National Champion trainer Sean Tarry’s Graded race ammunition was bolstered on Saturday when his Toreador gelding Matador Man ran out an impressive winner of the Listed Secretariat Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein under apprentice Lyle Hewitson.

Tarry has top horses being prepared in both Johannesburg and Cape Town for big race targets and Equus Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle led the way over the weekend by beating a quality field in the WSB Gr 2 Green Point Stakes over 1600m, despite needing the run.

Matador Man’s habitual slow start worked in his favour in the Secretariat Stakes as he was able to slot in behind the field on the rail. He has a lovely action and was beautifully relaxed in the running. Hewitson kept him covered for the first part of the straight, after they had come off the wide false rail. He had to get him going at the 450m mark as the long striding second favourite Romi’s Boy was out in front and threatening to gallop them into the ground.

However, Hewitson was forced to switch inward which was probably the unfavourable side on the day. However, it did not stop Matador Man and after showing a fine turn of foot he ran resolutely to the line to win by 1,75 lengths from his stablemate Tilbury Fort. The rest of the field were spread out like the washing, which is always the sign of good form. Furthermore, Matador Man, who started at odds of 11/2, did it pretty effortlessly and required no more than a back hander to keep his mind on the task. He was giving 4kg to stablemate Tilbury Fort, who was a 15/1 shot, and 2,5kg to the five-length third-placed Misty Roller, who was a 40/1 chance. Another of Matador Man’s stablemates Copper Pot finished fourth.

The 9/2 third favourite Act Of Loyalty made little impression in the straight from a midfield position and finished an eight-length sixth, while Romi’s Boy faded to finish a disappointing 8,5 lengths back in seventh. The favourite was the Mike Azzie-trained Captain Von Trapp, who was backed in to 3/1, but unfortunately he got stuck behind a fading Romi’s Boy just as he was unwinding into his giant stride. He is a lot better than his eleven length ninth suggests. A line can probably be drawn through the run, although he is unlikely to have threatened the winner on the day.

Tarry said about the classy Matador Man, “He is definitely a horse we have always rated, he just fluffed his lines at the start in his first two runs, so he will improve as he goes around the turn and we will see how far he goes. It is difficult to work out the yard’s three-year-old pecking order, because they are all improving at different rates.”

Matador Man has dwelt in all of his starts to date and then virtually walks out the gates, but it didn’t cost him significant ground on Saturday.

He will not be going down to Cape Town for the Cape Guineas. Tarry said the Gauteng Guineas would likely be on his program and added, “I think the Canon Guineas at Greyville will be the right race for him.”

Meanwhile, Tarry’s Cape Guineas contender Africa Rising is doing well in Cape Town, having finished a 3,6 length sixth to stable companion Safe Harbour  in the R2,5 million Lanzerac Ready To Run Stakes over 1400m. Safe Harbour, a rangy filly by Elusive Fort, franked the form on Saturday when going down by 0,3 lengths to Just Sensual in the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas. She will likely be a big runner in the US$500,000 CTS 1600 on Sun Met day.

Another Tarry star being aimed at one of the two CTS half-a-million dollar races in Cape Town is last year’s Equus Champion two-year-old filly Cloth Of Cloud, although she will likely run in the 1200m event. Tarry said she had been doing well in Cape Town, although they have to work with her temperament issues. She is likely to have one run before the CTS 1200.

Africa Rising, a 96 merit-rated colt by Visionaire, has landed a plum of draw of two in the Cape Guineas, having had to jump from a very high draw in the Lanzerac. The Cape Guineas has attracted a 26-strong entry list and Tarry said, “He has always showed us to be a very good horse and if he can just give his best on the day will be very competitive.”

Meanwhile, five-year-old Trippi gelding Trip To Heaven’s main targets for the season are likely the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint, both run at Greyville. He is travelling down to Cape Town to run in the Gr 2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes over 1200m on January 14. Tarry said 1400m was probably the optimum trip for this horse, so he might avoid the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championships as 1000m might be a touch sharp for him.

Tarry also said 1000m was likely too sharp for the other stable sprinting star Bull Valley, who will be campaigned at home in Johannesburg. Trip To Heaven has won both of his Turffontein 1160m starts impressively this season, including the Gr 2 Citizen Merchants, where he gave Bull Valley 3,5kg and a 0,3 length beating. He received 2,5kg from reigning Equus Champion Sprinter Talktothestars in the Merchants and beat him by 2,4 lengths. On paper this makes him just about the best sprinter in the country at present.

French Navy has been doing well in Johannesburg and runs next Tuesday night at Turffontein in a Pinnacle Stakes race over 1160m. He and Legal Eagle carry the stable’s Sun Met hopes.

By David Thiselton