Drakenstein Stud’s well performed stallion Gold Standard came up with his first winner when his two-year-old son Star Coin won the first race at the Vaal on Tuesday afternoon.
Trained by Alec Laird, the Gold Standard gelding had finished third, to subsequent G2 4Racing SA Fillies Nursery winner, Maharanee last time out and he built on that effort with a convincing win on Tuesday.
Under JP Van Der Merwe, Star Coin stayed on smartly to land Tuesday’s #ThisIsRacing Welcomes You Maiden Juvenile Plate (1400m) a shade cosily by half a length.
The two-year-old clearly enjoyed the step up in trip and he should build on this win.
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, Star Coin was a R200 000 buy from the 2021 National Yearling Sale.
His sire Gold Standard has now had four runners from his first crop to either win or finish in the money.
Gold Standard was one of the best horses of his generation, winning the G2 Selangor Cup and finishing second in the G1 Cape Guineas at three.
Among the notable scalps claimed by Gold Standard during his racing career were those of champion Edict Of Nantes, G1 Cape Guineas winner William Longsword, high-class Hong Kong performer Singapore Sling, and July winning champion Marinaresco.
The earner of nearly R1 000 000 in prize money, Gold Standard is a son of Drakenstein’s inform champion sire Trippi. Sire of 85 stakes winners, and counting, Trippi’s current flagbearers include dual G1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner Jet Dark, and fellow graded stakes winners Amanzimtoti, Sound Of Warning and Trip Of Fortune. Trippi, whose progeny have earned in excess of $63 million in prize money, also ranks as the broodmare sire of two top-class US stallions in the form of Liam’s Map and Not This Time respectively.
The regally bred Gold Standard is out of Olympic Dam -a daughter of champions Model Man and Olympic Duel.
Original article written by Cape Breeders Club