It made sense that Gary Barber purchased the two-year-old filly WITWATERSRAND from the Fasig-Tipton October Digital Sale. A debut winner on Sept. 1 for DJ Stable, LLC and trainer Mark Casse’s Quintessential Racing Florida, the dark bay, racy type by Connect cost Barber $230,000 and shares the name with a famous gold deposit gorge in South Africa.
Witwatersrand, who stayed in the Casse barn after the sale and finished third in the Glorious Song Stakes, made instant dividends for Barber with a very fast and handy win in the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday, November 4.
Sitting chilly behind the early pace under Patrick Husbands, Witwatersrand burst between fillies to win by 2 3/4 lengths in 1:43.72, some four lengths quicker than Two Ghosts needed to win the Grey Stakes (G3) a race earlier.