Igugu
Ruling horse-of-the-year Igugu turned her seasonal debut into a display of absolute dominance when she flattened six rivals to win the Ipi Tombe Challenge over 1600m on the standside course at Turffontein on Sunday. Starting for the first time since she won the Vodacom Durban July, Igugu looked as good as ever when conceding lumps of weight all round in this conditions race for females and will now head for Cape Town with a couple of bigger prizes in mind, writes MATTHEW LIPS.
Not surprisingly, Igugu was always quoted at highly prohibitive odds for a race name after a famous former stable companion of hers and started as the 1/7 favourite after being as short as 1/10 in the ante-post market. Engagement was the 9/1 second choice, with Queen’s Bay the third pick of punters at 12/1, but not many horse fans seriously expected Igugu to suffer her first defeat of 2011 in a line-up of this nature.
Igugu has never been afraid to adopt frontrunning tactics, and in the absence of any other obvious pacesetter she did exactly that. She was soon taken to the lead and set a reasonable but comfortable tempo ahead of Queen’s Bay and Engagement, with Divine Right and End Of Season next in line. Reconcile and Igugu’s stable companion Checcetti were content to bring up the rear.
Nothing much could make an impression on the hot favourite from even early in the straight. Igugu was travelling well within herself as the others came under pressure to try and bridge the gap, but all their efforts came to nothing and, indeed, the gap widened inside the final 300m. In the end, Igugu and Anthony Delpech romped past the wire 5.25 lengths clear of a vainly chasing Queen’s Bay, with Checcetti staying on to finish another 1.5 lengths away in third. Engagement lacked extra late and was another length adrift in a somewhat disappointing fourth.
This was the perfect spot for Igugu to open her 2011/12 campaign. The opposition may have been light on numbers, but Queen’s Bay easily won a Gr 3 event in October while Engagement was coming here on the back of a second place finish (from a wide draw) behind Pierre Jourdan in the Gr Charity Mile. These are not exactly candidates for the unfortunate label of “blind school”, yet Igugu made them look decidedly ordinary. She will even come on with this run under her girth, and there is no earthly reason not to anticipate further fireworks from her in the coming months.
“It was fantastic to see her come back like this,” said Igugu’s trainer Mike de Kock afterwards, adding that the filly had had a nice break in the paddock and that, if anything, she has grown further since she last saw a racecourse. De Kock confirmed that Igugu would now be routed to the Gr 1 Paddock Stakes and then the Gr 1 J & B Met, noting that “1600m is not her distance.” The Paddock Stakes is a WFA event for females over 1800m and it would take a braver man than most to back against her, while the manner in which the Met weights are structured these days will make it more feasible for her to win than would have been the case a few years ago.
Igugu ought to take some beating in the Kenilworth showpiece at the end of January, although it remains to be seen whether current export restrictions will give her any chance of departing from our shores directly after the Cape season. Her trainer sounded distinctly pessimistic that would be possible, but he’d love to send Igugu to Europe early next year and we’d equally love to see her racing there.
An Australian-bred daughter of Galileo out of the Intikhab mare Zarinia, Igugu has now won nine times from only 11 starts for stakes of R4 259 375.
Ipi Tombe Challenge (SAf-G2) (12/4)
Turffontein, South Africa, December 4, R300.000, 1600m, turf, good, 1.36.32 (CR 1.35.44).
IGUGU (AUS), 60.0, b f 4, Galileo (IRE) – Zarinia (IRE) by Intikhab. Owner Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum and A J MacDonald; breeder Kia Ora Stud (Aus); trainer M F de Kock; jockey A Delpech (R187.500)
Queen’s Bay (SAF), 57.5, b m 6, Fort Wood – Daphne Donnelly (SAF) by Golden Thatch (IRE)
Checcetti (SAF), 56.0, b f 4, Kahal (GB) – Dancer’s Choice (SAF) by Royal Prerogative (GB)
Margins: 5¼, 1½, 1
Also ran: Engagement (SAF) 57.0, End Of Season (SAF) 56.5, Reconcile (SAF) 57.5, Divine Right (SAF) 56.0
