Chairmans Cup: good win for Montjeu entire Golden Parachute
Golden Parachute has long promised to win a decent stayers’ event and finally delivered when he captured the Chairman’s Cup over 3200m at Kenilworth on Saturday, the final Feature event of the Cape summer season. It could be argued that Golden Parachute battled throughout 2010 to find the form which earned him a fast finishing second in the Gr 2 J&B Reserve Stayers in the early part of that year, and he failed to place in four successive Listed or Gr 3 events between September and December, but he got his act together here, writes Matthew Lips.
The Chairman’s looked like an open contest despite attracting only eight runners after the late scratching of Cree Lodge. In Writing went off as the 33/10 favourite despite having to carry top weight over a distance 1200m further than anything he had previously attempted. Proven stayers Grey Cossack and Hospitality (who’d won this race twelve months earlier) were the 4/1 second favourites ahead of 9/2 chance Golden Parachute.
Hospitality is well confirmed as a frontrunner and he adopted his usual tactics once again, setting a modest early gallop ahead of Grey Cossack and Another Giant, with Predestination next in line after fighting for his head in the initial stages of the race. In Writing and Golden Parachute were further back as Hospitality continued to lead the parade around more than a full lap of the Kenilworth expanse. The frontrunner still led them well into the straight, but he was unable to change gears when the challengers began to loom up. The race was wide open coming to the last 200m, with Grey Cossack right in the fray as Paddy O’Reilly emerged with his bid up against the outside rail and In Writing followed him through, but Golden Parachute was now also throwing his hat into the ring. Brought with a well judged challenge by Christopher Puller, Golden Parachute found the superior turn of foot when it was needed and ran on well to win by three-quarters of a length from Paddy O’Reilly, who was taking a big step up in distance but who saw it out well enough.
In Writing stayed on all the way to the line and finished one length further behind Paddy O’Reilly in third, but Grey Cossack was unable to match the first three for finishing speed and was another three-quarters of a length away in fourth. Hospitality finished sixth, just more than three lengths behind the winner. The Chairman’s Cup is ostensibly a handicap, but the “sandwiched” scale used in long distance races meant that Golden Parachute actually met the runner-up on 2.5 kgs worse terms than would have been the case in a true handicap, which adds plenty to the merit of his success. The New Zealand-bred five-year-old is a more than useful long distance performer, but he has had a rather up-and-down career and it remains to be seen whether he can build on this win during the KZN winter season, if he does indeed follow that route for a third year in succession.
Trained by Mike Bass, Golden Parachute is a son of Montjeu out of the Volksraad mare Maxamore, whose only win during her track career in New Zealand came at Gr2 level and who is also the dam of two other known winners in Hong Kong. Golden Parachute was acquired as an unraced two-year-old at the 2008 Sibaya mixed sale for R700 000 and has won four times from 28 starts for R466 870 in stakes.
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Chairman’s Cup (SAf-G3) (2/26)
Kenilworth, South Africa, February 26, R200.000, 3200m, turf, good, 3.32.13 (CR 3.24.12).
GOLDEN PARACHUTE (NZ), 55.5, b h 5, Montjeu (IRE) – Maxamore (NZ) by Volksraad (GB). Owner N M Shirtliff, D I Scott & S H Mackenzie; breeder Mrs M A Douglas (NZ); trainer M W Bass; jockey C Puller (R132.609)
Paddy O’Reilly (SAF), 58.5, b g 4, Dynasty (SAF) – West Donegal (SAF) by West Man
In Writing (ARG), 60.0, ch g 5, Editor’s Note – Inalay (ARG) by Candy Stripes
Margins: ¾, 1, ¾
Also ran: Grey Cossack (SAF) 55.0, Another Giant (AUS) 52.5, Hospitality (SAF) 58.5, Sun City (SAF) 56.5, Predestination (AUS) 56.5
