"She took off like a bullet!"

Hazy Dazy, a filly almost given away at a dispersal sale for R37,500, took her first step on the long and winding road to the dream of SA Triple Tiara glory when she won the R750 000 Wilgerbosdrift Gr2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas at a sweltering Turffontein on Saturday.

The day marked the launch of the Championships 2026, comprising the Triple Crown and Triple Tiara series and culminates in the Championship Finale on Saturday, 25 April.

Starting at 10-1, Hazy Dazy benefitted from a good ride by apprentice jockey Trent Mayhew to beat Charge It under by 2,10 lengths in a time of 97,44 seconds for the mile.

Mayhew commented: “Her wide draw was a bit tricky by she pings the gates so I wasn’t too worried. She got into a nice position and I could ride her patiently. She tried to hang, but I straightened he and she took off like a bullet!”

Mayhew said that, with Hazy Dazy having won over 2000m, he doesn’t foresee any problems for the next two legs of the Triple Tiara – the SA Classic (1800m) and the Oaks (2450m).

Corne Spies congratulated Mayhew and said: “Trent rides her to perfection every time. He is very dedicated and does a lot of hard work for the stable.”

Corne thanked Hazy Dazy’s partnership of owners – Rob Macnab, Stergio Poriazis, Xander Spies, Vikash Sobaren, Dhiresh and Chantelle Dasrath and Diveshen Vauapuri. “It’s blessing for any trainer to have group of staunch and supportive owners like these. They put their trust in me when she came up for sale as a yearling at the David Makins dispersal sale.”

Corne said that Hazy Dazy had improved ‘many-fold’ since her last win and that he would’ve been supremely confident of winning if she’d been better drawn. “I hope we’ll stand here again (after the other two legs),” he enthused.

Owner Rob Macnab certainly believes that Hazy Dazy will win the Triple Crown. He said he’d had a ‘tickle’ with a bookmaker and received odds of 120-1. Macnab, and her growing base of fans, will be shouting hard!

She was bred by the late David Makins and is by Act Of War out of Rabbedoe, who was also trained by Corne, and Grade 2 placed. Act Of War, pf course, sired the 2021 Triple Tiara winner, War Of Athena.