With just three local meetings and not a solitary feature on South African soil this weekend, a number of our local riders will make the trip North of the Limpopo to ride in the RTGS $150 000 Gr3 Republic Cup to be run at Borrowdale Park over 1900m today.
Sheldene Chant writes from Zimbabwe that with the exception of Penny From Heaven and Tandava (back from his sojourn in RSA where he won the Senor Santa), the other 13 runners took part in at least one of the recent two big features – the 2000m Gr1 Castle Tankard and the 1800m Gr2 OK Grand Challenge.
Tankard finish (Pic -Andrew Philip)
Peggson, winner of the 2019 Tankard, teams up again with Brendon McNaughton, and Simona, who won the OK Grand Challenge in 2018 and 2019, will be piloted by Bernard Fayd’Herbe.
The visiting jockeys this week are particularly interesting, and I hope Borrowdale Park will rise above the current problems besetting Zimbabwe. We like to impress those who have not been here before.
1st $90000, 2nd $30000, 3rd $18000, 4th $9000, 5th $3000
THE REPUBLIC CUP TRUST (Grade 3)
Open
WFA: 2yrs-10.5kgs 3yrs-1.5kgs
No Apprentice Allowance
| 1 | 4 | Simona | 60 | 95 | A | B Fayd’Herbe | Bridget Stidolph | |
| 2 | 2 | Peggson | 59 | 93 | A | B McNaughton | Bridget Stidolph | |
| 3 | 1 | Amsterdam | 57 | 89 | A | *A Arries | Kirk Swanson | |
| 4 | 7 | Heir Line | 56 | 87 | T A | K de Melo | Kirk Swanson | |
| 5 | 9 | Tandava (ZIM) | 55.5 | 86 | BA | J Sampson | Penny Fisher | |
| 6 | 15 | Three To Tango | 54 | 86 | A | C Orffer | Kirk Swanson | |
| 7 | 10 | Fareeq (AUS) | 53 | 81 | A | J Greyling | Penny Fisher | |
| 8 | 16 | Penny From Heaven | 52.5 | 80 | A | Wes Marwing +0.5 | Kirk Swanson | |
| 9 | 13 | Verdier | 52 | 78 | BS | J Penny | Penny Fisher | |
| 10 | 5 | Arte | 52 | 77 | TBA | G Cheyne | Kirk Swanson | |
| 11 | 14 | Roman Discent | 52 | 77 | A | A Andrews | Bridget Stidolph | |
| 12 | 12 | In The Mood | 52 | 76 | S | S Moodley | Kirk Swanson | |
| 13 | 11 | Leven Point | 52 | 76 | A | M Nyamagwete | Bridget Stidolph | |
| 14 | 8 | Master ‘n Commander | 52 | 75 | A | CARD SCRATCHING | Penny Fisher | |
| 15 | 6 | Bush Pilot | 52 | 74 | A | S Cele | Bridget Stidolph | |
| 16 | 3 | Wolves Among Sheep | 52 | 71 | BA | O Noach | Bridget Stidolph | |
| Same Trainer – Not Coupled on Tote | ||||||||
| (1,2,11,13,15,16) (3,4,6,8,10,12) (5,7,9,14) | ||||||||
With half the field carrying less than 53 kgs I am not sticking my neck out here… so what’s new?
All things being equal (I mean if I had electricity and could go online to check on a few things) I would rabbit on about the turnaround in weights, previous runs and so forth. However, big races being what they are the lack of information may not matter.
Classy Simona – last appearance at Borrowdale Park? (Pic -Andrew Philip)
For sentimental reasons many people will be rooting for top-weighted Simona on Saturday. This may be the five-year-old mare’s last appearance at Borrowdale Park.
The daughter of Gimmethegreenlight (AUS) out of a Western Winter (USA) mare, has won 10 and been placed 11 times from 28 starts. She certainly has broodmare potential but Zimbabweans will be sad to see her go.
The three stables involved in this Republic Cup all field runners with some claims to fame. Bridget Stidolph will saddle Simona, Peggson, Roman Discent (the 2018 Tankard winner), Leven Point, Bush Pilot and Wolves Among Sheep.
Fareeq (AUS), Verdier and Tandava will represent Penny Fisher’s yard.
On paper Kirk Swanson also has a fairly strong hand with Heir Line, Three To Tango, Arte, Amsterdam, In The Mood and Penny From Heaven.
At this stage it’s all in the lap of the gods. May the best horse, on the day, win and all the runners return safely.
And, if you are listening, gods, make sure ZESA comes to the party.
