In The Pink.
JP van der Merwe pushes Adobe Pink out to an emphatic win
The signs were there! The betting nibbles by the shrewdies and the on course presence of owner- breeder Sally Jourdan were the indicators that Adobe Pink was on target for a big run in the R135 000 Listed East Coast Handicap run over 2000m at Clairwood on Sunday.
The daughter of the underrated stallion Go Deputy eventually went off a mouthwatering 11 to 1, for those clever enough to back her. But it would have been a sweat for much of the race, as Adobe Pink was ‘not doing too much to help,’ in the words of winning jockey JP Van Der Merwe.
Gavin Van Zyl’s athletic Strike Smartly mare Cherry On The Cake was all the rage and came into this event off an excellent form streak that included a win in the Jacaranda Handicap and a smart second in the Gerald Rosenberg Stakes at her last outing.
The twelve horse field jumped well, except for the anticipated pacesetter Prairy Star, who was slow. Her young rider took the only corrective action available to him thereafter and rushed her around her field to lead them. She played her role, but understandably was dead in the water at the 400m marker.
Cherry On The Cake was hot on Prairy Star’s heels, just ahead of Las Ramblas and Golden Dawn. As they came for home, the order remain unchanged, with Adobe Pink seemingly under serious pressure and under a push and shove in the rearguard.
Cherry On The Cake and Prairy Star quickly came under pressure as Hijacked commenced a goodlooking run wide.
With Sean Veale setting Al Kindi alight and weaving through the middle, Adobe Pink made up oodles of ground down the inside and the two when into the final 100m with little to spare, but miles apart.
Adobe Pink got the upper hand in scintillating style and won by 0,25 lengths in a time of 122,40 secs.
Al Kindi showed nice improvement to stay on for second, ahead of Hijacked who loomed up menacingly down the outside , but became one paced late in the race.
It was a meritorious win by Adobe Pink, who had not run since her victory in the Sun Classique on 19 January. She in fact recorded a genuine hat trick coming off a rest of 120 days and her well being is a tribute to the training skills of Neil Bruss.
But things didn’t look particularly promising until she started unwinding down the inside of the track at around the 300m marker. She had been coaxed and cajoled the whole way around by her rider.
Winning jockey JP Van Der Mere was out of breath afterwards, but all smiles : “ I thought I sat too far off during the race. She was never really helping me, but when I asked for an effort she quickened well and made up the leeway,” he said.
Trainer Neil Bruss said that it was nice to be back ‘in my second home.’
“The track is in beautiful condition and as good as I have seen Clairwood in years. I really thought JP had given Adobe Pink too much to do. I was boiling and at the 400m I thought that either the girth was broken or she had a lot in hand. I should also mention Go Deputy and I don’t think people know how good a stallion he really is!” he quipped.
Owner-breeder Sally Jourdan was on track : “ This was a fantastic win and she is really coming along so well. Her Mom has proven again that she is a great mare. As for Go Deputy! What do we say? They get better with age and he is right up there with Western Winter on stakes winners to runners,” she said.
Adobe Pink was bred by Lammerskraal Stud and is out of the prolific producing four-time winning Pas De Quoi mare, Nacarat. She is related to some very smart sorts, including the Gr1 winner Nania.
This was her fifth win from 17 starts with 2 places. She took her stake earnings to R283 250.
And in the words of that great song by Eric Clapton, just who is ‘gonna slow this mustang down’?
