The Cape’s newest equine idol and fan favourite, the Crawford-Rix trained Kommetdieding, ran the Cape Derby prep that his supporters were dreaming about, in the process keeping his perfect four-from-four unblemished record intact, when he cruised to victory in the R150 000 Gr3 Politician Stakes at a sundrenched Kenilworth on Saturday.
The Klawervlei Farm Sale R55 000 bargain buy has captured the imagination of the local racing public in a phenomenon not witnessed since the heady Pocket Power days.
Kommetdieding (Sihle Cele) bounces clear of the chasing Legitimate (Keagan de Melo) in a thriller (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
He made it a first stakes success and four straight wins from 1200m to 1800m when he cut them down late under a cool ride by Sihle Cele and beat the well-backed late charging Legitimate (8-1) by 1,50 lengths in a time of 110, 61 secs.
Perennial placer Rascallion (14-10) had every chance and was a further 1,25 lengths back in third.
There was drama in the running when the forward galloping My Bestie appeared to clip heels and fell, dislodging jockey Sandile Mbhele who came down heavily. My Bestie got up and returned to the unsaddling enclosure.
But the afternoon belongs to Kommetdieding, his journeyman jockey Sihle Cele – who was very emotional post race – and the Crawford-Rix family training operation, who look to have their best hope ever of going on to conquer SA and the world.
The trainer and the jockey – what a team! (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The winner is a son of the Black Swan Stud-based SA Derby winner Elusive Fort (Fort Wood) and is out of the thrice winning Captain Al mare, Adorable.
He has a clean sheet in his four starts and took his earnings to R321 000 on Saturday.
Next stop for Ashwin Reynolds’ star will be the Cape Derby at the end of February.
And the Hong Kong audience watching the race could mean there are a few feelers from abroad this week.
