Classy filly Franca provided her red hot sire Rafeef with yet another feature race success when she captured the Listed East Cape Breeders Stakes (1200m) at Fairview on Friday.
Trained by Alan Greeff, three-year-old Franca received a fine ride from Sandile Khathi in Friday’s race –the first leg of the 2022 Eastern Cape (F&M) Challenge.
Always up with the pace in Friday’s sprint, Franca hit the front 100m from home and stayed on gamely to claim her first black type victory by a length.
Bred by Piemonte Stud, Franca has now won six of her 18 starts, with the Rafeef daughter having also finished second in the Listed Milkwood Stakes prior to her win on Friday.
Out of the Red Ransom mare Afnaan, Franca joins an increasingly impressive list of black type horses to have emerged from Rafeef’s stellar first crop. She is Rafeef’s seventh stakes winner overall, and is one of seven black type performers produced by Rafeef’s first crop –thus far.
This first crop was headed by G1 winners Aragosta (SA Derby) and Master Archie (Computaform Sprint), and also includes G3 Tony Ruffel Stakes winner William Robertson, the aforementioned Franca, and Secretariat Stakes runner up Whafeef.
Understandably, the progeny of Rafeef were in great demand at last week’s KZN Yearling Sale, where Rafeef yearlings made up to R520 000.
Image: Pauline Herman
