The Summerhill Stud-bred Brave Tin Soldier colt Rabada maintained his unbeaten record and registered his third straight win with a gutsy showing to go all the way in the R600 000 Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes at Greyville on Saturday
Gavin Van Zyl and Mike Azzie talk to Andrew Bon on the eve of Super Saturday
It takes a top 2yo to win the R600 000 Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes and Mike Azzie’s unbeaten Gatecrasher Stakes winner Rabada fits the profile. He looks an exciting sort and stands out in an otherwise competitive race at Greyville today
“Hey Azzie – you must be bloody good to make me pay R400 000 for a Brave Tin Soldier.” Markus Jooste’s jovial quip to Mike Azzie at the Ready To Run sale may yet prove to be cheap talk!
In a very open handicap, where a case could be argued for a spectrum of prospective winners, we are siding with the experience and fitness of Azzie’s Brooks-Club who is the selection to beat Samogan and Solar Triptych
An intriguing showdown between Mike De Kock’s versatile Trippi 4yo Tiger Territory and Mike Azzie’s lightly-raced 3yo upstart Malta Rocks in the R125 000 Lightning Stakes provides the likely highlight on the Vaal sand today
Trainer Mike Azzie is always a serious factor on the Vaal sand and has only has one runner at the Vaal today in the hardknocking Tiger Ridge gelding, Panjo
“Derreck David and JP van der Merwe are my stable jockeys, but sometimes one has to make strategic decisions” says the astute Azzie, as he also concedes he is ‘like a child in a sweet shop at the sales’
Azzie’s Fort Wood mare loving the ground as she continues to go from strength to strength
Charl Pretorius pokes a bit of fun as we brace ourselves for a rollercoaster ride through the absurd, the outrageous, and the downright unbelievable in South African horse racing
