Port Elizabeth trainer Jacques Strydom has not yet planned to bring his polytrack hero Gogetthesheriff to run in the Listed R150,000 Darley Arabian over 1600m on the Greyville poly at the end of the South African Champions Seasons, but is aware of the option. An appearance by the five-year-old gelding at Greyville will add a further twist to the Super Saturday meeting on the last weekend of the season, because the Darley Arabian would then shape as a South African polytrack championship event.

Gogetthesheriff is the reigning East Cape Polytrack Horse Of The Year and on Monday put his owner Freddy van Onselen in line for a R250,000 bonus by adding the second leg of the World Sports Betting (WSB) East Cape Poly Challenge series over 1400m to his first leg win over 1200m.

The long striding chestnut has a short run in so has to be waited with for as long as possible and therefore the course and distance of the tight Fairview polytrack suit him perfectly.

Ryan Munger dropped him out from a wide draw on Monday and he produced a devastating late charge down the inside rail to win by a length.

Port Elizabeth’s legendary commentator “Bumpy” Schoeman didn’t reserve many plaudits for the final leg of the Poly “Triple Crown” as he screamed “What a Beaut! What A Beaut! … Hero-Hero!”

Strydom bought Gogethesheriff as a one-time winner at a dispersal sale at the end of the 2014 season. The Go Deputy gelding had previously raced for one of Mike de Kock’s chief international clients, Sheik Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, and his only win had been a seven length romp at Clairwood in a maiden over 1600m.

Strydom and Van Onselen bought him with the dream of landing Port Elizabeth’s most prestigious race, the Algoa Cup.

However, at the time of the purchase Fairview was experiencing some problems with the turf course, so Strydom eventually decided to put him in a poly race over 1200m. He stormed home to win from a wide draw at odds of 20/1 and has not looked back. He has notched up seven wins and a second from eight starts on the poly and his winning distances range from 1200m to 1900m.

Strydom and Van Onselen are still chasing the Algoa Cup dream and Gogetthesheriff has thus had eleven starts on the Fairview turf for three wins. However, last year the dream was ended by Gogetthesheriff contracting an illness. Strydom thus planned a tilt at the East Cape Poly Challenge series. He was criticised for bringing the horse back from illness with three turf races, considering the Challenge was on poly. However, he knew when he won the last of the three preparation turf races over 1400m his charge was “spot on.” He then “freshened him” up for the Challenge 1200m event, which he won by a head, and gave him “normal” work into Monday’s 1400m race. He will now just keep him ticking over for the East Cape Poly Challenge 1600 on May 13, which is sure to attract a lot of interest from around the country because a win will land Van Onselen the R250,000 bonus from WSB.

The merit rated band conditions of each race of the series has made Gogethesheriff hard to beat at the weights, despite him having to carry 62kg on each occasion, because the upper band includes horses merit rated 100 and upward and he is merit rated 108.

Strydom will see how Gogetthesheriff goes in the Challenge’s last leg before planning the horse’s future, but the Darley Arabian and/or the Algoa Cup look the obvious target or targets.

The Frank Robinson-trained Dynasty filly Olma is likely regarded as the best poly horse in KZN, having recently added the Gr 3 Kings Cup over 1600m against the boys to her fine record on the surface. However, the Mike Bass-trained Night Trip could lay claim to being the best poly horse in the country at present as he has won the last two renewals of the Darley Arabian and is merit rated 109.

There is no award at present which recognises the best poly horse in the country, but if the Darley Arabian winner is recognised as such it might be possible the snubbed Lammerskraal sire Go Deputy has the best turf and poly horse in the country for the season as he is sire of both Gotthesheriff and the Triple Crown-chasing Abashiri.

By David Thiselton