Anton Marcus keeps Tar Heel at his task to beat Western Storm (Brandon Morgenrood) in the Somerset 1200 (Pic: Bay Media)
The salestopping Joey Ramsden trained Var colt Tar Heel endorsed the quality of the groundbreaking inaugural 2014 CTS Johannesburg Ready To Run Sale held at the Inanda Club in Sandton, when he charged home to win the R125 000 Listed Somerset 1200 run at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Tar Heel, who topped that watershed sales event at R1,6 million, was ridden by Anton Marcus in the Jooste silks and provided the high-riding Ramsden-Jooste combination with yet another feature win.
The race was also a memorable one for champion producing stallion Var, who sired the exacta, with Glen Puller’s Western Storm a meritorious second after slipstreaming the winner all the way.
Twelve colts and geldings lined up to contest the boys leg of the Kenilworth 1200m double feature and the pace was on from the jump as the pacy Ernie led Mathematician down the outside.
Tar Heel led the inside group with Brandon Morgenrood and Western Storm tracking him each step of the way.
Anton Marcus – polished ride for feature win
Into the 300m marker the race was all down the inside and Anton Marcus bounced Tar Heel clear of Western Storm to win by 1,75 lengths in a time of 73,33 secs.
His 2kg pull with the topweighted Western Storm no doubt went some way to assisting Tar Heel to turn the tables on the Puller charge, who had beaten him at level weights last time at the races.
Ronnie Sheehan-trained debut winner Captain Chaos stayed on well for third, with the pacesetting Ernie a well beaten fourth.
The winner’s stablemate Macduff went off a 5-2 favourite on the strength of his impressive maiden win.
The son of Street Cry was tucked up in the outside bunch and looked outpaced in the early stages. He made some ground just after midway and will be worth following – he looks likely to make amends for this performance.
The impressive Tar Heel took his tally to two wins and one place from his four starts for stakes of R132 750.
Professor Ian Sanne – bred the winner
Bred by Professor Ian Sanne, he topped the price list at the inaugural Cape Thoroughbred Sales (Johannesburg) Ready To Run Sale held at the Inanda Club in Sandton on 31 October 2014.
A lovely strong bay colt, he is the fourth foal of the Kabool mare Egyptian Reign, and is thus a half-brother to Gr2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Go Indigo.
Just for interest, Tar Heel is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina and its inhabitants. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans.
And who can’t be a fan of the Ramsden runners at the moment.
This was Joey’s third straight win in the Listed Somerset 1200.
