Hawaii result a hit for local stallion Jackson

After Freed From Desire’s outstanding run in last Saturday’s grade 2 Hawaii Stakes at Turffontein, the man with the biggest smile apart from trainer Paul Peter would have been Heversham Park Farm owner Nigel Riley.

Freed From Desire is a son of Triple grade 1 winner Jackson, who now stands at Riley’s stud in Gauteng, halfway between Alberton and Vereeniging.

Ridden by Warren Kennedy, three-year-old Freed From Desire, the youngest horse in the race, looked likely to beat her elders with 200m to run but was collared by Aussie import Al Muthana who won under a brilliant ride by S’manga Khumalo.

Al Muthana is trained by Mike de Kock and he was full of praise for the son of Deep Field on his website. He said: “Al Muthana has been a revelation and it just shows what confidence can do to a horse. He looks like a proper grade 1 horse now and that’s exciting.”

Before Saturday’s race Freed From Desire had won five of her last six starts and was proving an excellent advert for her sire.

Jackson made top price of R1m at the 2010 Emperors Palace national two-year-old sale and joined the stable of Brett Crawford. The son of Dynasty retired to Highlands Stud, the winner of six races, and emulated his sire by winning both the grade 1 Cape Derby and Daily News 2000. His first yearlings were offered for sale in 2017.

Sadi jockey Karis Teetan : “He proved himself the best when he beat Variety Club. You can’t describe the feeling — he flies when he runs.”

At Highlands, Jackson stood at a fee of R15,000 (live foal), so Heversham’s fee of R3,000 (also live foal) looks an incredible bargain.

On his arrival on the highveld, Nigel Riley said: “The move provides our customers and all local breeders with the opportunity to breed to a Triple grade 1 winner with movie star looks. He is a proven sire of the group winning progeny at a low price on a live foal basis.

“We at Heversham will also be supporting Jackson with our own mares,” Riley said on Monday.

On the overall bloodstock situation, he said: “For a variety of reasons, some breeders didn’t have their mares covered last year. Things have improved and Freed From Desire’s performance shows there is a top stallion right on their doorstep.”

Another filly who turned in a top performance was Perfect Witness, who earned black type by finishing third behind Rain In Holland and Sprinkles in the SA Fillies Classic. The daughter of Flower Alley — trained by Candice Dawson — started at 33-1. The filly was beaten six lengths behind Rain In Holland in the Guineas, but now reduced the deficit with Sean Tarry’s star to three lengths.

• A woman in her thirties was rushed to hospital in Melbourne on Saturday night when a tree fell on spectators who were leaving Flemington racecourse. Three other racegoers were treated for injuries.

One onlooker said: “It was so loud, I thought a temporary grandstand or something had fallen down and then I looked over and saw the tree and everyone running.”