Trainer Jacques Strydom produced a rare long-term double at Fairview on Friday when he again raised the local flag in defiance of the traditional visitor onslaught on the R350 000 Betway Listed Algoa Cup by saddling the second local winner of the ‘Gqeberha July’ in the space of 15 years – that after he achieved the same feat with Surfin’ USA.
The visitors have reaped rich rewards in the 2000m contest over the years, but Jacques Strydom, despite being unhappy about the early switch of surface, had other ideas with the 2021 Gr2 Peninsula Handicap winner, who produced a cracker to register his maiden all-weather success at the age of 7.
Craig Zackey steers Firealley to an eyecatching win for the hometown (Pic – Pauline Herman)
With Justin Snaith pulling his pair of Rockpool and Call To Unite out of the race after 4Racing made an early call to switch from the turf to poly, there were no more withdrawals in the feature and the race produced a cracker as it was run under sunny skies.
4Racing Executive Gabi Soma said after the trophy handover that he felt that the switch decision had been vindicated, and that the turf would have taken strain as the day went on.
Well ridden by the mercurial Craig Zackey, Firealley (10-1) stayed on strongly to beat the fast finishing 11-2 Blackberry Malt by 0,75 lengths in a time of 121,04 secs.
Cape raider Allez Morris (4-1) finished well for third a quarter length back, with tote favourite Joy And Peace (4-1) completing the quartet.
Having his eighth run for the Jacques Strydom yard since transferring from Candice Bass-Robinson at the beginning of this year, the Drakenstein-bred Firealley is now raced in a diverse happy partnership of Messrs Do Carmo, De Wet,McCrow, Puggia,Smart, Lorette Louw, the Money Talks Syndicate,SMB Insurance Brokers and the Strydom family.
The Firealley friends! The team behind the Betway Algoa Cup winner (Pic – Pauline Herman)
A son of Flower Alley (Distorted Humor), Firealley is out of the Irish-bred Galileo mare, Fire Spinner.
Originally a R275 000 purchase off the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, Firealley has won 6 races with 14 places from 44 starts for stakes of R869 600.
The R500 000 carryover Pick 6 injection fell well short of the originally projected R3 million, at R1,88 million. Probably no surprise after the switch to polytrack.
