TWO imports Nigel Mansell (Brz) and Taarish (Aus), won their Maidens in eye-catching fashion at Scottsville on Sunday afternoon, stamping themselves as definite youngsters to watch this summer.

Nigel Mansell’s the F1 driver was mostly rock solid on the Grand Prix circuit and the connections of his equine namesake will be hoping this flashy son of Elusive Quality learns to race sooner than later –perhaps, with maturity, to achieve similarly impressive racetrack feats.

Nigel Mansell, going away.

The chestnut was a bit fractious at the pens before his 1200m race, lost two lengths at the jump, raced green and had to be nursed along by jockey Sean Veale to get there in time.  The winning margin of 0.25-lengths flattered the runner-up.

Veale said: “If we can get Nigel Mansell to overcome his tricks at the pens he will be a smart horse.  He was green, but when I changed my stick and gave him a flick he moved smartly past Sean (Cormack’s) horse and we had the race in the bag.”

Assistant trainer John Buckler noted: “Nigel Mansell flipped over in the pens last time and we had to scratch him. Well done to the owners, he’s a nice horse.”

Bred by Fazenda Mondesir in Brazil, Nigel Mansell is owned in partnership by Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift Stud,  Mike de Kock, Chris Haynes, Gary Grant, Dr John and Mrs Amanda McVeigh and Noeline Malherbe.

“Nigel Mansell was quite impressive today. He needs further and we’ll be watching with interest,” Mike commented from the UK.

Taarish, no sweat.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum will be looking forward to see how Taarish develops in his next few starts. The son of Encosta De Lago turned a 1400m contest into a procession, hitting the wire more than five lengths clear under Anthony Delpech.

“We gelded Taarish and it had the desired outcome. He’s a progressive sort,” Mike said.