Home-breds impress at Vaal!

Three-year-old Kentallen Bay followed his recent impressive Maiden 1450m win at Turffontein with another commanding performance as he sped away from his rivals in a Novice Handicap over 1600m at the Vaal, Tuesday.’

Kentallen Bay’s first win was marked by greenness and he was again running around this time, the encouraging fact being that he will improve even more when he is more experienced.

“He’s still learning, ran from the outside to the inside and won with ease, so it looks like he’s an nice, up-and-coming three-year-old we’ll be having some fun with,” said Corne Spies.

Kentallen Bay is a home-bred from David Makins’ Breedon Stud, who has been churning out winners for decades for the stable’s veteran patron. He’s by Eightfold Path from Respect At Bay, not a fashionable pedigree, but typical of many Breedon-raised runners, resilient and bred to be competitive.

Arne Botha and family of Blue Horizon Bay near Port Elizabeth love their breeding and racing and they were delighted with a win by five-year-old Irontail (Pathfork), the half-brother to Monks Hood and Prophet. He won on his Highveld debut over 1450m and Corne commented:

“We expected him to need the run more than he did and that he won was pleasing, because there is definitely improvement to come. He’s enjoying his new surroundings and I think he’ll be effective over a bit further too. We’re looking forward to see how he goes from here.”

Both Tuesday winners were well handled by Marco van Rensburg, who continued his good winning strike rate for the stable.