For a long way down the Caulfield straight in Saturday’s $855,000 The Showdown, it looked as if River Night would vault her sire Night Of Thunder (IRE) to a challenging position to long time leading first season sire Pride Of Dubai, then along came Fred Kersley on the Matt Cumani-trained Turffontein colt Khoekhoe.
Restricted to VOBIS Sires-eligible horses only, The Showdown carries a first prize of $450,000, the richest reward to date for both his apprentice jockey and trainer who had teamed up to win the $300,000 Pakenham Cup (2500m) last December with subsequent Group 1 Sydney Cup winner with Etah James.
The two-year-old colt came with a barnstorming finish from midfield to deny River Night by a head with the Street Boss gelding Galactic Fury three and a half lengths back in third.
It was the third stat for Khoekhoe who opened his career with a lacklustre ninth of 11 at Ballarat before proving that form wrong when defeating his better fancied stablemate Coup De Tonnerre at Echuca on April 5.
"It's important to have good two-year-olds in Australia and I've been trying to prove that we can do it," Cumani told racing.com.
"We've had Stakes winners at two - this isn't a black type race but it's worth an awful lot of money - and great to do it.
"This is a horse we bought at the sales as well. We put a lot of work into finding good-value horses, and he had a great pedigree - no black type but lots of winners. He was just a standout horse at the sales and I'm thrilled we got him.
"I just thought Fred was brilliant on him. He didn't panic, he just was waiting, waiting, waiting for the gap and it opened perfectly for him and the horse did the rest. It's just a fantastic result."
Purchased by his trainer for $50,000 out of the Hollylodge Thoroughbreds draft at the 2019 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, Khoekhoe is the seventh winner from as many foals out of the Cape Cross mare, Walvis Bay who has showed a great return on her purchase price of $19,000 at the 2009 Inglis Australian Easter Broodmare Sale.
Walvis Bay had a Reward For Effort filly make $28,000 out of the Hollylodge Thoroughbreds draft at the 2020 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
After not being served in 2018, the daughter of Cape Cross visited Spendthrift Farms young I Am Invincible stallion Overshare last spring.
Blue Gum Farm’s underrated stallion Turffontein is enjoying a fruitful season led by the triple Listed Stakes winner Mandela Affect, the dual Group III winner Bold Thruster and the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes third Widgee Turf.
