Graduates of past Bloodstock South Africa sales enjoyed a truly Super Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville this past weekend, with BSA sold thoroughbreds winning all of the G1 Premiers Champion Stakes, G1 Mercury Sprint and G1 HKJC World Pool Champions Cup.
Talented two-year-old Good Traveller made it win number four from just six starts when he captured Saturday’s G1 Premiers Champion Stakes over some of South Africa’s most exciting two-year-olds.
The Glen Kotzen trained gelding, third in the G2 Durban Golden Horseshoe last time out, defied a poor draw to capture the 2021 Premiers Champion Stakes in fluent fashion.
Under Grant Van Niekerk, the Lammerskraal Stud bred gelding powered home to capture the first G1 score of his career by just over a length and a quarter.
Now a leading contender for the Equus Champion 2YO Colt/Gelding Award, Good Traveller was a R200 000 purchase from the 2020 National Yearling Sale.
A son of Visionaire, Good Traveller, who races for the Estate of the Late Mr B A Schwegmann & Mr H F Schwegmann, is out of the winning Western Winter mare Skylar Lane, the latter herself being a full-sister to the G1 winners Solo Traveller (Cape Guineas) and Redberry Lane (Garden Province Stakes).
The Riverton Stud bred Pearl Of Asia, a R35 000 buy from the 2018 KZN Yearling Sale, caused a 40-1 upset when downing some of the country’s top sprinters to win Saturday’s G1 Mercury Sprint for Robbie and Shannon Hill.
Owned by Gerald Kalil, Pearl Of Asia provided jockey Serino Moodley with his first G1 win, when the pair stormed home to land Saturday’s R500 000 sprint by a long neck going away.
A second G1 winner for Irish champion Pathfork, Pearl Of Asia is out of the Tiger Ridge mare Asiatic Pearl, a half-sister to G2 Cape Merchants winner Triptique.
Bloodstock South Africa sold thoroughbreds ran 1-2-3 in Saturday’s G1 HKJC World Pool Champions Cup, with Jet Dark, Catch Twentytwo and Do It Again filling the first three positions.
The Drakenstein Stud bred Jet Dark accounted for fellow three-year-old Catch Twentytwo by nearly half a length, with dual G1 Vodacom Durban July winner Do It Again running on strongly to claim third spot, just under a length off the winner.
Winner of the 2021 G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, the Justin Snaith trained Jet Dark (who was ridden to victory by S’Manga Khumalo) races for owners Nick Jonsson and Tommy Crowe.
The Trippi colt has now won five of just nine starts, with the equine millionaire looking a likely contender for Equus Award honours later this year.
Jet Dark, a R200 000 buy from the 2019 National Yearling Sale, is out of the winning Jet Master mare Night Jet -a half-sister to Thukela Handicap winner Brown Penny and dual Listed Darley Arabian victor Night Trip.
