March 18 - On Tuesday night at Turffontein Racecourse in Johannesburg, South Africa, horseracing fans were treated to a full and exciting card of night racing action including the 1800m feature, the R165,000 Jacaranda Handicap (Gr 3), which was dominated from start to finish by talented filly Queen's Bay.

Queens Bay's trainer Michael Azzi was particularly thrilled with the winning form of the four-year-old filly considering how she ran such a poor race in her previous outing, the Empress Club Stakes. She was a different horse in the Jacaranda Handicap, springing out of the gate with top-rated jock Anthony Delpech up.

And he let her run, straight to the front about two lengths ahead of Kiribati, with Night Ritual, What A Life and Opera Cloak not far behind them, Candy Singer in the middle of the pack ahead of Flyte and Run Angel Run, and Milk And Honey and Golden Scold bringing up the rear of the all-female 10-horse field.

It soon became clear that the only real threat to Queens Bay was Kiribati, who was being ridden well by renowned South African jockey, Piere Strydom. In fact, by the 400m mark Kiribati started to close the gap with the pacesetter. But sensing the threat, Delpach asked Queens Bay for more and she answered.

By the 800m mark the only question was whether Queens Bay would be able to hold off Kiribati, and despite losing the lead for a few strides, Delpach kept his filly focused and on pace right up until she crossed the line, barely a nose ahead of Kiribati, who in turn led in the Argentinean-bred Candy Singer for third.

The win was Queens Bay's 6th from just 11 starts, and her second feature victory, her first last October over this course and distance when she romped home first in the Yellowwood Handicap. And although she ran a superb race then, her Tuesday's Jacaranda Handicap was without a doubt her finest race to date.

Bred by Mauritzfontein Stud and owned by Mrs B D Oppenheimer, Queens Bay is by Fort Wood (USA) out of Daphne Donnelly (SAF) by Golden Thatch (IRE).