Piere Strydom steers Trip Tease to a thrilling win in the Gr3 Lebelo Sprint (JC Photos)
Drakenstein stallion Trippi continued his massive strides in South African horseracing when he enjoyed the rare distinction of siring the top three home in Saturday’s R250 000 Gr3 Lebelo Sprint run at a rain drenched and storm-hit Turffontein.
And what a terrific ride again by the masterful Piere Strydom.
The Striker legend dominated South African horseracing in 2014 as one of our newsmakers of the year with his milestone of 5000 winners and the outstanding jockey has started 2015 like a 25 year old supercharged wizard.
Strydom had earlier ridden a superbly judged race on Geoff Woodruff’s Captain’s Tune who led all the way to with the fifth race. He demonstrated his enormous talent and outstanding judgement again on the 5 to 2 topweighted favourite, Trip Tease, who frankly looked dead and buried at the 200m when the 3yo Trip To Heaven made his forward move.
His characteristic hesitation at the jump saw Trip To Heaven near the rear early on, with Trip Tease hugging the outside rail as Tiger Territory and Greasepaint led the charge into the final 400m, with chances to many, bar probably Tommy Gun and the visitor Garibondy.
Piere Strydom – cracking ride
Inside the final 200m, Strydom got Trip Tease to lift his game again and with the top four running abreast in a thrilling charge to the line, the world-class rider timed it beautifully and got Trip Tease to come right back and lead at just the right moment.
The 4yo scored by 0,25 lengths in a time of 58,64 secs in soft conditions.
Louis Goosen’s smart gelding shaded the gallant dead-heaters Trip To Heaven and Mike De Kock’s vastly improved Tiger Territory, who took a bump from the eventual fourth-placed Greasepaint at a crucial late stage.
This made it a terrific trifecta for the outstanding Trippi.
The pacy Chekilli was right in the mix but also appeared to check at about the 200m off Trip Tease’ heels and lost his stride. He ran a decent enough fifth and could pay to follow as he builds further on his fitness.
The versatile Trip Tease ran in the silks of Mario Ferreira for the first time
A prolifically and consistent earner, Trip Tease has now won 9 races (5 on sand and 4 on turf) with 4 places from his 13 starts for stakes of R879 575.
What an unlikely bargain Trip Tease has turned out to be.
Louis Goosen – had Trip Tease primed to the minute
Former owner Frank Soru and the charismatic Louis Goosen signed for him for just R70 000 at the 2012 Emperors Palace National 2yo Sale. A brave move at the time, when many said he would not see a racecourse!
Trip Tease was bred by Zandvliet Stud and is a son of Drakenstein stallion Trippi (USA) out of the twice winning Complete Warrior mare, Girlish.
Due to delays caused by electric storms throughout the afternoon, the meeting was interrupted and the authorities were forced to abandon the sixth race as a means of preserving the last few races.
In the end, everybody did well to see it through to a conclusion.
Such a pity we won’t see Trip Tease down in Cape Town for the Sizzling Summer Season.
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Gr3 Lebelo Sprint (SAf-Gr3)
Turffontein, South Africa, January 3, R250k, 1000m, turf, soft, 58.64
1 – TRIP TEASE (SAF), 61.0, b c 4, Trippi (USA) – Girlish (SAF) by Complete Warrior (ANY). Owner Elegant Line Stud (Nom: Mr & Mrs V Soru); Breeder Zandvliet Stud; trainer LW Goosen; jockey P Strydom
2 – Trip To Heaven (SAF), 56.0, b c 3, Trippi (USA) – Helleborus Blue by Cee’s Tizzy (USA)
3 – Tiger Territory (SAF), 52.0, b g 4, Trippi (USA) – Fragrant Filly (SAF) by Model Man (SAF)
Margins: 0.25, d/h, 0.75
