Prince sets Turffontein alight

Danie Toerien

Prince Of Fire scored his fifth career win from eight starts at Turffontein today when he took the honours in Race 2, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1400m.

Considering that Johan Janse van Vuuren's charge was "found in a paddock", his meteoric rise up the Merit Rating ladder is quite extraordinary.

Janse van Vuuren explains: “He’s a nice, smart horse. Always showed us a bit at home.

“My good mate Justin Vermaak found him in a paddock on a farm. He was never at a sale or anything like that. Justin loved him from the beginning, phoned me up and said he really likes this horse.

“Laurence Wernars and the team bought the horse for us. It was a very good call from Justin.

“He’s a very good horse. He has a high cruising speed and a nice turn of foot. I just don’t know if he’s going to get past 1400m. It’s the perfect distance for him. 1200m is a touch sharp and 1600m is a touch far.

"But we got the day off to a good start and I'm just very grateful for that."