GOLDEN Ducat, half-brother to last year’s Met winner Rainbow Bridge and Mike de Kock star Hawwaam, put his remarkable dam into the record books by landing the Group 1 Cape Derby at Kenilworth last Saturday.

These three horses are the first three foals of the Jet Master mare Halfway To Heaven who won seven races including the Grade 3 Prix du Cap, and this is the first time in the history of South African racing that a mare has had three individual Group 1 (or equivalent) winners from her first three progeny.

There has been much speculation that this could also be a world first. Charles Faull, widely acknowledged as the greatest pedigree expert in South Africa, says that Toussaud had four from her first six and Hasili (dam of Dansili) had three from her first four and five in all, but he has yet to find one that has had three from her first three offspring.

Golden Ducat and his two siblings were bred by Jessica Jell and her mother Mary Slack who are as well-bred as anything on their studs – Mary is the daughter of the legendary Bridget Oppenheimer.

The Derby winner is trained by former Liam Browne employee Eric Sands who also trained Halfway To Heaven and in the process learned a lot about the family’s complex mental make-up.

The mare’s three offspring have all been difficult and Sands said: “I had to geld Golden Ducat in November because he was getting impossible.”

Nagle delight

Last Saturday was also a day to remember for Diane and David Nagle as champion sprinter Kasimir came back to his best to land the Group 2 Diadem Stakes after fighting off Chimichuri Run and Russet Air in a battle to the line.

“This is the first time that we have been here when he has won and we are thrilled with the horse,” said Mrs Nagle.

Kasimir is by the late Captain Al out of a mare by the Arc winner Peintre Celebre.

THE Kenilworth racemeeting fell on the final day of the Asian Racing Conference and the near 500 delegates filled the top floor Peninsula Restaurant. They seemed impressed by the racing and by the big crowd attracted largely, it must be admitted, by the fixture being run in conjunction with the Cape Town Prawn Festival.

The conference, described by secretary-general Andrew Harding as “the most amazing ARC conference ever,” went on for much of that week and Brian Kavanagh’s address – on the need for new high value races such as today’s $20 million Saudi Cup to complement the Pattern rather than compete with it – was particularly well received.

IT hasn’t all been plain sailing in South African racing. Last week a stable lad at a big Port Elizabeth stable was sacked for allegedly knifing a horse – he maintained that he was cutting the hair around the horse’s ears and the horse jerked its head away.

In the modern South Africa you can’t just fire somebody – you have to follow strict procedures including warnings – and most of the other employees walked out.

At the next Fairview meeting many of the staff from other stables downed tools in sympathy and the fixture had to be abandoned after only four races. Fortunately matters were sorted out in time for Monday’s meeting at the course to go ahead as planned.

Red Mills success

BLOB Red Mills have made massive inroads into the South African market and local representative Peter Gibson reported that the Cape Derby winner was fed on their product as were the first three in the Prix Du Cap won by the Kieswetters’ Pretty Young Thing.