WHAT a week it was for the team at Drakenstein Stud, as they claimed both the mile classics at Turffontein in South Africa with homebreds, the three-year-old gelding Safe Passage leading a Silvano (Lomitas) one-two home in the Group 2 Gauteng Guineas for trainer Mike de Kock, while Rain In Holland (Duke Of Marmalade) was a clear winner of the Group 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas, trained by Sean Tarry.

The only Group 1 winner in the field and the champion juvenile filly last season, Rain In Holland is one of seven winners at the highest level for the late Duke Of Marmalade (Danehill), five of which are fillies or mares. In winning this classic Rain In Holland beat, among others, the de Kock-trained hot favourite Desert Miracle. This race is the first leg of the South African Triple Tiara, the fillies’ equivalent of the Triple Crown, and was a first win at three for the Tarry stable star.

This was victory number six for Rain In Holland, and she has been placed on all her other four starts. Rain In Holland is out of the Aqlaam (Oasis Dream) mare Imvula who sold as a yearling for 30,000gns and won at Goodwood at three from just two starts, trained by Ed Dunlop. Her appeal to Gaynor Rupert at Drakenstein Stud was obvious, being a half-sister to champion Dancer’s Daughter (Act One), a five-time Group 1 winner in South Africa, including the Durban July.

Champion family

Danver’s Daughter is not the only South African champion in the family. Go back to Rain In Holland’s fourth dam, the Italian four-time winner Flying Trip (Vaguely Noble), and the best of her seven winners was the leading stayer and Group 1 The Gold Cup winner Icona (Green Desert). Should Rain In Holland go on to win the Triple Tiara she would more than double her present earnings with a one-million rand (circa €58,000) bonus on offer.

Tuesday evening got even better for Drakenstein Stud when Mike de Kock produced the recent Group 2 Dingaans winner Safe Passage to make it five wins in succession with victory in the Group 2 Gauteng Guineas. This made up for the trainer’s disappointment following Desert Miracle’s defeat, a reversal the champion trainer called “a debacle”.

Repeat feat

Last year de Kock landed the Triple Crown with the new Ridgemont Highlands’ stallion Malmoos, and now he will be hoping to repeat the feat. He said of the newest classic winner: “Safe Passage is a helluva horse – I still want to see him over a mile and a half. This horse has got freakish heart-rates. I’m very happy for Drakenstein on their feature double.”

With five wins and a placing from seven starts, Safe Passage is by the deceased champion stallion Silvano, out of the Antonius Pius (Danzig) mare My Sanctuary whose four wins included the 2013 Group 2 The Debutante at Scottsville. Silvano is already responsible for 25 Group 1 winners, and it is odds-on that Safe Passage will be another in time. Safe Passage’s next step on the Triple Crown route is the Group 1 SA Classic, followed by another Group 1, the SA Derby.