SOUTH AFRICA: Overseas Plans For Princess Victoria

Tuesday, 24 July 2012: South Africa's champion filly Princess Victoria is set for an overseas campaign after winning the G1 Garden Province Stakes over 1600m on Vodacom Durban July day at Greyville.

Princess Victoria Photo by Gold Circle

She is already a five-time G1 winner and trainer Glen Kotzen says her future lies overseas after she squared accounts with the outstanding 4YO mare Ebony Flyer.

Kotzen and the owners Georgina Jaffee, Peter De Beyer and Andreas Jacobs have a number of options for Princess Victoria's future and a lot will depend on the export protocols, which currently make travel for South African horses very difficult.

However, the Word Organisation for Animal Health made changes to the AHS code at their 80th annual General Assembly in Paris in May and Racing South Africa is confident that the new guidelines will soon lead to positive changes to these protocols.

Princess Victoria  has returned negative for piroplasmosis meaning she will be able to race in the US and Kotzen says this would be the first choice of the connections.

“There will be a lot of opportunities for her in America and she can go on both surfaces,” said Kotzen.

"She shows great work on the sand but the downside is the quarantine requirements and she will go from hot weather into the freezing cold in New York.”

“The other option is to take her back to race in the Cape until hopefully the export protocols to Europe change.

"If that happens, she should be able to make a relatively straight forward move to race in England, where Mike de Kock said he could help us from his Newmarket base.”

The final option would be to base her in Johannesburg, where there are some fine opportunities for top fillies such as the G2 Ipi Tombe Challenge and the G1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes.

Kotzen said Princess Victoria weighed 482kg this time last year and now weights 500kg which points to her still maturing.

“As she gets older she is learning to settle too and I think she can go further than a mile,” said Kotzen.
Kotzen chose Princess Victoria at the National Yearling Sales of 2010.

"I first saw her on a Maine Chance brochure and then liked her even more when I saw her in the flesh," he said.

"She had all the things I usually like in a horse, a beautiful shoulder, a big eye and nice hocks, but most of all she walked like a cat.

"She had a great overstep. I told Georgina this was the one as she comes from the best family with the likes of Petrava, Jallad and Hoeberg in the pedigree."