Fanie Chambers steers Speedy Suzy to a good win (JC Photos)
Trainer Corne Spies produced a jolt for favourite backers when his lightning quick Trippi filly Speedy Suzy turned the tables on the Mike De Kock odds-on favourite Entisaar to grab her first stakes win in the R200 000 Gr3 Pretty Polly Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday.
Spies is a master at getting the early juveniles to fly and he came prepared with a trio in the nine horse field, reduced by the late withdrawal of Emperor’s Lass and Mambonick.
After having won a cracker on debut in the Listed Ruffian Stakes, De Kock’s More Than Ready filly Entisaar was near unbackable and the Australian-bred was expected to win.
But the quirky nature of horseracing and the peaks and troughs experienced by the flesh and blood that we are dealing with saw Entisaar under pressure from the jump as her backers watched with increasing horror.
On the flipside, two of the Spies runners in Scandal and Speedy Suzy showed the way with the latter finding the more favourable going down the outside as she settled well.
Into the 400m, Entisaar was being worked at by Anthony Delpech as Speedy Suzy powered clear looking a winner.
Even though Entisaar found a second breath and came through quite strongly late, the race was over and her supporters had to be content with a runner-up berth.
The enthusiastic Speedy Suzy thus turned the Ruffian Stakes tables on Entisaar and won by 1,25 lengths in a time of 65,88 secs.
Mella Maria stayed on nicely for third a further half length behind Entisaar, with her stablemate Spring Wonder holding fourth.
Fanie Chambers – winning jockey
The going appeared to be a lot stickier than the official declaration and Entisaar may well have battled with the underfoot conditions.
Jockey Fanie Chambers said afterwards that Speedy Suzy had won early in her career in great style and that they had always thought a lot of her.
“Mike De Kock’s filly was obviously not herself and oday we were the better horse. I had the favourite on my inside and Suzy relaxed for the first time. That was important in the sticky going and we had something in hand going into the final 400m. It was a smart win,” he said.
Trainer Corne Spies indicated his appreciation of the fact that Speedy Suzy was not a filly who demanded a lot of work: “We have had rain and had been battling to get work in to her because of it. This is a day of lovely deja vu – two years ago we won the Protea Stakes with her brother Olympic Owen. She was a small but nice specimen at sale but we liked her nevertheless.”
The winner, who grabbed an 800m scurry in a hurry on debut and then ran second behind Entisaar in the Listed Ruffian Stakes a matter of three weeks ago, made it 2 wins with 1 place from 3 starts for stakes of R208 125.
Speedy Suzy was bred by Highlands Stud and is a quick daughter of Trippi out of the four-time winning Kingmambo mare, Kelly’s Olympics. She became Trippi’s 51st individual stakes winner.
She was purchased on the KZN Yearling Sale for R220 000 and is a recipient of the R85 000 BSA Value Added Bonus,
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Gr3 Pretty Polly Stakes (SAf-Gr3)
Turffontein, South Africa, March 28, R200k, 1100m, turf, soft, 1.05.88
1 – SPEEDY SUZY (SAF), 58.0, b f 2, Trippi (USA) – Kelly’s Olympics (USA) by Kingmambo (USA). Owner Messrs A J van Huyssteen, F N Englezakis & R P Macnab; Breeder Highlands; trainer C Spies; jockey S Chambers
2 – Entisaar (AUS), 58.0, b f 2, More Than Ready (USA) – Purrpurrlena (AUS) by Catbird (AUS)
3 – Mella Maria (AUS), 59.0, b f 2, Star Witness (AUS) – Sayahailmary (AUS) by Keep The Faith (AUS)
Margins: 1.25, 0.50, 0.75
