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There was no fairytale ending for South Africa’s champion sprinter What A Winter when he suffered a shock defeat in his final career start in the G1 Mercury Sprint at Clairwood on Saturday.

Starting at prohibitive odds-on of 1/3, What A Winter was comprehensively beaten into third place by female opponents All Is Secret and Welwitschia.

The 5YO What A Winter, winner of the Mercury Sprint last season, retires to stud having won 15 races.

What A Winter, to stand at Drakenstein Stud, was challenged in the final furlong, first by Welwitschia and then by All Is Secret.

The latter ran on well to beat Welwitschia by 1 1/4 lengths, with What A Winter a neck back in third on the soft turf.

All Is Secret, trained by Vaughan Marshall, was last season’s Equus Champion 2YO filly.

She was coming into the Mercury Sprint off a fourth behind brilliant filly Via Africa, who was twice beaten by What A Winter in previous G1 sprints.

It was the first G1 win for All Is Secret as a 3YO after winning the G1 Allan Robertson Championship and G1 Thekwini Stakes as a 2YO.

This season she had won the G2 Fillies Championship and G3 Poinsettia Stakes.

All Is Secret is owned by Markus Jooste and Garth Miller, who both the filly’s sire Captain Al and dam Secret Of Victoria.

All Is Secret has won six of her 11 outings, having finished out of the money on just two previous occasions.