With three of the top-rated Cape Met entries in the field of five making their seasonal debut, Anton Marcus produced a tactical gem of a ride to win the R200 000 WSB Club Prive Gr2 Green Point Stakes on the Vaughan Marshall-trained Seeking The Stars at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Described in some quarters as a front- running tactical master class ride on Seeking the Stars, Marcus eased matters at halfway and then cleverly extended his advantage around the bend at about the 700m marker.
Seeking The Stars (Anton Marcus) holds off Rainbow Bridge (Richard Fourie) and Linebacker (Grant van Niekerk) ina terrific finish (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Down the long summer course straight the daunting challenges came from Rainbow Bridge and the winner’s stablemate Linebacker.
But the uber smart Ridgemont jockey had things timed to perfection as Ricky Sewgoolam’s 4yo colt found another gear late to record a gutsy victory at a distance beyond what is generally regarded as his optimal trip.
Starting at a generous 8-1, Seeking The Stars easily held off the attention of dual Met winner Rainbow Bridge (3-1) by 0,40 lengths in a time of 99,85 secs.
The winner’s stablemate Linebacker (18-10) did little wrong, finishing 0,75 lengths away in third, with Jet Dark and Captain Fontane bringing up the rear in a small field.
In typically realistic style, trainer Vaughan Marshall acknowledged that Seeking The Stars’ fitness won the day and that he would not be trying to take the same trio on in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.
“It was a superb ride from Anton Marcus in a race that suited him. I think we will put Seeking The Stars away and freshen him up for the Diadem Stakes in February. We still aren’t sure what his best trip is, but the 1200m could suit him.”
Seeking The Stars, who races in the Ricky Sewgoolam orange and dark blue flag, was bred by Klawervlei Stud and was another smart feature winner on the afternoon for Vercingetorix (Silvano).
Seeking The Stars is out of the three-time winning Count Dubois mare Schism, who won up to 2200m.
He cost R1 million on the 2019 Cape Yearling Sale and has banked R1 153 875 with his sixth win and four places from thirteen starts.
OFFICIAL RESULT
| TRAINER | JOCKEY | DISTANCE | BETTING | |||
| 1ST | 4 SEEKING THE STARS | VH Marshall | A Marcus | 8/1 | ||
| 2ND | 1 RAINBOW BRIDGE | AE Sands | R Fourie | 0.40 | 0.40 | 28/10 |
| 3RD | 3 LINEBACKER | VH Marshall | G van Niekerk | 0.75 | 1.15 | 18/10 |
| 4TH | 2 JET DARK | SJ Snaith | G Lerena | 3.25 | 4.40 | 15/4 |
| 5TH | 5 CAPTAIN FONTANE | GB Puller | C Zackey | 0.10 | 4.50 | 6/1 |
| TIME OF RACE: 1 min 39.85 sec | ||||||
| Tote
Fav |
3 LINEBACKER | VH Marshall | G van Niekerk | 1.15 | 18/10 | |
