David Thiselton
SUMMERVELD trainer Mike Miller’s top horse from last year, Honokalani, has been sold to Mauritius trainer Ricky Maingard but his Rafeef filly October Song and his Vercingetorix colt Party Time will still provide him with plenty of three-year-old ammunition this season.
October Song, whose pedigree has a fascinating history behind it, has had the dogs barking at Summerveld and she was duly backed in to 23/15 favourite for her debut over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday.
She managed a strong-finishing second but had excuses and Miller said, “There has only been about 2mm of rain recently in Pietermaritzburg and there was consequently a lot of kick back so when she was slowly away she was getting it in her face and not quite enjoying it, that is why Serino (Moodley) pulled her outward towards the middle. She only got the hang of it near the end and that is when she got going.”
October Song has plenty of size and substance and was eyecatching in the last furlong.
She is undoubtedly one of the horses to follow for the season.
Miller continued, “Her work at home has been phenomenal. She has been beating one and two timers with ease. I looked at this field and felt it was so bad she would surely be able to win it, but I did not expect her to be so green.”
The bay filly is a half-sister to the Grade 1-winning sprinter August Rush and Grade 3-winning sprinter Miss October, who were both by Var.
However, Miller continued, “I have always had the impression she would be better over 1400m to 1600m. We will give her one more run over 1200m as we don’t want to rush her into a 1400m race.”
October Song’s story starts with the purchase of the huge English mare Devon Air by Robin and Des Scott into the yard of Terrance Millard. The maestro trainer turned around her dismal UK form despite her legs having what Millard described as “joints like footballs”. Devon Air arrived in Durban in the winter of 1984 with three wins in Cape Town behind her and a third place finish in the J&B Met. She then scored a famous Greyville hattrick, winning the Grade 2 Republic Day Handicap over 1900m, the Grade 1 Rothmans July handicap, carrying 52.5kg, and the Grade 1 Gold Cup carrying 56kg.
She made a good start at stud, her first two foals, the filly Cream Of The Crop (Concertina) and Plymouth Rock (Concertina) won Grade 3 and Listed staying races respectively. However, she had only produced one more winner by the time she was bought at a 1996 auction at Summerhill Stud by Zimbabwean breeder Christopher Peech.
Her first Zimbabwean foal was by Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes winner Huntingdale and was called Bushgirl, who had to be delivered by caesarian section. She barely survived and was too weak and unsound to be raced.
Zimbabwe was beginning to fall on hard times and Peech’s breeding operation was one of the victims.
Bushgirl was thus put on an auction and one of Southern Africa’s finest thoroughbred breeders Robin Bruss pounced.
Bruss has many pedigree theories based on decades of experience and one of them is simply to match the best to the best, so he was not going to miss the opportunity to buy a filly whose parents were respectively a British Group 1 winner and a July winner.
It proved to be a shrewd purchase as she produced Grade 1 Mercury Sprint winner August Rush and Grade 3-winning sprinter Miss October, who went on to produce Grade 1 Gold Medallion winner Tempting Fate.
Bruss always sells if the price is right and sold Bushgirl to owner-breeder Tinus Gericke about ten years or so ago.
October Song was Bushgirl’s last foal and so Gericke has kept her.
Rafeef, who won the wfa Grade 1 Computaform Sprint, was last season’s champion freshman sire and his sire Redoute’s Choice was a multiple Group 1 winner and a celebrated champion sire of Australia.
October Song thus looks to have all the credentials to continue Devon Air’s legacy.
Gericke sent a horse in training called Stormborne Thunder down from Johannesburg to the Miller yard halfway through the 2018/2019 season and she went on to win two races. Thus, upon moving down to Durban himself, he sent October Song to the Miller yard.
Miller has also always sold when the price was right and hence the sale of Honokalani. He has a high regard for his sire Vercingetorix and believes Honokalani will give his new owners plenty to cheer about.
Party Time is also by Vercingetorix and has a win and three seconds to his name in four starts, including a long-head second in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes, where he beat the subsequent Grade 2 winner Waterberry Lane by 3,40 lengths. He unfortunately attained a bad abscess on his foot after that run so was sidelined. However. he looks to have a bright future.
