Princess Calla has surely grabbed Equus HOTY with a devastating finish

Five months into the 2022/23 racing season, it seemed bizarre to suggest that Charles Dickens would not be declared Equus Horse of the Year (HOTY). The three-year-old colt was unbeaten and had won six races in a row – each more impressively than the last and inspiring comparisons with Sea Cottage.

Then came hiccups – runner-up finishes to Al Muthana in the King’s Cup and See It Again in the Cape Derby – prompting doubts about his stamina and, indeed, his lofty reputation.

For a while, fellow three-year-old See It Again looked a likely challenger for Horse of the Year, having won the Daily News 2000 and looked a worthy favourite for both the Durban July and the Champions Cup.
He, too, found one better in those contests.

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Four-year-old sprinter Gimme A Prince put in a promising run for the gong with spanking victories in the Cape Merchants, the Cape Flying Championship and the Golden Horse. If he’d won the Mercury Sprint on
Sunday he might have got it in a photo-finish. But that was not to be as he disappointed his many supporters.

Unnoticed by many a watcher, a five-year-old mare was steaming up the middle of the racecourse with a devastating finish. Princess Calla started as a 5-1 second favourite for last weekend’s Hong Kong Jockey Club Champions Cup after attracting late market interest.

We must remember, she was also entered for the 1200m Mercury Sprint on the same card, so there were plenty of doubts about her staying power.

Top of the table

History records that she thumped her stellar opposition in the Cup and vaulted to the top of the Equus points table being compiled by the Racehorse Owners Association.

The win completed a remarkable Grade 1 KwaZulu-Natal winter season hat- trick: the 1200m SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville, the 1600m Garden Province Stakes at Greyville and the 1800m Champions Cup at Greyville – the latter in open company and regarded as one of the “super” G1s in the country.

The HOTY points table is not the final arbiter of the big award, with public voting and a judges panel having a say, too. But it would be foolhardy to oppose Princess Calla.

Owned by Mario Ferreira and trained by Sean Tarry since April 2023, the mare has in recent months stamped herself as one of South Africa’s greatest female racers.

Since teaming up with Tarry, the daughter of American sire Flower Alley has notched up seven victories from nine outings and the Randjesfontein master has often commented on how easy she is to train.

Versatile champion

Asked on Sunday if she was the best female horse he’d trained, Tarry answered: “Put it this way, I’ve never had a filly that’s won for me over 1000m and over 1800m.”

That 1000m triumph was in the 2022 Grade 2 Southern Cross Stakes at Kenilworth in December – after a seven-month break following her win in the 1600m Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes at Turffontein.

Princess Calla’s connections are not about to retire their superstar to stud – even though she has a five-star racing record. The Paddock Stakes in Cape Town in summer has been mentioned as a way for her to land an automatic invitation to the Breeders Cup meeting in the US.

A six-year-old (maybe seven) mare travelling overseas to race? What a thought.