THAT’S HALF THE SEASON GONE!

How time flies. The Cape Town Met has come and gone, and so has the first half of the racing season. This stakes rich meeting always has a profound impact on the sire lists and as the latest NHRA stats show, our leading stallions consolidated their current standings.

Champion

Gimmethegreenlight surrendered his crown to Silvano last season, but the Varsfontein stallion has bounced back with a vengeance and looks well on his way to reclaiming the sires title.

He was already at the head of affairs prior to the start of the weekend and victory by

Gimme A Prince in the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship has extended his lead to R9.4 million, to the extent that he is almost R2 million clear of second-placed Vercingetorix.

By the way, one simply cannot ignore former champion Trippi.

At the advanced age of 25, the Drakenstein veteran is enjoying another exceptional season and on Saturday, his champion son Jet Dark provided him with a first Met success. Runner-up in 2022, the five-year-old overcame a troubled stretch run to turn the table on defending champion Kommetdieding in a humdinger finish.

The rich stake further embellished Trippi's already glowing stats. Sire this season of six stakes winners amongst just 50 runners, Trippi's average earnings stand at an eye-popping R131,151, more than double that of Gimmethegreenlight and Vercingetorix. In addition, his strike rate of 48% is streets ahead of any of his peers.

The Met marked Jet Dark's swansong, and he is slated to return to birthplace Drakenstein to stand alongside his sire. Sadly, racing needs its champions and his retirement, together with that of Kommetdieding, leaves a huge void for the remainder of the season.

Incidentally, Jet Dark is out of a mare by the mighty Jet Master, who also featured as the broodmare sire of fourthplaced Nexus.

The country's dominant broodmare sire of recent times, Jet Master's fine run continued at the next day's Turffontein race meeting. The Allez France Stakes was won in fluent fashion by Silvano mare Flying First Class, who just happens to be out of a Jet Master mare.

While the 2400m race is no longer a black type stakes race, the subsequent Wolf Power 1600 carried Listed status, and went the way of grandson Savannah Storm. Significantly, the Phillip Vermeulen-trained fiveyear-old is by Jet Master's unheralded and now retired sire son Sudden Storm.

Dynasty too, continues to cast a long shadow over South African racing. He celebrated his 18th Gr1 winner when four-year-old daughter Desert Miracle captured the Gr1 Schweppes Majorca Stakes at the expense of reigning Horse of the Year Captain's Ransom. Fittingly, Desert Miracle won in the silks of owner/breeder Mary Slack, who also bred her late lamented sire.

Dynasty went on to add a second stakes success on the day, courtesy of Salvator Mundi's fine win in the Gr2 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers.

The meeting also witnessed the first stakes winner for deceased freshman sire Lancaster

Bomber, whose daughter Rascova led home an all-female finish to the Listed City Of Cape Town Summer Juvenile Stakes.

The Glen Kotzen-trained juvenile, who was her sire's first runner, won on debut and was scoring for the second time in three starts. Her victory propelled Lancaster Bomber to the top of the first-season sires list, but things are sure to hot up as the season progresses and he can expect fierce opposition from his fellow freshmen.

On that note, Fire Away and New Predator have both registered a double, with the former siring two impressive winners in quick succession. Fire 'N' Flames was never headed and hacked up by just over four lengths at the Vaal and three days later, newcomer Luna Halo sizzled to an impressive five-length debut win up the Fairview straight.

As befits a relentless frontrunner with a sharp turn of foot, Galileo's grandson New Predator is also off to a flying start with two winners from three runners to date, while barn mate Hat Puntano has scored with his sole runner.

With a winner and several placed runners to his name, Mauritzfontein's Danon Platina is sure to add to his tally as we enter the second half of the season.