Talktothestars Wins Tsogo Sun Sprint in SAf

Top weight Talktothestars, known for racing unshod, picked up the first group I win of his career in the Tsogo Sun Sprint June 4 at Scottsville in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

The 4-year-old gelding, who is owned by his trainer Coenie De Beer, also provided jockey Piere Strydom with a welcome victory at the top level.

A former champion jockey in South Africa, Strydom experienced a nasty fall earlier in the year and suffered a broken collarbone, and Saturday's race marked his first group I victory since then. 

Sent off a 13-2 favorite, in what appeared a very open sprint handicap, Talktothestars took his tally to nine wins from 23 outings with a convincing 2 1/4-length win from the promising 3-year-old African Ruler. 

Sons of Western Winter (both owned by Ingrid and Markus Jooste) filled the third and fourth spots, with Exelero just shading Red Ray for the third spot. It was an impressive return to racing for the fourth-place finisher, who had not run since finishing unplaced in the 2015 Al Fahdi Fort (UAE-II).

Always well placed in the running of the race, Talktothestars was asked for his effort at the 400-meter mark, and the gelding duly quickened up to put the race to bed.

The win by Talktothestars, whose owner and trainer described him as a "great horse, he does everything himself," as Talktothestars was conceding no less than 7 kilograms (15 pounds) to runner-up African Ruler. The winner stopped the clock in a time of 1:07.41 for a contest previously won by South African champions Jet Master (twice), Captain Of All, J J The Jet Plane (twice), Golden Taipan, and Taban to name a few.

Talktothestars was coming into the race off second-place finish in the Computaform Sprint (SAf-I) and, prior to that run, stormed home to take the Senor Santa Stakes (SAf-II).

Bred by at the Scott Bros.' Highdown Stud, Talktothestars is the first group I winner for the Danehill horse Overlord and is one of four winners produced by the Spaceship mare Tellittothestars.

The Tsogo Sun Sprint was just one of four group races over 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) on Saturday's card. Progeny of Captain Al, last season's champion sire, dominated proceedings in the day's first group I contests, with his son Always In Charge landing the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and daughter The Secret Is Out the Allan Robertson Championship.

Both juveniles were handled by trainer Vaughan Marshall, who also trained Captain Al himself.

Always In Charge, whose dam is very closely related to leading sire Pivotal, has now won two of just three outings and, remarkably, is the fourth consecutive Gold Medallion winner for prominent owners Ingrid and Markus Jooste.

Captain Al is also sire of Carry On Alice the beaten favorite for the day's other group I sprint, the City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint, but that 4-year-old failed to get a clear passage in running and dropped back to run unplaced in a race she had won last year. This year's edition went to the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Real Princess, a 4-year-old daughter of Trippi who won the Poinsettia Stakes (SAF-III) her previous outing.