In a race that changed complexion dramatically in the final strides, Diego de Gouveia got Alec Laird’s Parisian Walkway to rally from what well and truly looked a beaten position to win the R1 million TAB Gr2 Guineas at Turffontein on Saturday.
Diego de Gouveia salutes in delight as Parisian Walkway comes back to beat Greaterix (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Parisian Walkway led the charge for much of the journey and was already under the crop and a vigorous ride at the 250m as Muzi Yeni ghosted up his inside under the hands on the handsome 8-10 favourite Greaterix.
While the favourite went on by, Diego de Gouveia wasn’t impressed and showed that he has played some poker in his time, eking out more on the Laird galloper, as Yeni realized that this playful dog was coming right back to bite him, and threw his hands at Greaterix.
At the line, Parisian Walkway (25-1) was 0,40 lengths in front and clocked 98,59 secs for the mile – a distance regarded as being at the bottom of his range.
There are many who won’t believe that Greaterix got beaten, while the winner’s stablemate Aristotle (20-1) was a further 3,80 lengths back in third, with Legend Of Arthur (4-1) well beaten in fourth.
After the disappointment of the withdrawal of Fire Attack, the race turned a dream result for the Laird yard.
Raced by Gary Basel, Lance Clark & Werner Volschenk, the courageous winner is a R450 000 BSA National 2yo Sale buy and was bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein.
He is a son of Ideal World (Kingmambo) out of the twice-winning Mastercraftsman mare Boutique. He should go the Derby trip – so these are really exciting times for his connections!
Now a winner of 3 races with 3 places from 16 starts, Parisian Walkway took his stakes earnings to R752 750.
The SA Triple Crown has been won by Horse Chestnut (1999), Louis The King (2014), Abashiri (2016) and Malmoos (2021). Could we see a winner this year?
A bonus of R2 million will be paid to the connections of the horse that wins all three legs of the SA Triple Crown.
The second leg is the R1,5 million Gr1 SA Classic which will be run over 1800m on Saturday 1 March, while the third leg is the R1,25 million Gr1 SA Derby run over 2450m on Saturday Saturday 29 March.
