Sandown Stud’s resident stallion Soqrat celebrated a maiden stakes winner at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday when Peter Muscutt’s progressive 3yo I Salute You won the R225 000 World Sports Betting Listed Sledgehammer under a swashbuckling ride by Muzi Yeni.
In a race where the majority of the eight jockeys were having their arms pulled out of their sockets and ultimately turned the 1750m contest into a sprint for home, Muzi Yeni rode a determined race on the Soqrat colt, who had plenty to do as he was initially caught flat-footed.
I Salute You (Muzi Yeni, green and white checks cap) goes head to head with Serino Moodley and Selukwe on the outside, as Tristan Gooden (pink cap) produces a challenge from Narina Trogon on the inside (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
At the 200m it was anybody’s race to win, but Yeni wasn’t taking prisoners and he burst through on I Salute You (5-2) to beat Selukwe (25-2), who looked an awkward ride, by 0,15 lengths in a time of 106,93 secs.
The consistent Narina Trogon (7-1) never runs a bad race, and he stayed on for a well deserved third.
While they have brought the blinkers on board to avoid gelding, Muzi Yeni suggested the unkindest cut of all may ultimately be the way to go.
Raced in partnership by Tony Zackey, Edward Abraham, Tim Herdon, Saira Nattar & Trinisha Pillay, the winner was bred by Shadwell Stud and is by their former Equus Champion 2yo Soqrat (Epaulette) out of the two-time winning Var mare, Varachino.
Now a winner of 4 races with 3 places from his 9 starts for stakes of R359 450, I Salute You passed a solid test today and could now be factored into the reckoning for the big months that lie ahead.
As much as Peter Muscutt learnt from the winner’s performance, Justin Snaith won’t be thrilled with the Sunday gallop by Rapidash and Legal Counsel in a race that had Cape crawl stamped all over it.
