Last race for ‘Alice’
CARRY On Alice will be retired to stud abroad after Saturday’s Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville. The five-year-old, whose 10 career wins include Gr1 successes in all five seasons of racing, will be shipped to Australia via the UK.
The plan is for her to take up broodmare duties in Australia, but Klawervlei Stud’s John Koster, who bred and part-owns Carry On Alice with Chris van Niekerk, Dr John and Mrs Jill Warner, said this could still change.
Koster said: “The shipping arrangements will take Carry On Alice to the UK first, so we may have her covered in the Northern Hemisphere if she travels well, and provided she cycles at the suitable time.
There are great stallions to go to, Frankel, Invincible Spirit, Camelot, to name but a few.
“All of that depends on circumstances and she will probably retire in Australia, we haven’t yet decided on a farm of choice. What matters is that she deserves to visit the best stallions.” Sean Tarry, who trains Carry On Alice, said: “We have been privileged to work with a mare of this quality and talent and who knows, perhaps she can go out in style Saturday.
“This is real life, it may not be a fairytale ending. But Carry On Alice will go into the race in good form and she has a chance of winning it for a second time.”
Tarry said that he expected Carry On Alice to be better than on Champions Day when she was beaten 1.6-lengths by Rafeef in the 2017 Computaform Sprint.
“Her prep was good, but in the week leading to Champions Day we had some temperatures and weak blood pictures in the yard.
There was something going round and she may have been affected.
“Carry On Alice will go to stud with 10 wins and 13 places from 28 runs, a great performer throughout her career.
Grecian Gale
“There are trainers who prefer to race their fillies lightly for black type and early retirement, I like them workmanlike and battle-hardened. For example the mare Grecian Gale raced just about every second week until she was seven, for the late Buddy Maroun. She produced a top filly for us in Wendywood.
“Our champion sprinter National Colour didn’t race as often as that, but she was active and racing all over the world nearing six years of age and she’s been an absolute star at stud in Australia.”
Carry On Alice’s top-level wins included the 2014 Gr1 SA Nursery, the 2015 renewal of the prestigious Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint, the 2016 Gr1 Computaform Sprint and the 2017 Gr1 Cape Flying Championship. She goes into Saturday’s race with a bank roll of R4,12-million.