February 18 - On Tuesday night in Johannesburg, South Africa, horseracing fans descended on Turffontein Racecourse to enjoy some exhilarating night racing action including the card's feature race, the 1000m Tommy Hotspur Handicap (Gr 3) which was won in fine style by speedy filly, Noble Heir.

Despite the odd flash of lightning accompanied by the rumble of thunder, to the relief of race organizers, horsemen and racing fans, despite a short hold up, rain steered clear of the course allowing racing to proceed. And when it came time for the Tommy Hotspur Handicap, betting fans were excited.

Starters in the R200,000 ($26,000) open sprint included some formidable speedsters including Moroccan, South Country and Cool Spender. But from the start it was Noble Heir who launched herself to the front of the 13-horse field under respected jockey Johnny Geroudis, along with South Country.

With Noble Heir and South Country leading the way, hot on their heels were Sirius Star and Tirade followed by Cool Spender, a gelding that was slow out of the gates despite having seasoned South African jockey Piere Strydom aboard. But fans knew to watch Strydom closely, as he rarely gives up.

Coming past the 300m mark the two pacesetters remained unchanged, but while Sirius Star and Tirade failed to close the gap, as expected Strydom managed to coax some extra speed out of Cool Spender, who began to close in on the leaders. And in the last stages Cool Spender launched his attack.

While South Country slipped down into third place, Noble Heir held strong and crossed the line first, with Cool Spender not far behind her in second. The result was a joyous one for Noble Heir's trainer, Dennis Bosch, who has guided the four-year-old filly to 7 wins out of 21 races in her career so far.

Punters who backed South Country to win were cursing at the gelding's poor start, and left muttering the same words heard at race courses the world over, 'what if...' Bred by Connington Stud, Noble Heir is out of Kahal (GB) out of Irish Honour by Kilconnel (USA) and owned by S H Franken and A Hadden.