Mike de Kock could field a powerful three-pronged attack with the nomination of the Australian-bred two-year-old Alyaasaat for the Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes on Super Saturday.
Alyaasaat steps into the Gr1
The Dawn Approach colt has raced twice finishing fourth on debut over 1160m and then last time out winning by nearly five lengths from Limberado over 1400m at Turffontein.
He looks likely to join the stable’s Gr2 Golden Horseshoe top two of Barahin and Soqrat in what could be the race of the day.
The Festival, on Saturday, July 28, features South Africa’s premier and most famous marathon event, the R1.25-million eLAN Gold Cup and four Gr1 events that will play major roles in the selection of the country’s award-winning horses and personalities at the annual racing awards ceremony in August.
In addition to the 3200m marathon event, the meeting will see the country’s top horses fight it out over 1800m in the R1-million, Gr1 World Sports Betting Champions Cup as well as in South Africa’s most prestigious weight-for-age sprint race, the R1-million, Gr1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m.
Azzie’s Will Pays – for Mercury Sprint
There will also be the final challenges of the season for the exciting juveniles that will compete in the Premiers Champion Stakes and the Thekwini Stakes, both over a mile at Grade 1 level and each carrying a stake of R750 000.
In the Mercury Sprint, the Mike and Adam Azzie stable has nominated their six-year-old Imperial Stride gelding Will Pays as a supplementary entry.
The gelding has recorded 11 wins and 12 places from his 34 starts and comes off a win in a Pinnacle Stakes race in June after having previously won the Hawaii Stakes and finished third in the Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes.
