The Merry Widow

Boland Stud have been enjoying a purple patch of winners in recent months and their Captain Al filly The Merry Widow showed her paces to retain her unbeaten record with a facile first stakes victory in the R150 000 Listed East Cape Fillies Nursery at Fairview on Good Friday.

Justin Snaith trained the winner who races in the Drakenstein blue and white.

The Merry Widow (S’manga Khumalo) cruises in to beat O Tamara (Aldo Domeyer) in the Listed feature (Pic- Coastal Photos)

The 1200m contest saw a reduced field of nine face the starter after the withdrawal of three of the original carded runners, and it was really no contest for the obviously talented 17-10 Cape challenger who hardly came off the bit to win eased down and give S’manga Khumalo the easiest of his three winners on the day. Audrie Do and Cuveo showed plenty of early pace but it was The Merry Widow who slipped her field under the ever reliable Khumalo and skipped clear to win more easily than the official 0,75 length margin would suggest. She clocked 69,66 secs for the 1200m.

The Alan Greeff-trained Argonaut filly O Tamara loomed up menacingly at the 250m marker, but after having to switch, she never quite got to grips with the leader – who was geared down at the line with the winning margin flattering the runner-up. Glen Kotzen, who had a great day with his lightning raid which produced two winners, saddled two promising fillies and it was the maiden Shizam who ran on best of the balance to secure third, 3,75 lengths behind the second placed runner. Grant Paddock’s Villanelle ran fourth and is another who should escape the maiden ranks in short time.

The Merry Widow is a daughter of the outstanding producer Captain Al out of the one-time winning Jallad mare, Miss Kiri, who was purchased by Boland Stud from Koos De Klerk at Yellow Star Stud. The Merry Widow won her Kenilworth 800m debut in the Cape summer and thus retains her perfect record after showing improvement to step up and win here at only her second jump. She has earned R134 375 in stakes.

Breeder Eugene Freeman confirmed that The Merry Widow had gone through the 2015 National Yearling Sale ring unsold with a highest bid of R300 000. A deal was concluded immediately after with Kevin Sommerville of Drakenstein Stud and the filly thus qualified for the R77 500 BSA Added Value Stakes Bonus Series. Eugene Freeman’s Boland Stud has bred a really smart filly in the form of The Merry Widow, who picked up the third feature race win of her career when victorious in the Breeders’ Guineas Plate at Fairview on Friday.

The Merry Widow

Trained by Justin Snaith for owners, the Drakenstein Stud, The Merry Widow came with a late rattle, under in-form jockey Gavin Lerena, to land the 1400m feature by three parts of a length over Hurricane Shelley, with Star Burst Galaxy another short neck away in third. A daughter of former champion sire Captain Al, The Merry Widow (a small filly with a huge heart) has now won four times (with the majority of her wins coming in features) and won’t stop here!

Master Of My Fate

One of the best 2yo fillies trained in the Cape last season, the three-year-old Pocket Rocket won her first three races on the bounce last season, with The Merry Widow’s victories including both the Listed Perfect Promise Sprint and Listed East Cape Fillies Nursery, and she also finished close up in both the G3 Kenilworth Fillies Nursery and G2 The Debutante. Her breeder Eugene Freeman says of the filly, “She was a very small filly as a yearling, but beautifully put together and full of quality”. Boland Stud are thrilled to offer a Master Of My Fate half-sister to The Merry Widow at the 2017 National Yearling Sale.

Dam of The Merry Widow and the Master Of My Fate filly (described by Eugene as magnificent) is Jallad matron Miss Kiri who has a 100% strike rate to date, with all four of her runners having won. The regally related Miss Kiri is a full-sister to former G1 Premier’s Champion Stakes winner Talahatchie and to Leading Dame (the dam of Singapore Champion Lizarre). Miss Kiri is also a full sister to Boston Tea Party, dam of G2 Betting World 1900 star and former G1 Vodacom Durban July favourite Solid Speed. Boston Tea Party is also dam of the Silvano colt who topped the 2016 National Two Year Old Sale, when he was knocked down to Form Bloodstock for R2.1 million. Follow this link to see her pedigree.