Milnerton father and son duo Piet and Elbert Steyn produced the goods at the weather-delayed Hollywoodbets Kenilworth racemeeting on Monday, when the promising 3yo Garrix showed the benefit of gelding and a galloping weight to put a smart mixed age field to bed in the R350 000 Gr3 Variety Club Mile.
Racing made a welcome return to the Cape after that forgettable Hollywoodbets Durbanville fixture that ended abruptly on 26 March, and ten well-patronized races brightened up the Monday for local fans.
Sophomore domination as Garrix (Ashton Arries) outguns Let It Be Said (Muzi Yeni) in the run to the wire (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The only two 3yo’s in the field of eleven, and both sons of Vercingetorix, dominated matters in the Gr3 feature.
Despite running a bit green, Garrix (14-10) took full advantage of his galloping weight under Ashton Arries to hold off a challenge by the red-hot combination of Muzi Yeni and Justin Snaith with Let It Be Said (9-2), who was beaten by 1,50 lengths in a time of 99,9 secs for the mile on a soft track.
Eric Sands’ Gallic Dream (25-1) came out of the pack to boost the trifecta and quartet in third, with stablemate Billy Bowlegs (16-1) running another honest race in fourth.
Originally a R475 000 National 2yo Sale purchase, Garrix was acquired after running a 20-1 second on his Hollywoodbets Durbanville debut back in September by a power partnership of Mukund Gujadhur, Rikesh Sewgoolam and Laurence and Jarryd Wernars.
Bred by Jagessar Limited, Garrix is a son of Vercingetorix (Silvano) out of the unraced well-related US bred Smart Strike mare, Makiwara.
Garrix was recording his maiden stakes success and is now a winner of 3 races with 3 places from 7 starts for stakes of R587 802.
On the day Justin Snaith and Muzi Yeni enjoyed a three-timer, with Candice Bass-Robinson also registering three winners (Sean Veale rode 2 And Aldo Domeyer 1), while the Crawfords and Louis Mxothwa celebrated a double.
It never rains but it pours! The next Hollywoodbets Kenilworth racemeeting is on Wednesday 16 April.
