Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein look likely to hold off Varsfontein in Breeders Championship

PUBLISHED: 21 July 2026

David Thiselton
Varsfontein Stud made a giant leap up the Breeders Championship table when the Futura gelding they bred, Note To Self, won the R10 million Hollywoodbets Durban July and earned a stake cheque of R5,750,000.
They also won the Listed Premier Gateway International Thukela Handicap on July day with Talk To The Master but the boost they received at the meeting fell  short of them taking the championship lead away from Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein.
The latter’s runners had accumulated R32,901,172 during the season at the time of writing and that was R1,446,018 clear of Varsfontein’s accumulated amount of R31,455,154.
Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein look to have the firepower to hold on to their lead on the last big meeting of the season on World Pool Gold Cup day.
Varsfontein might have a quite a strong hand in  the day’s most expensive race, the R1.75 million World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes over 1600m, and a dominant result in this race will give them some hope of usurping the championship. They had two runners at time of writing, the Gr 2 Omoda Golden Horseshoe runner up Green Energy and the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes winner Viking Leader, who is a half-brother to Note To Self. They also had two horses among the reserves. The first reserve is the decent sort Roskilde, who was not disgraced in the Golden Horseshoe and the third reserve is the promising Highveld colt Sands Of Valhalla. Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein have the promising Gr 2 Amusnet Golden Slipper third-placed Tudor Rose involved and she is drawn in pole, and they have the promising Coast Of The Sun as second reserve.
In the R1.5 million Gr1 wfa HKJC Champions Cup neither Varsfontein nor Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein have any entries.
In the R1 million Gr 1 wfa Mercury Sprint Varsfontein don’t have an entry, while Wilgerbosdrift band Mauritzfonteinn have last year’s 1,75 length fourth-placed Cats Pajamas.
In the R1 million World Pool Gold Cup Varsfontein do not have a runner, whereas Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein have a fair chance with last year’s runner up Holding Thumbs.
In the R750,000 Douglas Whyte Thekwini Stakes over 1600m Varsfontein have a fine chance with Alice B. Toklas, who was desperately unlucky in the Gr 2 Amusnet Golden Slipper over 1400m on Hollywoodbets Durban July day. After being completely squeezed out she was still able to regather and run second, so she has a fine chance from a great draw of three. They also have the pole position-drawn Impressive, who has some fair form but does look held, and they also  have Doesyourmotherknow, who is capable of better than her unplaced run in the Gatecrasher Stakes against the boys. Wilgerbosdrift and Maurtizfontein do not have a runner in this race.
The Varsfontein Stud-bred Sands Of Valhalla is a runner in the Gr 2 R500,000 World Pool Bet With Tote Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m along with the Varsfontein Stud-bred Gr 3 Godolhphin Barb third-placed Flamethrower and the Varsfontein-Stud-bred No Drama, who finished fourth in the Gr 2 Amusnet Golden Slipper over 1400m and she now has a plum draw as opposed to the wide draw she had in the latter race. However, Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein have a potentially strong hand here with the unbeaten Gimme Some Luck and the talented Catfish, although both have tricky draws.
Wilgerbosdrift have the Gr 3 Strelitzia runner up Menagerie in the in the Gr 2 R500,000 World Pool with Race Coast Debutante over 1200m. Varfontein have no runners in this race.
In the Gr 2 R500,000 Bet With The World Gold Bracelet over 2000m Varsfontein have the East Cape star Anotherdanceforme. Wilgerbosdrift have a fair hand here with last year’s winner Rainbow Lorikeet and with the Betway Summer Cup winner Mocha Blend, although both of them have wide draws.
In the Listed R225,000 Tote Stakes Darley Arabian over 1600m Varsfontein have a potentially strong hand with Talk To The Master and the promising Green Gateway. Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein have two reserve runners here, Down By The River and Sundance Kid.
In the R225,000 Listed HKIR In December Umngeni Handicap over 1000m Varsfontein have the East Cape raider Danish Dynamite while Wilgerbosdift and Mauritzfontein have the first reserve runner Umzingeli Wenyathi.
It could yet turn out to be an intriguing race for the Breeders’ title, although Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein must be the hot favourites to regain the title they last held two seasons ago.