The Piere Strydom genius in the saddle was seen to good effect again when the Pathfork filly Secret Star flew up late to gain a narrow verdict in the R135 000 For The Ladies at Turffontein on Saturday.
Piere Strydom gets Secret Star up on the wire to collar Keagan De Melo on the pacy Spring Wonder (Pic – JC Photos)
Punters are understandably still a bit nervous about free striding front-runners after Stratocruiser’s sensational end-to-end display at Fairview on Friday and Keagan de Melo looked to have burgled the non black-type feature one from the front as Spring Wonder galloped strongly from her good draw from the break.
Inside the final 100m the 5yo Querari mare Spring Wonder had it in the bag, but Strydom had timed it finely and he got Secret Star to surge powerfully.
Piere Strydom – top class ride again
The Stuart Pettigrew-trained 4yo (the highest rated galloper in the race) finished well in the 1200m feaure to win by a nose in a time of 71,59 secs.
Spring Wonder bounced back well from a lame pull-up after her last start, while the lightly weighted favourite Alileo just didn’t quicken and had to be content with a third cheque.
The Highlands bred Secret Star is a daughter of Pathfork (Distorted Humor) out of the two-time winner Flowing Stars (Western Winter).
A R150 000 March Yearling Sale buy, she has won 6 races with 4 places from 13 starts and stakes of R4399 625.
This race was previously run as the Sandy Beach Stakes on the Vaal Sand.
