Global Weekly Review: Amazing Street Cry produces another champion
J A McGrath
29 January, 2018
The incredible legacy of the ill-fated Street Cry was further enhanced when Oh Susanna became the first three-year-old filly in over a century to win the celebrated Sun Met at Kenilworth, Cape Town.
Street Cry, the 2002 G1 Dubai World Cup winner, has proven an outstanding stallion, siring a G1 Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense, in his first crop, as well as being responsible for two of the greatest racemares of modern times in Zenyatta and Winx.
It was a cruel blow to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley and Godolphin operations that Street Cry had to be euthanised in 2014 due to complications relating to a neurological condition.
Arguably then at his peak, aged 16, the question of how great he may have been given better health, will, sadly, never be answered.
His influence on the breed has nevertheless been hugely significant already. He has been able to produce Champions on dirt and on turf, a feat that sets him apart from many other great stallions.
Oh Susanna, who was bred in Australia, is trained by Justin Snaith for Drakenstein Stud and was running for only the eighth time in her career. She was ridden by Grant Van Niekerk.
It was the first time the Sun Met had been run under weight-for-age conditions, an occurrence the filly put to good use. The much-touted Legal Eagle finished fourth, having faded in the closing stages after taking it up 600m out.
In Florida, Gun Runner won his ‘swansong,’ The Pegasus, the world’s richest race, after a brief battle with West Coast in the home straight. Most others were left struggling a long way from home.
Gun Runner did a very good job as he started from a wide gate, yet was able to track over and take up a handy position. Following his early-season clash with Arrogate in the G1 Dubai World Cup, in which he finished second, he won all five subsequent starts.
Gunnevera finished a distant third, over 13 lengths behind the winner, emphasising the superiority of the first two in the second running of the race.
