Drakenstein Stud’s sensational sire What A Winter’s remarkable run of feature race success continued when his two-year-old daughter Distant Winter downed some highly promising rivals to win the G3 Winter Nursery run at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Wednesday afternoon.
Bred and owned by Drakenstein, the Candice Bass-Robinson trained Distant Winter had previously finished second to her paternal half-sister, and subsequent G3 Strelitzia Stakes winner, Winter Cloud in the G3 City Of Cape Town Cape Of Good Hope Nursery and had also finished runner up in the Listed City Of Cape Town Summer Juvenile Stakes and gained a well deserved first stakes win in Wednesday’s R200 000 feature race.
Under Grant Van Niekerk, Distant Winter came forward with 300m left to race and the filly kept going gamely to score by just under half a length.
The uber-consistent filly has now finished first or second in each of her five starts.
Out of the Trippi mare Fromafar, Distant Winter is a full-sister to G3 Tommy Hotspur Handicap runner-up Far Away Winter and three-part sister to the What A Winter sired G3 Cape Of Good Hope Nursery winner Armando.
Distant Winter is the 24th stakes winner for What A Winter, South Africa’s Leading First Season Sire of 2016-2017, and Leading Sire of 2YOs in 2020-2021.
What A Winter is having an outstanding season in 2022-2023 and not only currently heads South Africa’s Leading Sires of 2YOs premiership but is also runner-up on the South African General Sires List for the current season.
The multiple Equus Champion recently enjoyed a stellar weekend where his son Isivunguvungu won the G1 Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint and daughters Cold Fact and Winter Cloud captured the G2 WSB Camellia Stakes and G3 Strelitzia Stakes respectively.
Other flagbearers for the Western Winter sired champion this season include graded stakes winning fillies Humdinger and Miss Cool, and promising G3 Pretty Polly Stakes runner-up Elegant Ice.
Original article written by Cape Breeders Club.