Wilgerbosdrift had a remarkable day at Turffontein’s delayed Sansui Summer Cup day on Sunday.
Not only was the farm responsible for breeding three impressive winners on the card, but Wilgerbosdrift also own Sunday’s G2 Investec Dingaans winner Monks Hood.
The latter, trained by Alistair Gordon and beautifully ridden to victory by Anthony Delpech, picked up the first feature race win of his career when coming from off the pace to land a highly competitive looking Dingaans by a head from a fast finishing Seerite.
Bred by the Botha family, Monks Hood has now won two of only six outings.
A son of Querari, Monks Hood was a R375 000 buy from the 2016 National Yearling Sale. The gelding, who looks a natural classic contender, had previously been third in last season’s Listed Gatecrasher Stakes before running a close up fourth in the G1 Premiers Champion Stakes.
Folk Dance, who was bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein, was another to pick up a first feature race win when she was victorious in Sunday’s G3 Hi-Fi Corporation Stakes. Trained by Paul Peter, and ridden by Gavin Lerena, the talented but quirky filly outclassed her rivals in Sunday’s 1600m contest, with Folk Dance putting three lengths between herself and runner up Aurelia Cotta. Third in the G1 Thekwini Stakes at two, Folk Dance had been second in the G3 Starling Stakes previously, beaten only by G1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas hope Via Seattle.
A R100 000 purchase from the 2016 National Yearling Sale, Folk Dance races for Messrs Myeni and O’Brien, in partnership with the Hyper Paint Syndicate.
Out of the Fort Wood mare Liberty Dance, Folk Dance shares her late sire Tiger Ridge with star filly Nother Russia. The latter made it feature race win number three when scoring a courageous win in the G2 Gauteng Ipi Tombe Challenge over 1600m on Sunday, and now looks destined to line up in some of the Cape’s bigger summer features.
Bred by Wilgerbosdrift, and owned by Mauritzfontein, Nother Russia, whose previous big race wins include the G1 Empress Club Stakes, is the only foal produced by Equus Champion and G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner Mother Russia. (Mother Russia herself won the Ipi Tombe back in 2009).
Remarkably Folk Dance and Nother Russia were Tiger Ridge’s only two feature race runners on Sunday!
Yet another filly bred by Wilgerbosdrift to catch the eye on Sunday was La Linea (also owned by the farm), who broke her maiden emphatically when scoring 1.3 length for trainer Mike de Kock over 1600m on Sunday. The 3yo filly, second on her only other outing, is a daughter of Dynasty and Rock Of Gibraltar’s multiple G1 winning daughter Europa Point.
Wilgerbosdrift also have a strong link to Sunday’s G1 Sansui Summer Cup winner Liege, with the farm having bred not only Dynasty, sire of the victorious Liege, but also Elusive Fort, whose daughter Fort Ember ran second to Liege in the R2 000 000 contest.