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He’s not as talented as Horse Chestnut, the champion that swept all before him at the turn of the century, but Chestnut’s Rocket has the stamp of his sire.

The burnished chestnut with a finely chiseled head fired the first salvo of the winter season for trainer Vaughan Marshall with his victory in the G3 Byerley Turk at Scottsville.

“He has a high cruising speed and just keeps finding,” said Marshall after stable rider MJ Byleveld made the best of the geldings attributes.

Given an early preview of the track that was running fast, Byleveld had no hesitation in taking Chestnut’s Rocket to the head of affairs. Setting a solid pace, the field strung out behind resulting in the well supported favourite Diamond King caught a little out of his ground early.

The challenges came thick and fast in the straight but Chestnut’s Rocket was not stopping and ground out a courageous victory.

The Alistair Gordon-trained Copybook, a leggy son of Argonaut and the highest rated runner in the field, kicked on nicely to take second ahead of a wall of fast-closing runners.

Diamond King never got in a blow but one that did catch the eye was Speed King. Friendless in the market, he was doing his best work late and like Chestnut’s Rocket, is headed for the G2 KRA Guineas on the first Saturday in May.

But Marshall was unsure about a possible stab at the G1 Daily News 2000.

“We will see how we go in the Guineas but I think the Daily News may be a touch far for him. But it’s a big stake and we may have to take our chances,”he said.

Chestnut’s Rocket is owned by Durban-based businessman Bruce Lin, a staunch supporter of the Marshall stable.

Dennis Drier spent a frustrating evening at Turffontein on Friday night where Jet Aglow was run out of it in the G1 Empress Club Stakes and his afternoon got off to a rocky start with his favourites in the opening two races not landing the odds.

But the wheel turned quickly for Drier as Eventual Angel was a comfortable winnner in the G3 Umzimkhulu Stakes.

Sitting just off the early pace, the daughter of Right Approach moved smoothly through a gap at the furlong marker and the race was over as a contest.