Word has spread that Greyville is the place to be on Friday nights and the atmosphere on course was reminiscent of the heyday of racing as the stands and lawns were full of enthusiastic spectators and the outside rail was lined with people for every race.

KZN’s champion trainer Howells has been in tremendous form on the turf and scored a treble on the night, although one of those winners was on the polytrack. However, Same Jurisdiction was the horse many had come to see and they were not disappointed.

This was just her fifth career start and her first since narrowly winning the Gr 1 Thekwini Stakes for two-year-old fillies over the Flamboyant course and distance on Super Saturday at the end of last season. She fought hard in the Thekwini to get up and beat the classy Carry On Alice, despite having been found later to have bled. The latter issue brought an automatic three-month suspension from racing so Howells has done his usual astutely professional job in bringing her back in fine condition.

Same Jurisdiction looked in a different class to the field when going down to the post majestically. However, Howells had been concerned about her being above herself under the lights, having missed her intended preparation due to inclement weather.

She was indeed above herself and was restless in the stalls before throwing her head up as she jumped. However, Randolph, when conferring later in the winner’s enclosure with her jockey of last season, the recuperating Kevin Shea, agreed that these were just symptoms of her eagerness to race, a trait that most champions possess. She was soon displaying another enviable trait in that she settled well in the running, although the strong pace set by Pearl Emblem suited her down to the ground.

Same Jurisdiction – Flamboyant Stakes 2015 (Nkosi Hlophe)

She has a  magnificent action and when Randolph eased her outward from a midfield position at the top of straight it was clear that he was swinging on the bridle. When he let her go the response was instantaneous and she powered clear in effortless fashion to win by four lengths from the Paul Lafferty-trained Goldie Coast, who got the good pace she needs, enabling her to settle in last place before using her fine turn of foot.

The handy Charles Laird-trained Admiral’s Eye stayed on gamely for a 5,25 length third, beating her stablemate Captain’s Daughter by a length, and Supercede ran on well to be 0,5 lengths further back in fifth.

Howells said afterwards that “this is what dreams are made of “ and said that having watched her recent work he realised that he had not trained a horse as good as this since the brilliant champion sprinter Via Africa. Randolph quipped that even the aeroplanes he flew were not as quick, while one of the owners Larry Vermaak said that having owned many “also rans” in racing he felt “really blessed to have stumbled upon a nice horse like this” and was “really, really excited” about her future.

Same Jurisdiction ran in the colours of Drakenstein Stud for the first time as they recently purchased a share in her. The Klawervlei Stud-bred daughter of Mambo In Seattle, who was bought for R270,000 at the Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale, has won her last four races after being beaten on debut and has earned R1,148,425 in stakes.

Besides Howell’s treble, two of them ridden by Randolph, Dennis Drier’s in form KZN yard scored a double, both ridden by stable jockey Sean Cormack, and one of them, the good looking Dynasty filly Art Deco, looks to be a horse worth following.