He may be the reigning East Cape Polytrack Champion Male but there are few that can match strides with the lightning-fast Cruise Control on the turf, and the son of Querari chalked up his ‘lucky’ thirteenth career victory when winning the R200 000 non black-type Betway Cradock Place Stakes at Fairview on Friday in the shape of a horse with plenty in the tank.
Cruise Control (Louise Mxothwa) comfortably wins the Betway Cradock Place Stakes at Fairview (Pic – Pauline Herman)
Registering his second victory from five starts for the Hollywood Syndicate who acquired him from Mauritian owner Vicky Veeramootoo, Cruise Control (4-10) became our latest equine millionaire as he jumped out and rolled along, before grinding his four opponents into oblivion with a facile 5,50 length victory under Sporting Post rider Louis Mxothwa in a time of 67,21 secs for the 1200m.
The 7yo Evie’s First (16-1) stayed on best of the rest, to deny the Hollywood Syndicate a 1-2, with Alan Greeff’s Cliff Top a further 1,50 lengths away in third.
Fourth-placed Speed Machine (7-1) was 11,50 lengths off the winner for fourth in a quartet that stretched from Fairview to Humansdorp.
Hollywoodbets-sponsored trainer Gavin Smith has done an outstanding job keeping Cruise Control on the boil since he broke the Fairview 800m track record on debut in December 2021.
A Boland Stud-bred son of the outstanding Querari (Oasis Dream), he is out of the Sail From Seattle mare, Eurythmics.
Cruise Control originally cost R200 000 at Nationals and has won 13 races with 3 places from 22 starts for stakes of R1 051 563.
For all his speed and terrific ability, Cruise Control is not a stakes winner and that will no doubt be a season goal for his passionate connections.
So where to now? Maybe Cape Town for the lucrative summer season, or the Gr1 Computaform Sprint at Turffontein, where the quick ground could suit his speed.
They will battle to stop him at Fairview.
