Victorious Visitor. Glen Kotzen trained Fabiani in the PE feature today.
Glen Kotzen enjoyed a fitting confidence boosting dress rehearsal for the big Guineas day awaiting him on Saturday when sending out the lightly-raced Fabiani to a smooth win in the Listed Memorial Mile at Arlington on 16 December. The Model Man gelding held off the local star Celtic Fire in a win that was far more impressive than the margin suggested and he looks on track for a tilt at the J&B Met.
Kotzen and Sean Cormack have far bigger fish to fry this weekend with the Cape Premier Yearling Sale Guineas no doubt in the forefront of their minds. Despite their very important appointment with a certain Princess at Kenilworth in Cape Town on Saturday, they travelled up to Port Elizabeth with three runners, hoping to get their long weekend off to a winning start.
The Western Winter filly Molly R was the first of these and she was backed into the red at her first start in blinkers. The Maiden Plate over 1400m appeared to offer Gail Thomson’s filly the perfect opportunity to do what she has been threatening to do for five runs. But after being given every chance when well placed early by Cormack, she ran out of steam and finished downfield in an undistinguished display. Their next runner Wings Of Fortune, ran a similarly dismal race.
Model horse. Fabiani seen winning his last start in Cape Town.
But Fabiani paid for the trip when winning the R125 000 feature race in great style. Jumping from the best of the draw, Cormack had him in third spot tracking the perennial pacesetter, Day Of the Piper. Karis Teetan made an early move on an unusually prominent Celtic Fire at the top of the short straight, but Cormack was wide awake and sent the Kotzen horse after him – switching to his inside late in the race. Fabiani has now won his last two starts and five of his 22 starts. He appears to be coming into his own as a five year old. The eyecatching run of the race beyond the top two came from the Gavin Smith-trained Makzoos who lost ground at the start, but flew to run third. For the rest it was a case of try again.
It was a great holiday afternoon of racing generally. With regular anchor Rod Mcurdy now plying his trade talents in the Tellytrack corporate environment in Gauteng, Gareth Pepper and former jockey Gavin ‘Stick Man’ Venter have taken over the Eastern Cape on-course hot seats. And the pair deserve acknowledgement for doing their thing in a no nonsense manner.
There is nothing more irritating for the off-course punter than private banter and snide jokes, and the no frills Pepper gets the very best out of Venter, who knows his local racing intimately. In fact Venter’s observations and opinion are worth listening to and it makes for a nice change after the silly rhetoric that we experience at times, and in Gauteng particularly.
A popular phrase in the colourfully intellectual vocabulary of Cape trainer Dean Kannemeyer is that ‘Blood rules the land’ and this was no more apparent than in the facile win of the well travelled Torch Singer. The gelding is a full-brother to SA’s top sprinter Val De Ra and while he is a year younger than his illustrious full-sister, he would not have attracted too much attention when he went through the National Sales ring at R340 000.
Initially trained by Mike Azzie, he moved on to Brian Wiid before relocating to the Eastern Cape. He has not exactly set the world on fire, this being just a second victory from his eighteen starts, but it was only his second start at this centre and the manner of his win augurs well for the future.
Former Cape-based trainer Des McLachlan and Wayne Agrella opened the sunny afternoon when the Balmoral Stud-bred Toreador gelding Poulnabrone ran on well to clinch the Maiden Plate over 1400m. Blinkers and gelding appears to have done the trick with a horse considered good enough to contest the Racing Association Stakes at his fifth start, as a maiden. He had run on well at his previous outing when finishing with a rattle to run the smart looking first-timer, Parceval, to 3,5 lengths . While it has taken him eight runs to win, he looks a horse with scope to improve further.
Agrella could certainly hold his own in the larger racing centres and he rode a particularly clever race on the Grant Paddock-trained Hail The Hearty in the MR69 Handicap(F&M). He clinched his double when grabbing a decisive 4 length break on the field after the moderate and inconsistent I’m No Tortoise had made the pace in the competitive looking mile contest. Agrella’s initiative was the favourite’s undoing and while Felix Coetzee got the consistent Endless Joy to cut back the deficit, it was in vain. The winner, claimed on Thursday, was tipped by both Venter and Pepper in the pre-race summary as ‘the talking horse’ and somebody got the money.
Great form. Karis Teetan had another good day.
The Yvette Bremner-trained Main Miracle recorded a meritorious seventh win from 27 starts when she held off Miss Sunshine to win the MR86 Handicap(F&M) over 1600m. The gallant daughter of The Sheikh runs in the Favour Stud silks of Engelize du Preez and looks like a nice broodmare in the making. The grey Captain Al filly Halcyon made the pace in this race and led the field as they turned for home. Karis Teetan was sitting with a handful on the Bremner horse though and he grabbed a lead that was chased enthusiastically by Grant Van Niekerk on Miss Sunshine. Kwela-Kwela held on well for third with Bella Aroma sneaking into fourth. There was no spark today from the Snaith-trained Played On.
Something of a Super Saturday awaits and the Kotzen team will be hoping that Fabiani’s smooth win is the start of a wonderful long weekend. Hail the Princess!
