run in soft going, a phenomenal performance by both fillies. It is hardly surprising that the rest of the field, which included no fewer than five Gr 1-winning older sprinters, were four lengths behind the winner and strung out like the washing.

The luckless Same Jurisdiction, who was a Gr 1 winner as a two-year-old, was only just touched off by Siren’s Call in the Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic. She would have preferred faster going, so has to be considered right up with the best of the crop. Same Jurisdiction is probably better over a mile, but she had no sort of luck in the Gr 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas.

One Fine Day, who was a Gr 1 runner-up against the boys as a two-year-old, is also right up there and impressed in her last win over 1400m at Greyville.

Cape Fillies Guineas third-placed Double Whammy is unfortunately sidelined as she is also full of class and the promising Cape Fillies Guineas fourth-placed Jet Set Go hasn’t been seen out since that race.

There are many others of good quality such as Rich Girl, who likely needed her last two starts, Smart Call, Bilateral, Lazer Star and Banbury and others like Alexis, Bichette, Cuvee Brut, Patchit Up Baby, Silver Class, Alice Springs, Flame Cat and Olma who could still make their presence felt at the top level.

The older generation of the racing fraternity, and for that matter of any sporting code, usually regard the gladiators of their heyday as all conquering but they would be hard pressed to name a three-year-old fillies crop as good as this one.