THE powerful influence that Sadler’s Wells (by Northern Dancer) has exerted on the National Hunt sector was evident again last weekend with another string of blacktype winners that represented his line.
These included the four-year-old Tea In Transvaal who took her record over obstacles to five wins from nine starts with a six-length victory in the Listed Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle over the extended two miles at Newbury on Saturday.
A winner just once from 11 tries on the flat, she has clearly found her forte, and it was reported after the race that the Cheltenham Festival is on her agenda.
She was bred by Summerville Bloodstock, her first of two auction ring appearances was as a 40,000gns yearling in Newmarket, and she is a daughter of Kildangan Stud’s classic sire Teofilo (by Galileo).
She is the second foal out of Mpumalanga (by Observatory), who was third in the Group 3 Prix du Calvados over seven furlongs at Deauville as a two-year-old, and her dam’s third foal is Nelspruit (by Makfi) who chased home Buratino in the Listed Woodcote Stakes at Epsom in June before selling for £100,000 at the Goffs London Sale. The mare has a yearling Big Bad Bob (by Bob Back) filly and her 2015 foal is a daughter of Arcano (by Oasis Dream).
Mpumalanga is a half-sister to five winners and her dam Dimakya (by Dayjur) is one of nine out of Reloy (by Liloy), the Group 1 Prix Vermeille runner-up who took both the Grade 1 Santa Ana Handicap and the Grade 1 Santa Barbara Handicap in California.
She also won the Group 3 Prix de Royaumont, was placed in the Grade 1 Gamely Handicap and in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes, and her four blacktype offspring include the listed scorers Loyalize (by Nureyev) and Remuria (by Theatrical).
PRIX DE DIANE
The fourth dam of Tea In Transvaal also won at the highest level as Rescousse (by Emerson) won the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in 1972 before going on to chase home San San in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a reversal of the placings from their prior meeting in the Group 3 Prix de la Nonette.
In addition to Reloy, Rescousse was also the dam of the Group 2 Prix du Conseil de Paris winner En Calcet (by Margouillat), of the Group 2-placed stakes winner and National Hunt sire Roi Guillaume (by Busted), and of the Group 2-placed listed scorer Reine Imperiale (by King Emperor), and her descendants also include the 2015 US Grade 2-winning sprinter Fantastic Style (by Harlan’s Holiday) and 2006’s Listed UAE 1000 Guineas heroine Vague (by Elusive Quality).
With such a strong pedigree behind her it is hardly a surprise that Tea In Transvaal has become a blacktype filly, and her combination of talent and family will make her an interesting addition to the broodmare ranks.