Ride Of The Month! Chris Puller outguns his opposition on Locked On Target.
A peach of a ride by Chris Puller for veteran master trainer Bill Prestage set the seal on an entertaining Human Rights Day racing afternoon at Kenilworth. Seeing a professional partnership in action gives one hope for the future of a sport that is strangely amateurish and hit and miss a lot of the time.
One doesn’t need expensive horses to produce the goods and Mythical Flight’s full brother Locked On Target would probably need 500m start to have a chance with his illustrious older brother over 1000m on a good day. But a solid strategic partnership effort by the former Crunchie Cronje-trained gelding’s new trainer and his jockey Chris Puller, resulted in an unlikely win in the MR76 Handicap against some fair opposition.
Prestage is a self-made successful businessman who trains horses for himself and his wife only and has been doing so for many years as a professional hobby with quiet success. His orange and yellow silks are in the winner’s enclosure with regularity and his most notable recent success is with the emerging stayer Born To Be Wild – a bargain buy at only R90 000 at the Grandwest Sale.
Admitting in the post-race interview that Locked On Target (listed as an R800 000 Vintage Graduate…mmm) was ‘not too good’ , Prestage said his biggest problem was getting the gelding’s body weight up and conceded that he had ‘changed feed four or five times.’ He explained that the Jet Master had won for Cronje at a body weight of around 460kg. Thereafter he had dropped to around 438kg. Today he weighed 450kg and was close as reasonably back to his best.
The highly underrated and almost casually relaxed Jockey Chris Puller labelled the horse ‘a big galloper’ and said that he had opted to let his mount use himself out front today. “In the home straight , I let him go and put them under pressure. I knew that they would battle to get to me. He doesn’t stop galloping and I reckon he will win again soon,” he said nonchalantly.
The Alchemy bred Locked On Target has now won two from eleven and over R100 000 in stakes. He held off the improved Prince Of Wings. What A Winter’s half-brother flew late and could fulfil some of his early promise. Dean Kannemeyer’s Kingslayer had no luck in running and deserves another chance to prove himself.
G R O W L! Tiger Tiger bears his claws under Devin Ashby.
Jockey Devin Ashby and trainer Paul Reeves made a statement for human rights with their shock 66-1 winner in the opening race of the day. There was absolutely no interest in the Tiger Dance first-timer in the Juvenile Plate over 1200m as the money poured on the only winner in the race, Vaughan Marshall-trained The West Is Wide. But the son of Western Winter had nothing to come after the speedy Var colt Gooi Mielies had set the pace.
Ashby had Tiger Tiger settled midfield early and the R10 000 Vintage graduate ran on well late to win going away. For those who follow the superstitions of names, Tiger Tiger and Lion’s Roar paid a handsome exacta dividend of R1662! The winner is by Stormcat stallion Tiger Dance – a stakes winning full-brother to Giant’s Causeway .
Drakenstein Stud stallion Trippi continues to churn out the early winners and his daughter Hammie’s Hooker looks a serious Nursery prospect on her three runs to date. The Zandvliet Stud-bred won the second race, a Juvenile Plate over 1200m in a common canter in a weak field, to record her second win. The Mike Bass filly is out of the former Greg Ennion-trained Gem Queen, who also produced the luckless Victoriana for the same stable.
The long-shot support was spot on in the opening leg of the jackpot where the Joey Ramsden trained Stagelight filly Eyeofthebeholder swept forward late to hold the fancied Starlight Beauty to a fast diminishing head. The Brett Crawford-trained Daggons Hall started favourite in the Maiden Plate over 1400m but after being given every chance, she fell away to finish a lot closer to last than her connections would have expected. Glen Hatt rode the winner.
Classic Connection. Dean Kannemeyer leads Lord Paramount(Karl Neisius) in.
The Fieldspring Racing owned Lord Paramount is proving a model of consistency and he picked up his fourth win from nine starts in the MR90 Handicap over 1400m. Richard Fourie almost stole the race on the Mike Stewart inmate Entrador but the Kannemeyer’s Miesque’s Approval gelding stormed through for a courageous win under Karl Neisius. Terry Lister showed an amazing kick of acceleration to run third after looking penniless and unplaced with 100m to run. Final Button was the victim of a diabolical ride from his over enthusiastic young apprentice and after running wide and being bustled all the way, he is one for the shrewdy notebook.
Greg Ennion was all smiles after he had sent out yet another Crabbia winner. The Silvano gelding Act Of Faith won his fifth start in the Maiden Plate over a mile after enjoying a professional and confident ride by Bernard Fayd’herbe. The obviously talented three year old has a bad habit of jumping slowly and Ennion said that he would be re-schooled as this could cost him in stronger company and he said jokingly that he ‘didn’t like Fred Crabbia when he is cross.’
Fayd’herbe said that he was a nice horse who would improve further but he suggested that the blinkers be removed as he didn’t really need them. Ennion confirmed that he would likely target the Cape Winter Series with him.
Brandon Morgenrood – an update
In previous reports we advised that Cape Jockey Brandon Morgenrood had left South Africa yesterday(Tuesday). Due to a delay in his visa, Morgenrood will now only leave on Thursday. He will definitely ride in the opening Champ de Mars meeting this coming Saturday. In a bizarre twist and a reality of the social networking world in which we live today, Morgenrood told the Sporting Post that he had been impersonated on Facebook. An imposter calling himself Brandon Moorgenrood(sic) had been posting on Facebook in broken english and soliciting ‘friends’. Morgenrood said that his real friends would hopefully realise that he personally knew how to spell his surname and that he refused to allow the prank to distract him from the exciting new challenge in his life. Best of luck Brandon.
