An entertaining display of tactical race-riding, with the assistance of the Cape crawl, gave Joey Ramsden’s former KZN Champions Season Gr1 winner King Of Pain a deserved victory in the R250 000 Gr3 Chairman’s Cup run over 3200m at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Bernard Fayd’herbe greets the judge as King Of Pain slams his opposition to win the Chairman’s Cup (Pic – Wayne Marks)
It was a race that was won in the first 800m by top heavyweight Bernard Fayd’herbe, who turned in a big ride on his sponsor’s day – on an afternoon that produced one of the major surprise Saturday attendance turnouts, on the final day of the Cape Summer Of Champions – without the ‘doof, doof, doof’ of the rave music!
The six horse field for the 3200m ‘marathon’ contest had always shouted ‘no pace here’, and with top staying conditioner Joey Ramsden saddling half the field, the Milnerton magician always appeared to hold the tactical upper hand.
Nobody gives Fayd’herbe instructions when he rides ‘The King’, and the thinking man’s jockey conceded afterwards that it was always his game plan to call the odds.
“The last thing I wanted was Anton (Marcus) dictating on Coltrane in front. King Of Pain was breathing nicely and enjoying it out front. At the 400m he still had two gears left. It was a massive training feat by Joey (Ramsden) and his team. The only problem with this horse is that he thinks more than me in a race!” he laughed.
And so things panned out beautifully – and there were more than fifty shades of King Of Pain’s last career win – a display of front-running tactics under the same jockey in the Gr1 Gold Challenge in June 2014.
Remember this race?
On Saturday King Of Pain went to head the race from the jump with a selection of finely judged sectors, and mental surfing of the winds, that had his opponents gasping for air as he spun for home and went for the outside rail.
With stablemate Coltrane looking dangerous momentarily at about the 300m, none of them had the toe to match the grey bomber, and it was left to the under sufferance Three Balloons to chase him home, 1,75 lengths adrift – shading Coltrane for second.
King Of Pain went off a generous 8-1.
Joey Ramsden’s solid mare Gallica Rose was always in no man’s land in the middle of a Sunday cruise, and she fizzled out late to run fourth.
Corne Orffer stifled Zante for much of the race at the rear, and that is where the daughter of Ideal World stayed.
The winner’s time was 218,72 secs – Latin Groove’s (admittedly he carried 46kgs) decade old course record of 204,12 secs was thus never in danger.
Bernard Fayd’herbe – great ride on a top horse
King Of Pain, who may now have opened up some new marathon horizons and career options late in the game, has won 8 races with 11 places from 31 starts.
To further illustrate the merit of this effort, it is worth bearing in mind that he was placed in the Gr2 Diadem Stakes run over 1200m earlier in the Cape summer.
He took his stakes account to R1 862 616 on Saturday – not bad for an R80 000 Vintage Sale graduate!
He was bred by Arc En Ciel and is out of the Defensive Play mare Viva La Belle, who was placed in Australia and is a half-sister to Lady Of The Turf.
At the time of his 2014 Gold Challenge victory, he was Greys Inn’s second Gr1 winner after Royal Bencher in the 2011 SA Derby.
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Gr3 Chairmans Cup (SAf-Gr3)
Kenilworth, South Africa, February 20, R250k, 3200m, turf, good, 3.38.72
1 – KING OF PAIN (SAF), 60.0, gr g 6, Greys Inn (USA) – Viva La Belle (AUS) by Defensive Play (USA). Owner Messrs B P Finch, J Ramsden, Mrs K Finch, Mr & Mrs D Naik; Breeder Arc-en-Ciel; trainer J Ramsden; jockey B Fayd’herbe
2 – Three Balloons (SAF), 52.0, b g 4, Judpot (USA) – Souen (IRE) by Montjeu (IRE)
3 – Coltrane (ARG), 59.5, ch g 6, Giant’s Causeway (USA) – Nuance (IRE) by Rainbow Quest (ANY)
Margins: 1.75, 0.10, 1.50
