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Excitement builds for Highlands Ridgemont Team
Exciting Highlands, Part Of Ridgemont, stallion Canford Cliffs produced a timely reminder of what he is capable of when his son Meraki spreadeagled his field to win his maiden in fine style at Durbanville on a sunny New Year’s Day on Monday.
(Canford Cliffs in action – featured image)
A son of Tagula, Canford Cliffs has been standing at Coolmore Stud since he retired to stud in 2012 and will stand his first season at Highlands in the Western Cape in 2018.
An exceptional and versatile racehorse, and already a sire of eight stakes winners, Canford Cliffs only has a handful of runners on African soil – but the passionate Highlands team follow his every move and were thrilled to pop open another bottle of bubbly to celebrate the prospect of a big year ahead.
Racing for a powerful partnership of leading owners Mike Fullard, James Drew, Bryn Ressell and Marsh Shirtliff, the 3yo Meraki won the 1400m contest with ease at his fifth start, to add to his two places.
An A$60 000 2016 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale graduate off the Blue Gum draft, Meraki was purchased by Heritage Bloodstock and is out of the well-related Bel Espirt mare Aerate’s Joy. The mare injects an interesting mix of speed into the pedigree and trainer Candice Bass-Robinson and her team believe that Meraki can only improve further as he matures.
Trained by Richard Hannon, who described Canford Cliffs as ‘the best I have trained’, the sire’s seven wins from 11 runs, included five Gr1 races-in a row. His five Gr1 winning streak encompassed the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Lockinge Stakes and Queen Anne Stakes – and he ended the season with a runner up finish to Frankel in the Gr1 Sussex Stakes.
Any enquiries about Canford Cliffs may be directed to Amanda Carey on amanda@ridgemont.co.za or Mike Sharkey on Tel 023 626 2331/2.
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