No slack for newly-weds on standards of breeding

Jessica Slack — granddaughter of the late Harry and Bridgit Oppenheimer — got married last weekend and she could receive a belated wedding gift if State Star wins Thursday’s eighth race at the Vaal.

Slack, who married trainer Mike de Kock’s longtime assistant Steven Jell, is thankfully as enthusiastic about racing as her mother, Mary Slack, and her grandparents.

In an interview with the Sporting Post, Slack said: “Grandma and grandpa set some pretty high standards, we want to live up to those and take the next steps — and to breed champions, of course!

“We hope to continually upgrade our stock and breed the best, fastest and toughest we can. I am not interested in numbers, just quality,” she added.

State Star is proof that Slack only wants to breed from high-quality mares as the fouryear-old, who won her first start by nearly three lengths, is a daughter of Epsom Derby winner, High Chaparral.

The filly is trained by Alec Laird and has been partnered in each of her three outings by champion jockey Anthony Delpech. But on Thursday, the mount goes to Randall Simons.

Ironically — given their close ties with the De Kock stable — it is Aussie-bred Mohallela who could spoil the celebrations for Slack. This daughter of Exceed And Excel won her second start and is set to receive 2.5kg from State Star on Thursday.

Another Aussie import whose performance will be closely monitored is fouryear-old Street Gaze. Geoff Woodruff’s Street Cry filly looked something special when winning her second race by five lengths, but things have gone awry since then, with three unplaced runs.

The Laird-Simons combination has a chance of striking earlier in the meeting when Flying Winger takes on seven rivals in the sixth race. The son of Alado is chasing a hat-trick following wins at Turffontein and the Vaal.

However, Flying Winger could find a couple of runners — notably Silver Maple and Secret Harbour — too smart for him in this 1,400m contest. The firstnamed, a son of Silvano racing for Mayfair Speculators, made a winning debut at Turffontein in September and will appreciate this longer trip.

Gunter Wrogemann has been booting home the winners in KwaZulu-Natal in recent weeks and he will get the best out of Secret Harbour, a son of Noordhoek Flyer bred by the Slacks Wilgerbosdrift/Mauritzfontein operation.

Callan Murray rides Silver Maple and the youngster could kick off the meeting with a winner when he partners Captain My Captain for the De Kock stable in the first race. The son of illfated Captain Al is overdue his first win having been placed four times in his five appearances.