Stan Elley’s Silvano gelding Punta Arenas looks ready to get back to winning ways
A back door admission ticket into the 2014 Vodacom Durban July is at stake when twelve mostly borderline cases go to post for the R350 000 Gr2 Betting World 1900 at Greyville this evening. The race is wide open with suspect fitness and distance suitability looking capable of combining to deliver an upset result.
Gold Circle’s Racing Sub-Committee have wisely set clear parameters for July qualification this year after the mud slinging debacle of 2013 that left a bitter aftertaste and put something of a dampner on the KZN flagship event.
With suggestions of cronyism and subjectivity now largely out of the equation, the connections of the hopefuls have the peace of mind and a hand drawn roadmap to plot their routes. The winner of the Betting World 1900 is granted ‘preferential consideration’ for the July. So while there are no guarantees or reserved seating, a place near the front of the queue beckons.
Elley Track
Phillipi trainer Stan Elley may hold the trumpcard here with the highest standing on the July log in J&B Met third placer . Punta Arenas (11 on the log).
The son of Silvano, named after the capital city of Chile’s southernmost region, has finally been blessed with a competitive draw for a change and ran an excellent fifth over too short in the Drill Hall Stakes when just under four lengths behind Beach Beauty.
The fact that he was hampered puts the effort into solid perspective. That run was a commendable return after his top class late surge from a bad draw in the Met and he is surely way overdue to win again, having not found the enclosure since April last year.
On The Fringes
Sean Tarry’s Halve The Deficit will be right there
Four of the twelve are in the bottom quartet of the July log and with only sixteen starters in the big one, they are genuine fringe cases at this point. Sean Tarry’s Listed Wolf Power 1600 winner Halve The Deficit (17 on the log) has had only one previous run in this province.
That was a winning effort at Scottsville and he comes in fighting fit and well drawn to run a big race. His Gauteng form will be measured here and his performance should make for interesting assessment. There is no question that he stays the trip.
Hanging In
Royal Zulu Warrior (18 on the log) is poorly drawn and ran a fair sixth behind Beach Beauty in the Drill Hall Stakes. The shock 2013 Gr2 Charity Mile winner needs to find his best form to feature here.
Mike De Kock’s Espumanti (19 on the log ) is the only filly in the line up and is showing glimmers of her best form again. She looked very dangerous for a long way in the Gr2 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes and was only collared late by the top class Cherry On The Top. The Greyville straight could play into this pacy galloper’s hands and she should prove dangerous if allowed to dictate matters.
No Worries (20 on the log ) ran a flat race in the Drill Hall Stakes in his return after an unplaced tilt at the J&B Met. He wears the blinkers again and Grant Van Niekerk gets the ride on a horse that has shown sufficient flashes of brilliance to be given another chance.
Carnival Time
The smart Hussonet gelding Rio Carnival will challenge for top honours if staying the 1900m
The next batch of runners are just beyond the top 20 and the Gr3 Kings Cup winner Rio Carnival emerges as a serious contender amongst this group after his flying second to nab second place from Capetown Noir in the Drill Hall Stakes.
Rio Carnival enjoys the benefit of Anton Marcus (Donovan Dillon has ridden him the last two) and while he is poorly drawn, the lightly raced son of Hussonet looks ready to run a cracker at his first bash at the 1900m. His stablemate Astro News is drawn right alongside him and comes off a poor run in the Kings Cup. He looks unlikely to trouble the top two.
Stayer
Dean Kannemeyer’s Chairman’s Cup winner Hot Ticket has drawn on the wide outside and strikes us as more a Gold Cup prospect than a genuine July sort.
Karl Neisius travels up for the ride though, so they are obviously taking this race seriously and he could run fresh after an 11 week break.
Former East Cape Derby winner Tribal Dance has not won in ages and ran a rather flat race when running handily at Scottsville last time.
The second of the Gavin Van Zyl runners is Shogunnar, who comes in off a 27 week break. The son of Solskjaer has only won two races and is an enigmatic sort who cannot be fancied.
Inconsistent
The Howells’ trained One Cool Dude is under no pressure
Duncan Howells’ One Cool Dude is the only runner outside the July net at this stage. E ran third in the Kings Cup at his penultimate start and meets Rio Carnival on 1,5kgs better terms for a 3,50 lengths beating. This son of Strike Smartly is a touch inconsistent and needs to confirm his prospects with a big effort.
The race is wide open but Punta Arenas and Rio Carnival could fight it out on their best form. Halve The Deficit and Espumanti should be in the fight when it counts, while No Worries may be a quartet kicker if he decides to put his best foot forward.
Sold On The Bold
The 2010 Betting World 1900 winner Bold Silvano was the last winner of this race to go on and win the Durban July. He was ridden by Anthony Delpech who parters Espumanti for Mike De Kock on Friday evening. Bold Silvano beat his stablemate Irish Flame by a length in one of the most exciting July finishes seen in recent years.
He was exported after that win and won a Gr 3 in Dubai in 2011, and returned to South Africa to take up stud duties at Dr Ashley and Mrs Rose Parker’s Ascot Stud, the farm where he was raised. The five-year-old bay horse by Silvano from Bold Saffron, by Al Mufti, was the first and most accomplished son of South Africa’s leading stallion to go to stud.
Mike de Kock, who trained him to win the Durban July, the Gr1 Daily News and the Gr 3 Al Maktoum Challenge (Round 2), said: “He looked smashing in Dubai that season but he didn’t run well, which showed us that he wasn’t all that happy on the racetrack. He’ll make a good stallion.” Form Bloodstock’s Jehan Malherbe commented: “Bold Silvano is an internationally proven performer and a really beautiful specimen at that.”
Ashley Parker said the team at Ascot was excited to have one of their best-loved sons back at the Port Elizabeth stud farm.
Bold Silvano raced 17 times and won seven races from 1100m to 2200m for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and Gill Thompson.
His first crop were born last year.
