Jockey Club is at the mercy of Santa Therese

When the filly Santa Therese strolled to an easy victory in the East Cape Paddock Stakes in July, her trainer Alan Greeff said he’d not been so confident of winning a race for a very long time.

That’s saying something, as the veteran conditioner has saddled, literally, thousands of winners in his time.

The Paddock Stakes over 1600m was the second leg of the Eastern Cape Fillies & Mares Challenge. The third and final leg of the challenge is on Friday’s turf programme at Fairview – the Listed Jockey Club Stakes over 2000m – and Santa Therese is quoted at 17-10 to complete a double of the last two heats.

She wasn’t entered in the first leg, the 1200m East Cape Breeders Stakes, which was won by Greeff with sprinter-miler Carioca.

Santa Therese’s Paddock Stakes triumph took her record to six wins in eight starts and had pundits talking about her chances of taking on Cape Town’s big guns in the coming summer season.

Grant van Niekerk rode her that day as Greeff’s stable jockey Greg Cheyne was retained by owners Ridgemont. It was one of the ebullient GvN’s easier jobs of the year and he commented afterwards that her improvement ceiling was not discernible.

Santa Therese’s emergence as a galloping star is not exactly a surprise as she was bred in the purple by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein.

Her sire Flower Alley is one of the most distinguished stallions in South Africa, being a US Grade 1 winner and having fathered Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I’ll Have Another before he was sold to stand in South Africa.

Mauritzfontein’s Jessica and Steven Jell are part owners of Santa Therese – with PE stalwarts Celso and Lee Scribante – and will no doubt already be planning her paddock future.

SELECTIONS

Race 1:

7 Sugar Snap, 1 Host Of Angels, 3 Orange Bowl, 2 Diamonds And Toads

Race 2:

1 On Your Marks, 4 Hukum, 2 Nussply, 5 Raio

Race 3:

3 Master Supreme, 4 Miss Orange, 6 Assured, 2 Dharma

Race 4:

9 Winter Vacation, 5 The Black Manx, 3 Joint Effort, 6 Rooibos

Race 5:

3 Mesmerising Moon, 5 Miss Nibbles, 4 Variety Breeze, 9 Silent Observer

Race 6:

4 Stranger Danger, 3 What A Winner, 2 Sullenberger, 5 Delicasea

Race 7:

1 Santa Therese, 11 Katie To, 10 Colorado Springs, 12 Musical Glitch

Race 8:

2 Grazinginthegrass, 4 Doppio Oro, 3 Lucky Dancer, 5 Mio Grande

Race 9:

9 Twice Over, 4 Just Judy, 1 Emaline, 7 Que Cosas

Pick 6:

1,3,4,5,6,7,9 x 1,3,4,5,9 x 2,3,4 x 1 x 2,3,4 x 1,4,7,9 (R1260)

PA:

3,4 x 3,5,9 x 3,4,5 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 9 (R18)