Richard Fourie
A terrific quartet of winners for the high riding Snaith-Fourie combination was the highlight of a sunny and windy afternoon at Durbanville on Saturday. Snaith ended the afternoon with five big scores.
Justin continues to dominate at the top of the national trainer log and the revitalised Fourie is snapping at the leader’s heels in his own league.
He has only ridden half as many winners as the rampant Andrew Fortune, but has a lot more scope with weight options than the seasoned star.
The power pair always looked to have a good card of runners and after a frustrating Fairview Friday afternoon where their three runners produced a winner and two seconds, the yard came back strongly at home.
The Snaith win quintet got rolling in the second when Fourie rode a powerful race to get Red Ray’s full brother Bishop’s Bounty home to beat the disappointing Rodney.
Justin Snaith – great day at the big D office
The latter started at odds-on and looked slung in at the weights. But Bishop’s Bounty was too strong and showed no signs of his 16 week break.
His connections suggested that he could be a classic 3yo and he is a colt to follow.
Pete’s Girl started unfancied in the third, a Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over 1200m. The daughter of Windrush jumped at 13-1 but produced a professional performance to beat the more experienced Lady Diddeo going away by 2,50 lengths.
Snaith’s fifth race winner Cock-A-Hoop had been knocking hard and the son of Western Winter put it all together at his sixth start to win by a mile.
This well bred 3yo runs in the Foster silks and is out of a German winning half-sister to a French Gr3 winner. He should be even more effective over further.
Donovan Dillon was aboard Snaith’s seventh race winner A Time To Dream.
The daughter of Dynasty was easy to back after her 12 week break and ran on too strongly to beat Beach Goddess and register her fifth win in eight starts.
Snaith saddled the expected exacta in the very next race when Overshadow made it three wins on the trot to hold his consistent stablemate Star Chestnut in the topliner, an MR 89 Handicap.
Donovan Dillon – rode one of the Snaith five
There has never been much to choose between the two and they ran accordingly.
The R3,1 million National Yearling Sale purchase Craven caught the eye on debut in the last. The Avontuur-bred son of Dynasty was well supported in the 1400m Maiden Plate, but was outrun of it late by his more experienced New Zealand-bred The Great One.
Another pricy Avontuur bred stamped her season prospects with an excellent comeback win in the sixth.
The classy Live Life hails from a top family and Trippi’s daughter grabbed a second win from five starts in the 1000m MR 76 Handicap. The Candice Bass-Robinson-trained 3yo accelerated to win well and Cold As Ice’s half-sister is one for the notebook.
