Trainers Mike de Kock and Dean Kannemeyer will between them field eight of the 16 runners in the R1.25-million, Grade 2 eLan Gold Cup over 3 200m at Greyville Racecourse on Super Saturday with the surprise being that leading jockey Anton Marcus does not feature among the riders in the race.
However, Weiho Marwing and Devin Little have not declared riders for Stebbins and Fortune Fella respectively which leaves an opening for Marcus if he is inclined.
Enaad wins the Gold Vase
De Kock will go into the famous race with a very strong hand having the “team” that filled the first four places in the SABC Gold Vase – Enaad, Smart Mart, Kingston Mines and Kinaan – flying the stable flag along with The Centenary that ran second behind Punta Arenas in the Delta Air Lines 2200.
Kannemeyer will mount his challenge with the Ideal World gelding Cape Speed that has won his last three races including the Track & Ball Derby at Scottsville with Lonsdale Stirrup Cup winner Balance Sheet and the Kahal gelding Solar Star that finished second in the Highland Night Cup as his support team.
Cape Speed – heads Kannemeyer attack
Mike Bass, who retires at the meeting, has Helderberg Blue flying his stable flag with Three Balloons as the first reserve while Joey Ramsden, still on a high after his victories in the Vodacom Durban July and the Mercury Sprint, has engaged Brandon Lerena to partner his gutsy six-year-old stayer Coltrane. Geoff Woodruff makes his bid with the son of Jet Master, Master Sabina that he has always rated as a top horse and won the Summer Cup at Turffontein late last year.
A possible dark horse in the race is the Danehill Dancer gelding from the Justin Snaith yard, Ovidio, that caused an upset when winning the J&B Stayers over 2 800m at the beginning of the year.
Final Field
R1 250 000 – 3200m
eLAN GOLD CUP (Grade 2)
| 1 | 2 | Master Sabina | 60 | 107 | T A | G Lerena | Geoff Woodruff | |
| 2 | 4 | Helderberg Blue | 59.5 | 105 | A | G van Niekerk | Mike Bass | |
| 3 | 7 | Ovidio (AUS) | 59.5 | 105 | A | P Strydom | Justin Snaith | |
| 4 | 12 | Coltrane (ARG) | 58.5 | 102 | BA | B Lerena | Joey Ramsden | |
| 5 | 17 | Kingston Mines (GB) | 58.5 | 102 | BA | D Dillon | Mike de Kock | |
| 6 | 3 | Balance Sheet | 57.5 | 101 | BA | K de Melo | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 7 | 9 | The Centenary (NZ) | 57 | 99 | A | W Marwing | Mike de Kock | |
| 8 | 14 | Arch Rival | 56.5 | 97 | BA | R Danielson | Geoff Woodruff | |
| 9 | 1 | Solar Star | 56.5 | 96 | A | S Randolph | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 10 | 8 | Cape Speed | 55.5 | 100 | A | A Delpech | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 11 | 5 | Stebbins | 54.5 | 98 | TBA | *L Hewitson | Weiho Marwing | |
| 12 | 18 | Fortune Fella | 54 | 90 | T A | C Zackey | Devin Little | |
| 13 | 13 | Enaad (AUS) | 53.5 | 89 | A | S Khumalo | Mike de Kock | |
| 14 | 6 | Zafira | 53 | 93 | A | *C Murray | Weiho Marwing | |
| 15 | 15 | Kinaan (AUS) | 53 | 84 | A | D David | Mike de Kock | |
| 16 | 10 | Smart Mart | 53 | 83 | BA | M Yeni | Mike de Kock | |
| 17 | 16 | Three Balloons | 53 | 85 | BA | Reserve 1 | Mike Bass | |
| 18 | 11 | Storm Warning | 56.5 | 96 | A | Reserve 2 | Johan Janse van Vuuren | |
| Same Trainer – Not Coupled on Tote | ||||||||
| (1,8) (2,17) (5,7,13,15,16) (6,9,10) (11,14) | ||||||||
