Anton Marcus steers The Conglomerate to an emphatic win
Milnerton-based trainer Joey Ramsden made it two from two for the Cape raiders in the Champions Season opening feature show when the Australian-bred The Conglomerate stormed home under Anton Marcus in the Jooste silks to win the R600 000 KRA Gr2 Guineas at Greyville on Saturday.
The Vodacom Durban July entrant has enjoyed a relatively low key step up the ladder and won his first ever feature start last time when running on late to win the Gr3 Politician Stakes over 1800m.
Ramsden then chose to give his charge a break and the Cape Derby a miss after that good win and the softly -softly patient approach may prove to pay dividends with a horse that has always been highly thought of.
After the shock midweek withdrawal of the highly-rated Harry’s Son, the race was thrown wide open and many of the middle-of-the-roaders may have fancied their chances.
The Mike De Kock-trained Anjaal went off a weak 7-2 second favourite in the fourteen strong field, ahead of the eventual winner’s stablemate Kingvoldt, who was posted at 33-10 after his smart recent runner-up berth behind Heartland in the Gr3 Byerley Turk at the same track.
Riff Raf and Amazing Strike showed the way ahead of Kingvoldt, Ultimate Dollar and The Conglomerate, in a fairly strung out field.
Karl Neisius went for broke at the top of the straight on Amazing Strike but The Conglomerate had always been in close attendance and he quickly grabbed the initiative at the 350m marker. Marcus had not yet gotten to work on The Conglomerate who started moving out as he maintained the bridge between himself and the chasing bunch.
Joey Ramsden – well planned victory for what looks a top horse in the making
Despite drifting out, The Conglomerate had plenty in reserve and withstood the late challenge of Mac De Lago who burst through down the inside.
The Conglomerate stayed on best though to beat the improved again Mac De Lago by two lengths in a time of 95,38 secs.
The runner-up would have provided the Gauteng attack and form with a modicum of respect on a tough day – even though he had finished close on sixteen lengths behind French Navy in the SA Classic.
Glen Kotzen and his owner Hugo Hattingh were no doubt thrilled by the forward showing of their Western Winter colt, Light The Lights, who ground away and stayed on resolutely for third.
Justin Snaith’s Byerley Turk winner Heartland ran no kind of race and finished second last.
The Conglomerate has not seen action since winning the Gr3 Politician Stakes on L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate day and registered a genuine hat-trick of wins.
He took his stakes balance to R662 825 and made it a total of 5 wins with 1 place from 8 starts.
The Conglomerate was bred by D R Fleming and purchased on the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale for A$160 000.
The winner is by the Octagonal stallion Lonhro out of the six-time winning Canny Lad mare, Republic Lass – an Oaks winner.
The combination of Ramsden, Marcus and Jooste won this race in 2012 with Variety Club. That was a fairytale. Who knows where this one is headed?
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Gr2 KRA Guineas (SAf-Gr2)
Greyville, South Africa, May 2, R600k, 1600m, turf, good, 1.35.38
1 – THE CONGLOMERATE (AUS), 60.0, br c 3, Lonhro (AUS) – Republic Lass (AUS) by Canny Lad (AUS). Owner Mrs I Jooste & Mr M J Jooste; Breeder bred in Australia; trainer J Ramsden; jockey A Marcus
2 – Mac De Lago (AUS), 60.0, b c 3, Encosta De Lago (AUS) – Macavelli Miss (AUS) by Vettori (IRE)
3 – Light The Lights (SAF), 60.0, b c 3, Western Winter (USA) – First Arrival (SAF) by Northern Guest (USA)
Margins: 2.00, 0.75, 0.25
