Link Man took to a step up in trip like the proverbial duck to water when he ran out a very comfortable winner of the Tony Ruffel Stakes for three-year-olds over 1450m on the Turffontein inner course on Saturday. Link Man had failed narrowly twice in sprints against older rivals this season and was posting his first success since winning the Gr 1 Gold Medallion at Scottsville in May.
Karl Neisius will have to wait yet another year for the opportunity to secure his first success in the J&B Met after Fort Vogue failed for a second time to plug this yawning hole in the veteran rider’s superb CV, but Neisius will still be highly satisfied with his afternoon’s work at Kenilworth on Saturday. Having partnered Covenant to success in the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes, he brought the curtain down on Met day 2011 in resounding fashion when steering Sangria Girl to her second successive win in the J&B Reserve Stayers over 2800m.
“At one stage I thought she was limited to 1000m,” confessed Mike Bass after Covenant had coped splendidly with a step up in distance and won the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday. Therein lies a tale. You never stop learning with horses, even when you’re one of the best trainers ever to ply the trade. This may come as something of a surprise to those who think holding a trainer’s licence somehow should endow one with psychic powers, but it is no surprise at all to those who understand that a horse is not just a number.
The Investec Cape Derby always looked potentially ripe for an unexpected result. The only three horses in the 14 runner field to have raced over the Derby distance of 2000m were amongst the four lowest rated in the line-up, none of them had managed a win at the distance, and only one of them had placed when trying the trip. That left an awful lot of gaps in the picture which only the race could fill and it was Top Seller who filled them when he grabbed a narrow success at Tote odds of around 40/1.
Past Master proved to be as versatile as he is talented when he went beyond a mile for the first time in his career and saw out 2000m with no trouble whatsoever to win the J & B Met at Kenilworth on Saturday. This was some performance from a horse who had run away with the Gr 2 Diadem Stakes over 1200m six weeks earlier, even if the Met was by no means a true test of stamina, and for those who had worked long and hard to get Past Master back to his peak after a lengthy injury lay-off the reward of winning Cape Town’s showpiece event was all the sweeter
EASY AS 1-2-3 The Cape Flying Championship at Kenilworth on Saturday was completely dominated by the Mike Bass yard, which sent out the first three
Bulsara has always threatened to be a seriously good horse, repeatedly finishing within a few lengths of many of the best around, and he made short work of beating ten rivals in the London News over 1800m on the inner track at Turffontein on Sunday.
Mother Russia will be a popular favourite on January 29th to go one better on her second place finish in the J & B Met of 2010 after she ran out a highly impressive winner of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday.
2011 is still in its infancy, but there may not be a closer finish to a Graded race this year than the cavalry charge that concluded the Peninsula Handicap over 1800m at Kenilworth on Wednesday. A tick under four lengths covered the first fourteen runners to cross the line in a race which probably had the handicappers whooping with delight, a joy that would be have been shared by bookmakers and only a few punters after 40/1 outsider Lion In Winter came from last on the turn to snatch a narrow success.
Covenant registered her second Graded race success in less than a month when easily taking out the Sceptre Stakes over 1200m at Kenilworth on Sunday. The three-year-old had won the Gr 2 Southern Cross Stakes over 200m less four weeks previously, and in some style, but Sunday’s race marked her first attempt at 1200m and some pundits had a few question marks over whether she would see it out. Now they know.
The first Graded event of 2011 produced a humdinger of a finish when Blue Voyager edged out KZN visitor Jinzo by a nostril to win the Lebelo Sprint (handicap) over 1000m on Turffontein’s standside course
Sunday’s Hollywoodbets Greyville feature, the non black-type Model Man Mile, won by Mike de Kock’s Artist’s Pride, paid tribute to one of South Africa’s greatest turf legends of the 20th century.
A man we are privileged to have known as a loyal friend of this great game and of the Sporting Post, a personal mate, and one of South African horseracing’s great characters, Shaheen Shaw, a husband, loving Dad and Grandad, passed away suddenly at the age of 55
