No borderline case. Bass aiming Jeppe's Reef at Gold Vase.
Champion overkill! Five KZN racemeetings in just ten days. Maybe they are playing catch-up for lost meetings and we really love horseracing on the East Coast. But what about our Western Cape based owners who are starved of racing as winter sets in? The Cape has exactly six racemeetings programmed in the entire month of June and it just doesn’t seem fair somehow.
There are plenty of injustices and imbalances in this industry but this statistical anomaly takes the cake. A wise man once said that one should never invest in anything that eats while you sleep, and the punch-drunk Capetonians must be scratching their heads as the window envelopes keep arriving in the post while their horses stand idle. It doesn’t make for great economics or morale.
It was a great day’s racing though at Clairwood on Sunday and the refreshing unity, common purpose and passion evident amongst the KZN Breeders was tangible in a high sprited affair in more ways than one. The on- course atmosphere and well patronised dining rooms showed that there are sectors of this industry who pull together and the excitement generated by the inaugural Suncoast Yearling Sale scheduled for Thursday 30 June was on everybody’s lips.
The most impressive winner of the day was the Jallad gelding Jeppe’s Reef who pulverised his field in the Pick Six opener, the Yellow Star Stud MR 83 Handicap over 2500m. Mike Bass trains this fellow for the Drakenstein Stud. Rider Anton Marcus was very complimentary after wards and said that Bass was a master when it came to bringing horses along. Bass said he would skip the Derby this coming Saturday and rather go for the Gold Vase on July day. Out of the top-class staying mare Studio Fifty Four, who was trained originally by retired conditioner Michael Airey, who these days is the proprietor of a busy Engen garage in Ballito on the KZN North Coast. One imagines a far more profitable profession than training thoroughbred racehorses!
Coasting South. Smooth win for Umkomaas.
The highest rated race of the day was the jackpot opener, the Backworth Stud MR 95 Handicap over 1000m. As has become the norm of late, it was Delpech versus Marcus in the final strides with Delpech gaining the ascendancy on the smart Umkomaas who recorded a third win from ten starts. He beat the year older Buragh, who is consistency personified, while Tetelestai ran third. The once champion two year old Villandry, now rising five, showed pace before fading late for fourth. The Grey Eminence filly Madrisa, who unbelievably boasted a merit rating of over 100 once upon a time, also fell away and both of these horses are shadows of their former selves. Fairytales do not always have happy endings in horseracing.
Sean Tarry trained the gallant winner of the non black-type feature, the KZN Breeders 1600. The Mouseketeer led all the way to beat the undoubtedly talented and resolute galloper Ice Axe. The colt showed a lot of courage in a race where he was not well-weighted by any means. It was probably because of this that he started a rather generous 33-10. Anthony Delpech made good use of the tail-wind in the straight and he kept the Kahal’s mind on the task at hand in spite of drifting in and out late in the race. The colt is owned in partnership by Francois Diedrechsen and television personality, Neil Andrews. He is definitely a horse for the notebook. It was a notable celebration for KZN Breeders Chairman Warwick Render who presented the prizes and also bred the winner at the beautiful Bushhill Stud.
Winning Form’s Muzi Yeni rode a clever race to close the jackpot in the Clifton Stud MR 76 Handicap over 1000m on the Colin Scott-trained 15-4 shot Bold Alliance. The Connington Stud –bred Muhtafal swept through the middle late to hold off a determined Flaming Al on whom Marco Latorre rode for his life. One just gets the feeling that Yeni used shrewd race-riding tactics in a mild intimidatory style late, to keep Latorre at bay. A great pity as the much-travelled Latorre has tried everything to establish himself with very limited success and deserved a winner. No charity though from Muzi.
The day closed with an impressive R1 million quartet pool in the ninth race and it was Anton Marcus and Anthony Delpech, yet again, who went head to head in the final 200m with Marcus getting the upper hand on the favourite Talente, who will be one to watch over a mile. Marcus drifted right across onto Delpech and one would not have been surprised to hear the objection hooter. It went all clear and a happy ending to a profitable day for Superman.
In Zimbabwe trainer Lisa Harris enjoyed the distinction of training six of the seven winners on the card at Borrowdale, while Apprentice JP van der Merwe, deputising for an injured Dewey Williams, rode five winners.
