Easy For Penhaligon
Clairwood 18th December: The fastest of the three 1000m events at the garden course on Tuesday was the maiden plate in which the former Cape Town campaigner OUR DIZZY EMBLEM opened her account. Having only her second outing since relocating to Natal, the well supported 9/10 favourite was soon at the head of affairs. She began to assert her authority going through the 300m and drew clear easily late to score by four and a quarter.
Another to win well in the maiden ranks on this card was SOLDIERSAILOR in the 1200m event. The son of Trippi got away well when the gates opened and soon up handy raced prominent throughout. He was ridden to lead shortly after passing the 300m marker and in what proved to be the fastest of the three 1200m races, he easily accounted for the lightly raced THE RIVER by four and a quarter.
A MR91 Handicap over 1900m topped the bill and here we saw a smart performance from the 4yo Daylami colt PENHALIGON. Backed into 9/2 from 7’s at the track, Alyson Wright’s charge raced in midfield for most of the journey. He began to take closer order at the top of the long home straight and cruised in by six and three quarters after striking the front 300m from home.
Titbits
Well supported REGAL EAGLE won the second division of the maiden 1200m very easily by three.
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As Well As Ever
Turffontein 18th December: The going was changed from good to good/soft after GO FOXY finally got off the mark in the opening maiden event over 1160m. In what surprisingly turned out to be the fastest of the three 1160m races on the night, Barend Botes’ charge was always handy. He was ridden to lead shortly after passing the 200m marker and comfortably accounted for the favourite SHADOW LINE by a length and a quarter.
Best weighted in the pinnacle event over 1600m was last season’s July winner POMODORO and as expected he landed the odds. Always in the red, Sean Tarry’s charge adopted a change of tactics here and raced from the front. He began to assert his authority going through the 400m and would have won a lot more easily than the official two and a quarter lengths margin would suggest had he not been eased right down before the line.
Another to win well on this card was the heavily supported SHARP DESIGN when registering his fourth career success from just six starts in the pinnacle stakes over 1000m. Backed through all rates into 9/20 from even money, Ormond Ferraris’ charge also made all. He kept on strongly at the business end of the race and comfortably accounted for a useful sort in POLAR MOON by a length and a quarter.
Titbits
Baulked for a run between the 600m and 300m poles, GOTHIC ran on well late when third in the maiden event over 1800m.
ILHA BELA showed signs of coming right back to best when winning the conditions event over 1800m.
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Royal Double
Kenilworth 19th December: A maiden juvenile event over 1000m got proceedings underway in Cape Town on Wednesday and here we saw a comfortable victory for the deposed favourite LETAS BONNET. Allowed to ease out marginally at the track (14/10 out to 16/10) as money came in buckets for PRINCESS CREO (2/1 into 8/10), Dean Kannemeyer’s charge was soon positioned close to the speed. She quickened nicely at the business end of the race and won well by a length and three quarters after striking the front 70m from home. One to look out for next time from this race is MASKED LADY. Making her debut here, third placed Masked Lady ran on strongly in the latter stages.
Just four runners went to post for the graduation event over 1200m and as expected the stable of Dean Kannemeyer were again on the mark when CAPE ROYAL landed the spoils. Deep in the red at 3/10 on the off, the son of Royal Academy was always travelling well and easily accounted for SWEEP FORWARD by a length and three quarters after hitting the front 150m out.
The afternoon’s feature event was a MR90 Handicap over 1600m and in what always looked to be a very open affair victory here went to the Jet Master filly DAILY FLIGHT. Freely available at 10/1 on the off, Mike Bass’ charge raced fourth for most of the journey. She took up the running as they approached the 100m marker and kept on strongly late to beat her similarly priced stable companion BELLA NERO by three quarters.
Titbits
SMART COLLEEN ran on well from off the pace when runner up to the improving Jet Supreme in the MR71 Handicap over 1600m.
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Wicket Taker
Vaal 20th December: They raced on the outside track on Thursday where the fastest of the four 1400m events was the novice plate won by the lightly raced INVIERNO. A thirteen length winner on the sand in his penultimate outing, the lightly raced son of Western Winter raced close up in second for most of the journey. He was asked to take up the running going through the 400m and with the rest a minimum of six and a quarter lengths adrift, he got the better of a thrilling tussle with market rival ADAMS ROCK by a half.
The easiest victory on the card was recorded by the Geoff Woodruff trained YORKER when opening his account in the maiden event over 1400m. Backed as if the result was already known at the track, the 3yo Jet Master colt was soon prominent. He was ridden to lead shortly after passing the 500m marker and easily accounted for the running on KIBRAVE by four and a quarter.
Surprisingly the fastest of the three 1200m events on the card was the MR77 affair won by the lightly weighted MEMEZA. Priced up as one of the outsiders of the thirteen horse party, Clinton Binda’s charge raced up with the speed throughout. He quickened well when the race began in earnest and comfortably accounted for TIGERS EYE by a length and three quarters.
Titbits
Unbeaten ESPUMANTI (behind at weight for age) quickened well in the latter stages of the race when winning the graduation event over 1200m.
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Top speedratings for this weekend include:-
Fairview Race 1: No Qualifiers Race 2: (8) Gollywog 20 Race 3: (2) Fairy Lantern 8 Race 4: (10) Prizefighter 60 Race 5: (3) Three Captains 80 Race 6: (4) Stellar Season 74 Race 7: (5) Daffodil Day 55 Race 8: (2) Stars And Stripes 47 Clairwood Race 1: (1) Lord Leigh 28 Race 2: (12) Country Strong 23 (NAP*) Race 3: (1) Abundance 15 Race 4: (3) Stowaway 22 Race 5: (11) Mainmast 38 Race 6: (8) Lago Lida 58 Race 7: (3) Silk Master 40 Race 8: (7) Black Is Black 75 Race 9: (8) Wundabar 48 Turffontein Race 1: (5) Golden Ring 24 Race 2: (5) Dark Knight 63 Race 3: (5) It’s gottobeme 39 Race 4: (1) Seal 91 Race 5: (1) Malaga-Belle 73 Race 6: (8) Royal Zulu Warrior 99 Race 7: (5) Classic Illusion 101 Race 8: (6) Swift And Strong 29 Kenilworth Race 1: (1) Covariance 22 Race 2: (3) Gallus 18 (EW) Race 3: (6) Stormin Cat 15 Race 4: (5) Sussex Song 70 Race 5: (1) Lola Bud 54 Race 6: (5) Here I Am 51 Race 7: (7) Green Light 59 Race 8: (4) Coltrane 34 (EW) Vaal Race 1: (1) Antigua 20 Race 2: (1) Tobit 34 Race 3: No Qualifiers Race 4: (4) Orlando Magic 21 Race 5: (6) Mastende 39 Race 6: (2) Across The Ice 79 Race 7: (12) Fall Of Troy 63 Race 8: (3) Benbow 60 Race 9: (9) Juno’s Dream 50 .
Top rated winners last week included
Go Foxy won 7/1 Margot On Stage won 5/1 Daylami Star won 7/2 Ilha Bela won 5/2 Soldiersailor won 18/10 Winter Dynasty won 16/10 Our Dizzy Emblem won 9/10 Cape Royal won 3/10 .
Notebook:-
Espumanti (Mike De Kock, Gauteng) Our Dizzy Emblem (D Drier, KZN) Pomodoro (Sean Tarry, Gauteng) .
FASTEST TIMES
The number of races run over each distance is shown in brackets *Denotes – Times taken by ClockwatcherClairwood 18th December Penetrometer 20 – Going Good 1000m (3) Our Dizzy Emblem 57,03 1200m (3) Soldiersailor 69,40 1450m (2) Flitter 85,77 1900m (2) Penhaligon 112,70 .
Turffontein (old) 18th December Penetrometer 23 – Going G/Soft 1000m (1) Sharp Design 56,55 1160m (3) Go Foxy 67,93 1400m (1) Above The Moon 86,06 1600m (1) Pomodoro 97,35 1800m (2) Ilha Bela 111,29 .
Kenilworth 19th December Penetrometer 21 – Going Good 1000m (1) Letas Bonnet 61,31 1200m (2) Cape Royal 73,29 1400m (2) Supersonic Sam 87,16 1600m (3) Jet Supreme 99,33 .
Vaal (outside) 20th December Penetrometer 20 – Going Good 1000m (2) De Var Hyt 56,33 1200m (3) Memeza 68,56 1400m (4) Invierno 80,72
