You Never Know! Corne Spies trained first and second in SA’s longest race.
The gelding that won South Africa’s longest race, the R125 000 Listed PE Gold Cup run over 3600m, shed his maiden certificate as a juvenile over 1200m. That’s versatility!
Trainer Corne Spies was both the villain and the victor on the afternoon as he produced the 25-1 outsider Campo De Santana to beat the stable’s 22-10 favourite Heyouneverknow by 2,25 lengths in 237,37 secs. That is quite some time outside the course record of 226,11 secs held by Fragrant Chopper .
There is no logic in racing sometimes, and this may well be the romance and lure that keeps us all coming back for more. Campo De Santana bombed 10 000 jackpot combinations as he stayed on in front of horrified punters.
In typical cavalier Spies fashion, this gelding is only four years old but was winning his fourth race today at his 50th start. He had finished all of fifty lengths behind on the Vaal sand at his last start three weeks ago. Two weeks prior to that he ran unplaced on the Kimberley sand and just a week before that he was on the turf at Turffontein. He certainly gets around!
Campo De Santana had not run a place in fact since a fortnight before Christmas in an MR 72 Handicap run over 2200m at Kimberley. How he beat his fit and in-form stablemate is cause for conjecture and debate, but Sannon Devoy rode a cracker – his first winner since January 2011.
Cape Trafalgar led Ice Flag and Solo Flight for much of the way, but the pacemaker got very tired in the going and fell away with about 400m to run. This left the gates open for Ice Flag who moved up threateningly, but nothing finished better than the Spies duo and they went on to dominate the event.
By Camden Park out of the five-time winning Fine Edge mare Carnival Time, who only won as far as 1400m, Campo De Santana was bred by GG Bloodstock Investments. He cost just R50 000 on the Cape Sale and has earned R304 250.
Bad Run. Solid Sister ran a shocker as odds-on favourite in the Lady’s Slipper Stakes at Fairview today.
Punters took something of a knock in the earlier feature when the Cape visitor, 6-10 favourite Solid Sister, raised no effort when plodding into ninth and 15,50 lengths off the winner in the R120 000 Listed Lady’s Slipper Stakes run over 1400m.
The winner Deepo was recording her hat-trick and the daughter of Albert Hall looks very promising indeed. She won easing up by 3,25 lengths under Aldo Domeyer for Gavin Smith, and beat her stablemate Inflorescence.
Deepo has won 3 from 5 for stakes of R144 750 and looks a bargain at her R70 000 price tag.
The official going at Fairview was soft with the Pen reading at 28.Tellytrack on-course presenter Gavin Venter, a top former jockey, kept stressing the need for jockeys to ride with restraint.
But Place Accumulator punters watched in horror as Wayne Agrella did just the opposite in the opening leg of the exotic when he allowed the 9-10 Daffodil Day to stride freely outfront. The daughter of Silvano, who had been ridden from off the pace at her previous start, compounded late and ran a filthy dirty fourth.
A tough day at the office for punters!
