PEMBA, twice beaten in mildly disappointing runs on grass, put it all together in his first sand run at the Vaal on Tuesday.

The three-year-old colt by Tiger Ridge from Ilha Da Vitoria was quickly prominent in a Maiden Plate over 1600m. He disputed the lead going through the 600m mark and then took over with 400m to run, galloping strongly in the hands of Derreck David.

Pemba was eased down in the closing strides and although he didn’t beat much of note can be watched on this surface as he looks progressive.

A graduate of Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift Stud, Pemba races in the silks of Sheikh Hamdan of Dubai. He was a R1-million purchase at the Emperors National Yearling Sale.