CONFORMATION

“She is compact and thick for an offspring of her sire,” noted Barry Irwin. “At first I was turned off by her because she appeared to have a short neck. But after watching her move, I attributed the look to her posture when she was playing around, which she does a lot.

“This filly is a gamble, because she has a fiery temperament. I seem to buy one of these a year. At this price, I thought it was worth taking a shot in hopes that her energy can be harnessed into a useful purpose, in this case racing.

“There is no way to tell by looking at her whether she will be early or late, or better going short or long. She does have excellent limbs, which is why she made my short list.”

PEDIGREE

Click here for pedigree of Hip 247 - Caesour's Queen

SIRE - Caesour

Caesour raced in France for Gary Biszantz , founder of Cobra Golf and the past president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

By Nureyev, Caesour was useful in France, but better racing in California, where he became a Graded stakes winner and course-record setter.

Sold to stand in South Africa, the dark-coated horse runs hot and colt, but when he sires a good filly, they are exceptional.

Caesour has been represented to date by Irridescence, the Champion Filly of her generation at 3, when she was a double Grade 1 winner prior to winning the Queen Elizabeth II in Hong Kong; Perfect Promise, the Champion full sister to Irridescence who became the first South African horse to win a Group race in Australia, where she defeated males in a noteworthy mile race prior to be sent to stud; Dane Julia, went unbeaten through her initial 5 starts at 3 this season in South Africa, winning the Grade 1 SA Fillies Classic; Alexandra Rose, a Grade 2 winner at 2 and narrow loser by a nostril to Bad Girl Runs in the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas.

FAMILY

Caesour’s Queen was foaled by a half-sister to Fov’s Favourite, a 14-time winner who was the top sprinter of his generation, taking two Grade 1 dashes.

The filly’s dam also is a half-sister to the dam of Yankee Clipper, a 5-time winner of the Listed Ladie’s Mile.

The immediate family includes the stakes-winning and stakes-producing fourth dam Daddy’s Girl.

BROODMARE SIRE - Crystal De Roche

Crystal de Roche was bred in France by Stavros Niarchos, for whom he was a Group performer between 8 and 10 furlongs.

The son of once-beaten English Horse of the Year Kris hails from the same immediate family as Picturesque, the Al Mufti yearling filly bought at this year’s National Yearling Sale by Barry Irwin.

NOTES

This filly was one of the very lowest-selling lots in the entire catalogue of more than 500 horses. Barry Irwin has shown that price has not been a good barometer of future success at the National Yearling Sale, with Sally Bowles, Captain’s Lover and Stately all being bought for less than $28,000.

TRAINER

Wendy Whitehead is a young woman who trained Devon Lady to a pair of consecutive wins before Team Valor joined Anant Singh in ownership of the notional filly.

The weekend of the National Yearling Sale, Wendy sent out 20,000 ZAR (about $3,000) bargain purchase named Chant du Nuit to beat a hot field that included Grade 1 winner Soft Landing for the Grade 2 Camellia Stakes at Turfontein. Chant du Nuit is by Caesour, sire of Caesour’s Queen, so sending this filly to Wendy made a lot of sense.

Wendy Whitehead trains in Durban.

Read the interview with Wendy Whitehead at SAHorseracing.com.