Double. Piere Strydom was in hot form at Arlington.
Three retreads from stronger racing centres won at Arlington on Friday 12 August in impressive fashion. The recipe seems quite simple. Find the right raced horse at the correct price and ship him down to Port Elizabeth. Makes one wonder about the logic and sense behind all those grapplers in the dark at the National Two Year Old Sale this weekend!
Why take a chance with a horse who may not be able to get out of his own way or maybe even never get to the track? Eastern Cape racing has certainly gotten stronger over the years but both Icemberg and the Grant Paddock-trained Spy Glass proved that buying second-hand and slightly used in a stronger centre makes a lot of sense. They were coincidentally both ridden by Piere Strydom, who is looking lean and hungry as the new season gets under way.
Spy Glass had won his last start for Mike De Kock at Turffontein on 16 June by 4,25 lengths and besides possibly needing the run in the final race on the Arlington card, his connections warned that he would probably prefer the Fairview track. But Strydom bounced him out and showed perfect judgement of pace to lead all the way for an emphatic win. He had only won his maiden in February and looks to have plenty of scope down in the Windy City.
His trainer Grant Paddock had to endure disappointment earlier on when his sizzlingly fast three year old Cataloochee colt Jella Loochee fell away to nothing in the Speedsters Stakes over 1000m. The youngster, a nominee for Champion Two Year Old Colt in the East Cape Racing awards, was badly in at the weights and let us rather criticize a lack of opportunity in the racing programme than his performance. He deserves another chance. Two nominees in the forthcoming East Cape Racing Awards ran into the minor money behind Icemberg. Bob ‘N Weave ran second and is a nominee for Champion Three Year Old colt and the smart filly Perestroika ran a great third against the boys. She is a lively contender for the title of Champion Three Year Old filly.
Speedster. Icemberg seen winning at Kenilworth.
The winner of this race was the former Kannemeyer gelding, Icemberg. Strydom rode the apparently unsound fellow with confidence and he ran away from his field late in the race. This was the Justin Snaith horse’s sixth win from twenty-two starts. That is not bad going and the horse who once raced in the illustrious Fieldspring Racing silks looks on track to pick up a few more if Tara Garrett can keep him sound. His sire, Storm Cat stallion Hennessy, died prematurely in August 2007 from a suspected heart attack in Argentina. Hennessy’s top offspring includes Johannesburg, the unbeaten 2-year-old of 2001 who was named champion juvenile male in North America, Ireland, France, and England. He stood as a stallion in Australia.
The third of the out-of-provincers to win on the day was another former Mike De Kock-traine horse. The Tiger Ridge filly Kwacha, who won the MR92 Handicap for fillies and mares in a tight finish from the Shaun Miller mare Sound Of Silence, is very fast and Yvette Bremner has done a great job keeping her on the boil. De Kock has retained a share in the Wilgerbosdrift bred filly and the win was due reward for her consistency.Warren Kennedy was the other most successful jockey on the afternoon with a double in the first two races.
E Cape Champion Jockey. Mauritian Karis Teetan had a great year.
The Racing Association’s Racing Awards Ceremony for the East Cape 2010 / 2011 Racing Season, will be held in the Jock Andrews Pavilion at the Arlington Racecourse on Saturday 03 September 2011. The brilliant Gavin Smith-trained Windrush colt In A Rush and the Bremner-trained Celtic Fire look shoe-ins in the Champion Two Year Old Colt and Champion Older Horse category, respectively. Gavin Smith is the Champion Trainer while Karis Teetan and Anthony Andrews are the Champion Jockey and Apprentice respectively.
