David Thiselton
Muzi Yeni not only had a fine day as a jockey on Saturday, scoring a double including the Grade 2 Senor Santa Stakes over 1160m on the Stuart Pettigrew-trained Vars Vicky, but also as a tipster as he tipped the Pick 6 among other exotics in his Johannesburg newspaper column.
Yeni made Vars Vicky a banker in his column and the Gary Player Stud-bred Var gelding pulled it off by the skin of his teeth, deservedly, as runner up Bohica’s hanging antics in the final 100 metres have to be weighed up against Vars Vicky having to be eased at a crucial stage.
Vars Vicky, who runs in the colours of prominent Mauritian owner Vicky Veeramootoo, came into the race with a record of four wins from 1000m to 1450m in seven starts.
His last defeat, over 1400m, was too the exciting unbeaten colt, Paisley Park.
On the downside his last defeat in a sprint was by 4,25 lengths by Winter Stories, from whom he was now going to receive 4kg.
However, that race followed a four-month layoff and he likely needed it.
Winter Stories was then scratched to make his task easier.
He was still officially 4,5kg under sufferance with the best weighted horse True To Life, but this filly was then also scratched and he went into the race 3.5kg under sufferance with the now best weighted Singforafa.
On the plus side he had won his last two starts over 1450m and 1200m respectively in impressive style and was clearly on the up.
He also had a nice high draw of 12, which is favourable by trends.
Vars Vicky jumped well enough and got a tow from the long-striding Bohica, who jumped from draw eight.
He moved in at the 300m mark but Yeni then had to ease him as Bohica and Gallic Princess started drifting in different directions, closing a wide open gap.
This left Yeni having to rebuild his momentum from the 220m mark and having to make up at least two lengths on Bohica.
Vars Vicky displayed his fine action to eat into the lead.
Bohica hung right over to the inside under a left-handed stick between the 100m mark and the 20m mark and this enable Vars Vicky to get up on the line.
Gallic Princess was a well beaten three length third ahead of Eden Roc and Singforafa.
Earlier, Yeni rode Running Brave in the Listed Drum Star Handicap over 1800m The top mare had to carry second topweight of 60.5kg against the boys but had most of the field beaten on the form of the WSB Summer Cup and Grade 3 London News Stakes. However, Yeni’s warning that a lot of runners should be included told a story that the gallant Fanie Bronkhorst-trained mare would likely need the outing after her tough campaign in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Yeni himself put the whole field in his suggested Pick 6. She duly ran well below par, finishing unplaced, and Yeni reported he had felt something amiss with her in the running. The race was full of horses who were perhaps past their best or had bigger fish to fry, so the fact that the 76 merit rated Phillip Vermeulen-trained Savannah Storm, who was officially a whopping 13kg under sufferance, won the race, under Marco van Rensburg, was perhaps not as much of a surprise as it had first seemed. The Sudden Storm gelding had won his last two and in his last start beat the classy three-year-old Puerto Manzano, although he had received 6kg from him.
A stranger result at first sight might have been the Sean Tarry-trained Aryaam gaining bold black type by winning the Listed Ormond Ferraris Oaks Trial over 2000m under Lyle Hewitson despite having previously failed to win her maiden in four attempts. However, this hard-knocking Dynasty filly had every right to win Saturday’s race as it was a handicap and she was in the handicap carrying 54kg. Therefore, the only question should be whether the race deserved Listed status. Such a black type three-year-old event should not be a handicap in the first place, but as the merit ratings ranged from 88 to 72 it is likely to be downgraded to Non-Black Type anyway.
The winner of the Listed Derby Trial over 2000m, the Alec Laird-trained Louis The King gelding Pamushana’s Pride, has now won four races including his last three and looks as if he could justify being a bold black type horse in time. His regular pilot S’Manga Khumalo just got him up from Baymax and Ushuaia.
The Non-Black Type Gold Rush Sprint was won in cosy fashion by a classy sprinter in the making, the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Celestial Love, under Warren Kennedy. This What A Winter filly was receiving 8.5kg from the disappointing favourite Forever Mine and beat him by 4,5 lengths and she was receiving 6.5kg from the speedy Valyrian King and beat him by a length.
Yeni also won the last race on the Paul Matchett-trained Act Of War gelding Battle Force, who has now won three in a row and looks to be going places.
Yeni’s R800 Pick 6 suggestion returned a cool R53,953.30.
