OUT OF THE MIST
Arabian Mist wins Merchants (JC Photo)
and it was last season’s Gr 1 winning two-year-old Link Man who went off as the heavily supported 11/20 favourite to win this sprint handicap after he’d been beaten a short head over 1000m on his seasonal debut three weeks earlier.
Link Man’s fellow three-year-old Count Express (13/2) and year older Exclaim’n’Exclude (7/1) were the only other runners in a field of 14 to start at single figure prices in the Merchants, a race which was watered down to some degree by the scratching of both Tuscan Sky and Imali.
The race was run a strong pace from the start. Mana Mou had completely blown the start in her previous outing, but she was out like a shot this time and showed the way ahead of Cruso and Link Man, with Hurricane Force, Jet Command and Blue Voyager further back. Exclaim’n’Exclude raced several lengths off the pace in about midfield, but as always Arabian Mist was completely tapped for early pace and was out at the rear. Arabian Mist was still just about last of them all racing past the 300m, where Link Man had come through on the far rail to take a narrow lead as Mana Mou began to waver. Count Express was also starting to make good progress along the inside rail, but Link Man looked the probable winner well inside the last 100m – until Arabian Mist came blasting up from the clouds, that is.
Hitting the front barely two strides before the line, Arabian Mist went on to win by a neck from Link Man, with Count Express three-quarters of a length further away in third and a similar margin ahead of Blue Voyager, who’d looked a brief threat inside the last 200m before not quite seeing his effort through to the finish. Exclaim’n’Exclude could only finish a never dangerous 2.5 lengths behind the winner in sixth place, while Mana Mou tired to finish eighth.
Arabian Mist needed all the gaps to open at the right time as he threaded his way past virtually every horse in the race in the pace of little more than a furlong, and winning jockey Derreck David described it as, “the Red Sea opening up.” David admitted that he didn’t think he would get past Link Man even 50m from the finish, believing that the favourite had stolen an unassailable lead, but Arabian Mist indulged in some low-level flying and has now won at this meeting three years in succession after capturing an ordinary handicap here in 2008.
Arabian Mist is trained by Gary Alexander, who noted that his gelding doesn’t always get the sort of very strong early pace he needs, but adding that the Merchants always seems to be run at just the sort of flat-out speed that so suits the late-closing Arabian Mist. All things being equal, he’ll be back to try for another Merchants win this time next year.
This race looked to be a little stronger than the one which Arabian Mist had won off a ten pound lower mark in 2009 and it is not surprising that few pundits gave him much of a chance, but the six-year-old gelding ran the race of his life to win a fashion which looks even more spectacular when viewed from the head-on camera angle. He could not have cut it any finer if he’d tried, in contrast to his wide margin success of twelve months earlier. Link Man was far from disgraced in defeat, though, and is clearly a young sprinter with a bright future.
Arabian Mist is a son of Muhtafal out of the Mount Hagen mare Valley Mist, who won twice over 1600m and whose previous progeny include Gr 1 winning sprinter Nhlavini. Bred at Summerhill Stud, Arabian Mist was bought for R300 000 at the 2006 National Yearling Sale and has won eight times from 26 starts for stakes of R962 250.
Merchants Hcp (SAf-G2) (11/27)
Turffontein, South Africa, November 27, R450.000, 1160m, turf, good, 1.06.67 (CR 1.06.12).
ARABIAN MIST (Saf), 54.0, b g 6, Muhtafal – Valley Mist (SAF) by Mount Hagen. Owner J P Gardner, M C Berzack, B G Gardner, M C Gerber, G P Sadie & L van Rooyen; breeder Summerhill Stud (Saf); trainer G M Alexander; jockey D David (281.250)
Link Man (SAF), 53.5, b c 3, Toreador (IRE) – Western Smoke (SAF) by Among Men
Count Express (SAF), 52.0, b c 3, Count Dubois (GB) – Jalberry (SAF) by Jallad
Margins: nk, ¾, ¾
Also ran: Blue Voyager (SAF) 55.5, Swordsmith (SAF) 52.0, Exclaim’n’exclude (AUS) 56.5, Tuscan Sky (SAF) 52.5, Mana Mou (SAF) 54.5, Lightning Lecture (SAF) 53.5, Cruso (SAF) 56.5, Across The Ice (SAF) 52.0, Don’t Tell Titch (SAF) 52.5, Imperial Gesture (SAF) 60.0, Hurricane Force (SAF) 55.0
