It didn’t take jockey Greg Cheyne long to get back amongst the winners at Fairview. One ride to be precise. Cheyne made it a cracking winning quartet at his first local meeting in eight months, when he capped the four-timer with a confident ride aboard True Master to give trainer Justin Snaith a terrific top-liner trifecta.
Greg Cheyne boots True Master home (Pic – Coastal Photos)
It was just a week earlier at Kenilworth when Cheyne returned to action after injury and booted Fire Master home for Snaith, to break the ice. ‘nice and early’, as he had hoped for.
Greg Cheyne – no rustiness with a four-timer
On Friday he was in action at his home-from-home and doing what he earlier labelled ‘the best job in SA horseracing’ – for his long-time boss and friend, Alan Greeff, who dominated the meeting, saddling a super five winners.
Three of the Greeff winners were piloted by Cheyne, and the Cape rider was off the mark at his second ride – getting the Mambo In Seattle gelding New Deal home to win a weak maiden at his fifteenth start.
Recently crowned SA champion freshman sire Gimmethegreenlight continued his purple patch when producing a double.
The Patricia Devine Investment’s bred Gimme The Stars, trained by Yvette Bremner, shed his maiden at his third start, while Varsfontein Stud-bred Green Lantern maintained his unbeaten record, winning his second start in fluent style (under Cheyne) in the penultimate heat, a MR 68 Handicap.
Gimmethegreenlight – the hits keep coming!
Cheyne rode a cracker on the rather green recent maiden winner Star Trek in the last.
The son of Silvano jumped from the widest draw and was in front for a long way. He had to be woken up late to keep at it all the way to the line, but had enough in the tank to hold a late charge from Ze Tsar.
Andrew Fortune, who deputized for Cheyne in his absence, rode the opener for Alan Greeff.
Andrew Fortune – rode Newcrest to win the opener
He was aboard Newcrest, a lovely son of Visionaire, who won well – and who could be one for the notebook. His veteran jockey seemed to think he would repeat the win feat.
Fortune expressed the hope that Greeff would continue to throw him ”the odd bone’.
Justin Snaith saddled a Jet Master trifecta to open the jackpot in an 1800m Pinnacle Stakes, when the lesser fancied True Master put it all together to beat stablemate Masterly by 1,25 lengths in a time of 112,29 secs.
The favourite and topweight Jet Explorer ran a typically gutsy race but fell out of the Bipot, running third.
The Varsfontein Stud-bred True Master has won 9 races with 6 places from 33 starts.
He took his stakes earnings with this win to R673 655.
A son of Jet Master out of the very versatile seven-time winning Jet Master mare, Bushra, he was a R1,2 million National Yearling Sale purchase.
There was bad luck for new trainer Sharon Kotzen when her first ever scheduled runner Arkansas was scratched from the seventh after sustaining an injury.
It was a tough day for Pick 6 punters, with the popular exotic carrying over R254 980.69, after a few trick results.
We live to fight on.
