Three-year-old horses shone at Turffontein racecourse on Saturday. Picture: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images
Every year racing fans have a rolling debate about the overall quality of the current generation of three-year-old horses. Is the crop better or worse than the previous year? Or when compared to a perceived golden era of the past?
The assessment is key to assessing the sophomores – as Americans, and increasingly the rest of us, call them – when they start running in open company against older horses.
There’s no argument this season; the youngsters are hot. In January at Kenilworth, three-year-olds One Stripe and Eight On Eighteen won the L’Ormarins King’s Plate and the WSB Cape Town Met respectively – against the best older horses in the country.
They were the only three-year-olds in those races, which historically don’t favour the young ones. They had 5/6kg weight advantages over most of their opponents.
In the end, the consensus is that One Stripe and Eight On Eighteen are, indeed, special talents, with the former already boasting a merit rating of 132, the second highest in the country.
But this pair are not alone.
The exploits of Quid Pro Quo in Durban and Joburg, where she completely dominated her age and sex groups, so impressed international syndicators Team Valor that they made owner-breeder Gerald Kalil an offer he couldn’t refuse and she is heading overseas soon. Her facile victory against top-rated males in The Dingaans was a clincher for the deal.
Events at Turffontein racecourse on Saturday gave us further insights into the three-year-old class of 2025.
Attempting a seventh win in a row in the Gauteng Fillies Guineas, Quid Pro Quo was beaten into third place by unexposed but regally bred Spumante Dolce and the experienced VJ’s Angel – another filly who has beaten boys in a feature.
Trainer Mike de Kock revealed afterwards that Spumante Dolce can match some of the best in his Randjesfontein yard – confirmation, if it was needed, that the Fillies Guineas performance was no outlier or fluke and the filly has a place among the sophomore elite. Ditto VJ’s Angel.
The NHA’s handicappers hiked Spumante Dolce’s merit rating by a cool 30 points – from 89 to 119, to match VJ’s Angel, who was chosen as the line horse.
The quality of this race was further evidenced by Quid Pro Quo, a beaten 4-10 favourite, having her MR upped three points to 118.
The TAB Gauteng Guineas produced an upset when 25-1 shot Parisian Walkway rallied sensationally to pip favourite Greaterix.
Greaterix, a four-time winner from seven, is no slouch so Parisian Walkway looks a very credible opponent for the Cape Town stars. The handicappers agree and have boosted his MR 20 points to 121.
The roster of callow excellence in stables around the country doesn’t stop there.
The likes of Great Plains, Heather’s Boy, Fire Attack, Cosmic Speed, The Specialist, Sail The Seas, Zeitz, Garrix, Legend Of Arthur and Aristotle are among the males jostling for a place at the youth top table.
The fillies include Fatal Flaw, Scarlet Macaw, Little Suzie, Gimme’s Countess, Fiery Pegasus and Frozen Fantasy.
Most of these horses will be in KwaZulu-Natal for the winter season. There shall be a great reckoning.
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