Category Archives: Rising Sun

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Chasing a July spot

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The Gr 3 Cup Trial over 1800m offers a last gasp opportunity for borderline horses to qualify for the Vodacom Durban July and fans are likely to witness a fast and furious finish to the race which is one of the highlights of the always well attended Rising Sun Gold Challenge race day at Greyville on Saturday.

Saratoga Dancer was unfortunately only made a reserve for the Gr 2 Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile, where the yard fancied his chances. He subsequently ran third in the Gr 3 Christmas Handicap over 1600m at Greyville from a wide draw, as opposed to the winner It Is Written’s pole position draw. He will be 3kg better off with It Is Written for a 1,75 length beating, but he unfortunately has another wide draw of 12 to overcome.

Saratoga-Dancer-site

Saratoga Dancer (Nkosi Hlophe)

Saratoga Dancer made a comeback in the too sharp IOS Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m and stayed on well for fourth. He will much prefer this trip and has a chance with Muzi Yeni up as he was still green and immature last season and, as a stronger and more mature horse, he can rise above his 95 merit rating.

The Dean Kannemeyer-trained It Is Written ran a good 2,45 length fifth in the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 and will appreciate the slight step down in trip. His jockey Anthony Delpech will be going for an incredible seventh Graded victory in this SA Champions Season and three of them to date have been for Kannemeyer. The five-year-old Dynasty gelding jumps from draw seven.

Master’s Eye looked at the stands the whole way down the straight when close up in the Sledgehammer over 1750m at Scottsville, but then over raced with blinkers on in the Betting World 1900. The blinkers are now off. This classy sort has the ability to win if his quirkiness is suppressed and Piere Strydom is up from a draw of three, so he has to be seriously considered.

His stablemate Dynamic is off an attractive merit rating and is drawn in pole over a suitable trip so should give another honest account, although he hasn’t won for a year-and-a-half.

Dynamic (Liesl King)

Dynamic (Liesl King)

The Joey Ramsden-trained The Conglomerate will be cherry ripe having his third run after a rest and Anton Marcus is up from draw 8. He has dropped down to a 101 merit rating from a high of 108 but needs a strong pace to be affective as he otherwise seems to just stay on steadily.

The race does not look to have a lot of pace in it. Exit Here is a possible pacemaker, but won’t go the ridiculous pace he set in the Canon Guineas. The experienced Weichong Marwing is a master of pace and this could see Exit Here bouncing back to form, although he might be a touch high in the merit ratings.

Deputy Jud is usually handy so from a wide draw is another possible pace setter. He is off a more competitive mark and can feature if reproducing his Daily News run of last year, when unlucky not to place.

Stablemate Greek Legend was too handy in the Betting World 1900 and his good turn of foot could be effective if ridden more conservatively from a wide draw.

Punta Arenas hasn’t reproduced his best form this season and has a tough task with top weight.

The evergreen Gold Onyx should be cherry ripe and with his short run in has to always be considered at his favourite course.

Halve The Deficit was too far back in the Betting World 1900 and will be handier from a good draw, so he has to be given a good chance off a three point reduced merit rating, especially if reproducing the form of his unlucky July run last year.

Way Of Light faces It Is Written on the same terms despite beating him a neck in the Sledgehammer and he is the dark horse despite a four point merit rated raise.

Big Cat ran on well late in the Sledgehammer and runs off the same merit rating. He beat a good field in the Calulo Cape Mile and has been doing well at Summerveld so has a chance from draw four.

The selection is Dynamic to beat Big Cat with It Is Written, The Conglomerate and Master’s Eye next best.

David Thiselton

 

Olma (David Thiselton)

Olma in a good place

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The Frank Robinson-trained Dynasty filly Olma will be using Saturday’s Gr 2 Tibouchina Stakes over 1400m at Greyville as a stepping stone into either the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July or the Gr1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes and has been thriving at Summerveld, as can be seen in the picture of her taken yesterday morning (Tuesday).

Olma (David Thiselton)

Olma (David Thiselton)

However, she faces a tough field and there was also bullishness from the Mike Bass and Brett Crawford yards.

Frank Robinson said, “She is doing exceptionally well, I couldn’t hope to have her in a better place. She has a wide draw but Piere Strydom is up, so he could take care of it.”

Olma is drawn 12 out of 12. The four-year-old filly acts equally well on turf as she does on polytrack and in a total of nine starts at Greyville, from 1400m up to 2000m, has won six of them.

She has been in the winner’s enclosure in her last three starts at the city track and this included comfortably beating the boys in the Gr 3 King’s Cup over 1600m on the poly.

Her exceptional turn of foot is one of the reasons she loves the tight track and the fashion of her wins over 1600m this season suggests she should be equally suited to the 1400m trip.

Olma’s last run in the Gr 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein was disappointing. However, this is a part of a trend because of the five below par runs she has had in her career, she needed one of them and the other four have been on the Highveld. The classy filly has otherwise been a model of consistency.

However, the favourite for Saturday’s race is likely to be the Mike Bass-trained four-year-old Trippi filly Inara.

Inara (Liesl King)

Inara (Liesl King)

After winning the Empress Club Stakes, Inara was back at Turffontein two weeks later for the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge over 2000m and ran well below her best.

She was given a deserved “little break” and assistant trainer Robert Fayd’Herbe said she had come back from it well. He added she does not take much work, so should be fit enough.

Three-year-old Silvano filly Silver Mountain is also in the Tibouchina, her first start since disappointing in the Gr 2 Daisy Fillies Guineas.

Fayd’Herbe said the yard had got the better of Silver Mountain’s feet issues and, although she was not wintering very well, she was doing a lot better than she had been.

However, In his opinion Inara is at this stage a “much better filly” than Silver Mountain.

Inara’s class is proven by her status as a four-time Gr 1-winner and she started this season with two good wins over 1400m at the tight Durbanville course, so the course and distance on Saturday should not pose a problem.

Silver Mountain, as a horse with plenty of speed and a fine turn of foot, should be ideally suited to the Greyville 1400m if bouncing back to the form which saw her winning the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas by five lengths.

Alexis (John Lewis)

Alexis (John Lewis)

Inara is the highest merit rated horse in Saturday’s race on 111, while Silver Mountain and Olma are joint-second highest on 107.

Inara is drawn wide in nine with Grant van Niekerk up, while Silver Mountain is drawn two with Bernard Fayd’Herbe up.

Brett Crawford could not separate his pair of four-year-olds, Alexis (Dynasty) and Cuvee Brut (Count Dubois), and felt they both had good chances.

Crawford’s runners have needed their first starts in KZN this season.

However, Alexis won well second time out over the Greyville 1400m. She loves Greyville and 1400m is her optimum trip, so she should have every chance from a draw of six under stable jockey Corne Orffer. She will likely be cherry ripe, although on paper off a merit rating of 100 she has a bit to do at the weights in the weight for ager plus penalties event.

Cuvee Brut has come out of her race at Scottsville on Saturday well. She was far from disgraced in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint, in which she was one of only two fillies, and finished a 3,4 length fifth to the brilliant Talktothestars.

She has proved to be equally good at 1400m and back in February won the Gr 3 Prix Du Cap over that trip at Kenilworth in fine style. She beat Alexis by 2,4 lengths that day, but was receiving 3kg and on Saturday she will only be receiving 1kg. She has a tricky draw of nine to overcome. However, she has the bonus of Anton Marcus up and this will be her third run of the SA Champions Season.

By David Thiselton

Ice-Machine (Nkosi Hlophe)

Ice Machine eyes first Grade 1

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The Charles Laird-trained Ice Machine can make up for last season’s hugely disappointing on course scratching by winning Saturday’s Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and there would hardly be a soul in the house who would begrudge this gallant seven-year-old Silvano gelding the victory.

Despite his brilliance, Ice Machine is yet to win a Gr 1.

Ice Machine (Nkosi Hlophe)

Ice Machine (Nkosi Hlophe)

Last year, after a scintillating victory in the IOS Drill Hall Stakes, connections were optimistic of him upsetting the like of Legislate and Futura in the Gold Challenge. He had never been better in the build up, but alas, upon arriving at the course he stepped on a stone and had to be scratched.

There are no Legislates or Futuras in this year’s field and furthermore, with the scratching of Legal Eagle, the man who knows him best, Anton Marcus, is available to ride him. On the downside he is one year older than last year and has yet another wide draw to contend with.

However, Laird said Ice Machine was “very, very well” and his preparation had gone “exceptionally well”. He just hoped there would be a decent pace and not the same crawl which had played into the hands of pacemaker New Predator in the Drill Hall Stakes. Ice Machine was dropped out from a tricky draw of seven in the latter race and ran on strongly for a two length third.

Exit Here (Nkosi Hlophe)

Exit Here (Nkosi Hlophe)

Laird has Exit Here in the Gr 2 Cup Trial over 1800m. He scratched him from the Vodacom Durban July after his disappointing run in the Gr 2 Canon Guineas. However, this will likely be in his favour as the Cup Trial is now his chief target and the yard have been able to train him up to his peak.

Laird said a line could be drawn through the Canon Guineas run as Exit Here had been asked to set ridiculously fast fractions out in front under an inexperienced rider and had not surprisingly faded in the straight.

The Jay Peg colt will appreciate the step up in trip. However, Laird felt his 103 merit rating was still harsh, despite him having been dropped two points for that last run (The Cup Trial is a handicap). He also has a wide draw of ten to contend with, but Weichong Marwing is aboard and should give him every chance.

Laird has two horses in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes for two-year-olds over 1400m.

He said Anton Marcus rated Warm White Night colt Buffalo Soldier and had always regarded him as one who would be better from 1400m up to 1600m. He jumps from a tricky draw of nine.

He finished 3,25 lengths behind Horse Guards over 1200m at Scottsville last time out in his second start, after having run on well to win over 1000m at Scottsville on debut. Horse Guards went on to disappoint in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion, but his saddle slipped, so it was not his race.

The other Laird runner in the Gatecrasher Stakes is the well-bred Silvano colt Palladium, who is a half-brother to the like of Val De Ra and Tevez. He jumped from a tricky draw over 1200m on the Greyville turf on debut and made up a lot of ground to just get up and beat the hard-knocking Rand Hedge. On that showing he should also appreciate 1400m. Laird described him as “decent”. Keagan de Melo sticks with him and they jump from a good draw of five.

David Thiselton

 

Bezanova (Nkosi Hlophe)

Bezanova loves Greyville

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Highveld-based trainer Alec Laird is having another crack at the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge with Bezanova, who finished third in this race last year.

Bezanova has been at Summerveld since May 27 and has been “doing well” ahead of the big weight for age 1600m event, which is to be run at Greyville on Saturday.

Laird pointed out the big five-year-old Bezrin gelding always did well at this time of the year and appeared to love Greyville.

Bezanova (Nkosi Hlophe)

Bezanova (Nkosi Hlophe)

The biggest win of his career came when winning the Gr 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile in November 2014 as a four-year-old. However, in his seven starts in KZN he has only failed to earn a cheque once and that was when just 3,6 lengths behind Futura in the Gr 1 Champions Cup over 1800m two years ago as a three-year-old.

He won his debut at Clairwood over 1200m as a young three-year-old, then returned from the Highveld to finish third in the Gr 2 KRA Guineas and a narrow fifth in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000. Both races were won by the subsequently-named Equus Horse Of The Year Legilsate. He ended that Champions Season with a disappointing third in the KZN Breeders Million Mile at Clairwood, followed by his unplaced run in the Champions Cup.

Last season he only had two runs in KZN. He finished a fine third in the Gold Challenge. He raced wide for quite a while after jumping from draw ten in the eleven horse field, although he did have cover most the way, and he then found himself in a handy position off a slow pace and stayed on strongly to finish just 0,9 lengths behind Legislate at odds of 66/1. He proved it to be no fluke when winning the KZN Breeders Million Mile with 59kg on his back next time out.

This year Laird had an option to run him in a Pinnacle event over either 1450m or 1800m before transporting him to Summrveld and opted for the latter as he believed building him up from 1450m to a mile in three weeks would have not have been an easy task. He confirmed he had needed that last run on May 21 when unplaced over 1800m.

Bezanova has landed a plum draw of four in a ten horse field on Saturday. It is weaker than last year’s race. He will be ridden by Stuart Randolph for the first time.

Laird has two runners in the Listed Devon Air Stakes over 1400m, Arissa, who is drawn ten, and Maleficent, who is drawn three. Maleficent by Judpot is a full-sister to Gr 1 SA Derby runner up Rocketball and will be ridden by Weichong Marwing. Laird said she seemed better than Arissa based on their homework and she proved her promise last time out when winning a maiden over this trip at the Vaal by 5,5 lengths.

By David Thiselton

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Team decision to scratch Eagle

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Sean Tarry described it as a “team decision” to scratch Legal Eagle from this Saturday’s Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and it was due to nothing more than the horse’s poor draw.

However, he added the crack gelding might still run in the Vodacom Durban July.

He said Legal Eagle would likely have had to run on from behind in the Gold Challenge at a course where the draw over a mile was usually all important. A potential blemish on his record was therefore averted by the scratching.

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

He said he was definitely fit and well enough at present to be able to take his place in the July: “He is not a big horse and does not require a lot of work.” However, he said the decision to run him in the big one might ultimately depend on the weights.

Owner Markus Jooste’s racing manager Derek Brugman will likely have the final say.

Tarry is coming off a tough week in which it was well documented he was concerned about a potential bacterial infection going around his Randjesfontein yard.

However, he believed this had nothing to do with brilliant sprinter Carry On Alice’s disappointing fifth place finish as odds-on favourite in the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint at Scottsville on Saturday.

He was firstly disappointed she had been loaded early despite her history of being restless in the gates. She had started badly and he then felt jockey S’Manga Khumalo had possibly found cover too early, and behind the wrong horses, meaning she was travelling too well in the early stages. The jockey had then been “undecided for about three or four seconds and you can’t do that in a sprint.”

By the time she was extracted from her snookered position the race was over. However, Tarry said she had not been blowing after the race and had pulled up well.

The majority of his runners on the day had run well and he said the two-year-old fillies, Visuality and Myfunnyvalentine (3rd and 4th in the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship respectively), would likely line up in the Gr 2 Golden Slipper on July day.

He said he had pointed out last week Captain’s Causeway had only been his third choice runner in the Tsogo Sun Sprint and “you can’t win Gr 1s with your third choice.” He felt he had been vindicated in the belief Buckland should have been his first accepted runner as this horse had finished just 1,8 lengths behind Talktothestars in the Gr 2 Senor Santa Stakes and would have been considerably better off in the weights in the Tsogo Sun Sprint.

Tarry said it was impossible to tell with certainty which horses had been affected by the bacterial infection and which hadn’t. However, every declared runner is being tested before their respective races and if they pass the test they run, otherwise they are scratched.

French Navy, Trip To Heaven and Prospect Strike take their places in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge on Saturday.

French Navy (JC Photos)

French Navy (JC Photos)

Tarry said, “It is a preparation run for French Navy, we freshened him up after the Champions Challenge and the mile at Greyville is a touch sharp for him, but he will be running on strongly.

“Trip To Heaven (who will have his first run as a gelding) has put up a good gallop and has his final gallop tomorrow (Tuesday). It all depends on the break as he is a funny horse at the start, but if he breaks well he will lead.

“I thought Prospect Strike’s runs in the Canon Guineas and Daily News 2000 were both good ones from poor draws, now he gets a reasonable draw and is fit and well, so we will take our chances.”

Of his two Gr 2 Cup Trial runners (1800m) he was more pleased with Gold Onyx’s run in the Betting World 1900. Both horses had been too far back in a race where the front horses weren’t stopping.

He said Gold Onyx would improve further while Halve The Deficit would be placed more handily from a plum draw and the race would give a good indication of his well-being.

Bichette, who runs in the Gr 2 Tibouchina Stakes over 1400m, disappointed the yard in a Pinnacle over 1450m last time, but that was her second run after a rest and she will now be “cherry ripe and not without a chance.”

Tarry said it was unfortunate she was drawn eight out of 12 as she liked to run handy. However, he added this was probably her best trip and a positive showing would give the yard confidence to run her in the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes on July day.

Tarry felt Side Show would be competitive in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes over 1400m after having come from strong maiden form and jumping from pole position with a weight allowance.

David Thiselton

inara lk

Tibouchina for Inara

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Mike Bass has decided to run his four-time Grade 1 winner Inara under top weight in the Tibouchina Stakes at Greyville on Saturday rather than go for the Rising Sun Gold Challenge.

Daughter Candice Robinson said: “Inara galloped last week and she worked well. She has raced at Greyville before (in last year’s KRA Fillies Guineas, Woolavington and Garden Province) but she wasn’t at her best then so we will have to see how she handles it.”

Grant van Niekerk again takes the mount while Bernard Fayd’Herbe will team up with Cape Fillies Guineas winner Silver Mountain for the second time in this seven furlong test. Bass runs Paterfamilias (Van Niekerk) in the Gold Challenge but Helderberg Blue will miss the Cup Trial.

The stable, buoyed by Fly By Night’s return to form at Scottsville, also had the satisfaction of seeing Whose That Girl make up for her March disappointment by responding to Robert Khathi’s urgings to get up on the line in Saturday’s Kenilworth Maiden Juvenile.

“She was feeling her shins quite a bit last time and she didn’t really travel as a result but she still needs to mature a bit more,” Mrs Robinson reported.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe turned his back on the big bucks at Scottsville to stay loyal to his Ridgemont retainer and he was rewarded with success on joint top weight Make It Raine in the Place Your Bets Handicap even if the pens proved a fraught affair.

He related: “I knew I was in a bit of trouble – she was obviously still thinking about the bad experience she had last time – and she tried to flip over with me.”

Ridgemont manager Craig Carey added: “She is a little hot and, while I like them to have a bit of fire if they are going to go to stud, we will have to keep an eye on her temperament. She also has a breathing problem – you can hear it when she works on the track. It’s no problem racing on the straight course but I don’t know how it would affect her if she goes 1 400m.”

Fayd’Herbe was also riding for Brett Crawford when he was at the centre of the action in the mile maiden. His mount Navasha started a prohibitive 9-20 and looked like overhauling the pace-setting Dontknowhy only to falter in the closing stages and go down by a short head.

Her rider promptly lodged an objection and the close-circuit suggested he might get it but, as so often, you had to see the boardroom head-on to really tell what happened. Brandon May switched his whip from his right hand to his left and his mount promptly began to hang away from it. She moved two or three metres to her right and in the process her quarters twice slammed against those of the favourite like a wet sail in a gale.

The stipes had little hesitation in reversing the placings and in suspending May for a week (June 5-11). He and Darryl Hodgson had some compensation when Ocean’s Swell won two races later but the apprentice was promptly back in the boardroom, this time to be fined a grand for celebrating before the line.

Table Bay could be under consideration for the Langerman on June 25 after proving much too good in the 1 400m Juvenile Plate with Donovan Dillon predicting: “I think he will go a long way. He is getting better and better.”

Captain Bagg, who usually makes the running, benefitted from a switch to waiting tactics under Grant Behr in the Itsarush.co.za Handicap – although the change was not by design. “Normally we can’t stop him going to the front but this time there was a pace and he settled,” explained Eric Sands.

It was disturbing to see three horses having to be scratched from the last because there weren’t enough jockeys available but that didn’t worry Paul Reeves who took over Grant Knowles’s Declarator from Shane Humby a month ago, slapped on a pair of blinkers and let Richard Fourie do the rest.

Michael Clower

Silver Mountain (Kenilworth Racing)

Tibouchina next for Silver Mountain

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Silver Mountain will take her chance in the Tibouchina Stakes at Greyville on Saturday week and her performance there will determine how long she stays in KZN.

The Mike Bass-trained Cape Fillies Guineas winner was originally to have run in last Saturday’s Woolavington but Candice Robinson said: “We are not 100% sure that she gets 2 000m and, had we run her, we might not have learned anything.

“She hasn’t been thriving in Durban and we will bring her back home to Cape Town if she doesn’t run well in the Tibouchina.”

Silver Mountain, fourth in the Cape Guineas, only managed sixth behind Bela-Bela when odds-on for the Daisy Fillies Guineas earlier this month. That was her first start since beating all except Illuminator in the CTS Million Dollar in January.

Michael Clower

Dean Kannemeyer & Lady Christine Laidlaw

Solid Speed on familiar path

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History has been given a chance of repeating itself in more ways than one after the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Solid Speed’s win of the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 on Friday night at Greyville.

Kannemeyer arrived in KZN without a serious Vodacom Durban July horse last season and ended up winning it with Power King.

Solid Speed, thought previously to be more of a Gold Cup horse, now has a chance of repeating the dose and jockey Anthony Delpech said after the race, “He is definitely a July horse and with a chance.”

However, pressed on whether he wanted the ride, he obviously stalled.

Delpech, as a high profile jockey who has won the July a record equalling four times and has a normal riding weight of just 53,5kg, will be spoilt for choice.

The ruling 9/2 favourite with Betting World, Black Arthur, is likely first choice in his mind at present.

However, Solid Speed has shortened from 20/1 into 10/1 and is best priced of the older horses alongside initial favourite Legal Eagle, whose participation is up in the air.

Solid Speed (Nkosi Hlophe)

Solid Speed (Nkosi Hlophe)

Solid Speed was one of the best weighted horses under Friday night’s conditions and under the new handicapping guidelines looks likely to be raised only three points to a merit rating of 106.

That was the exact mark Power King won the July off. As things stand he will, like Power King, scrape into the handicap with the minimum weight for an older male of 53kg.

The final history-repeating fact is Solid Speed’s colours, the same as Power King’s.

Owner Lady Christine Laidlaw was not on course on Friday night, but could perhaps have been watching from Cape Town. Power King’s ears might have pricked at any celebratory cheers as he is now enjoying his retirement on Lady Laidlaw’s Goede Hoop estate in Noordhoek.

It was a fine ride by Delpech. Dynamic had been expertly slotted in by Grant van Niekerk from a wide draw, while the fast early pace had also allowed Delpech to ease inward from draw 9. He sat behind Dynamic one wide in midfield.

However, coming up the hill he switched his mount outward, due to the pace slowing “and he has such a big stride”. It might have been a race-winning move because he was able to enter the straight with plenty of momentum and steal a march on Dynamic. The latter looked to have no excuses 2,15 lengths back in third and like last year it will be touch and go whether he qualifies for the big race.

The Conglomerate (Nkosi Hlophe)

The Conglomerate (Nkosi Hlophe)

 

The runner up St Tropez ran in strongly from near the back and can be considered a touch unlucky. The stipendiaries called a review after Solid Speed had hung outward, but not surprisingly no further action was taken. However, although St. Tropez’s momentum or stride was not affected, he did have to change course slightly and was only beaten a neck.

It was a fine come back run for St Tropez, who being by Silvano will likely be coming into his own as a four-year-old. He has always had class and has duly shortened from 55/1 to 14/1 in the July betting. However, if raised the likely two points to 101 he will, as things stand, be officially 2,5kg under sufferance in the July.

The Conglomerate was also expertly ridden by Anton Marcus in the early stages which allowed him to slot in behind Solid Speed from a wide draw.

He plugged on steadily in the straight, finishing 2,2 lengths back in fourth, and looks likely to appreciate the step up in trip in the July. He was 0,5kg under sufferance with Dynamic and might possibly be given a one point raise to 102, but this will still leave him 2kg under sufferance in the July as things stand. Nevertheless, he shortened in the betting from 14/1 to 12/1.

It Is Written had every chance in finishing a 2,45 length fifth and King Of Pain also had few excuses 2,95 lengths back in sixth.

Master Switch and Greek Legend were likely ridden too handy in the overall fast-paced race to be at their most effective and were disappointing in sixth and seventh respectively.

Dynamic, meanwhile, has shortened from 125/1 into 25/1 for the July and this is the same price as an earlier impressive winner on the card, Paterfamilias.

However, Mike Bass’ assistant trainer Robert Fayd’Herbe had his doubts Paterfamilias, whose issues have been helped at Summerveld by the use of the Equi-Spa, would line up for the big race as he still had plenty of other options for this season and next. The Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge will be his chief aim this season.

Fayd’Herbe added Silver Mountain was found to have had a few niggles with her feet after her disappointing Daisy Fillies Guineas run, but had recovered well. However, he said she would likely avoid the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 in favour of the Tibouchina over 1400m, so the July looks likely to no longer be on her radar. This makes sense as Nightingale will be a huge runner in the Woolavington and is doing well at Summerveld.

The most impressive July trial of the weekend was undoubtedly by the Bass-trained Marinaresco, who won the Gr 3 Winter Classic over 1800m easing up and he has duly shortened to 8/1 second favourite.

Neil Bruss has a high regard for his filly Deputy Ryder, who won Friday night’s Listed East Cost Cup, and even entered her for the July. She looks one to follow in the staying features and will be a big runner in the Track and Ball Oaks.

The two-year-old winners on Friday night, the Mike de Kock-trained Misty Birnam and the Dennis Drier-trained Sail, caught the eye. Drier said Sail was likely to avoid Scottsville in favour of the Golden Slipper on July day.

By David Thiselton

Baritone (Nkosi Hlophe)

New route for Baritone

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Justin Snaith has scratched the Byerley Turk runner up Baritone from the Vodacom Durban July following his disappointing Canon Guineas run last Friday night, but is upbeat about his respective Canon Guineas and Daisy Guineas winners Black Arthur and Bela-Bela.

He said Baritone had pulled up a bit “jarred up” and had also “choked up” due to the pressure of the tight finish in a fast run race.

The current restrictions placed on travel back to Cape Town, due to a recent case of African Horse Sickness (AHS) in the AHS Surveillance Zone, means Baritone has no option but to stay put in KZN.

Snaith said the Trippi colt would be monitored before a new route was decided upon. He believed there would be a question mark over the Daily News 2000 trip, but would nominate him for the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and check how strong the field was before accepting.

Otherwise a race like the Listed Darley Arabian over 1600m on the poly on Super Saturday could be an option.

Black Arthur has been accorded a 106 merit rating and Bela-Bela 107.

As things stand this would see them in the July with the minimum respective weights for three-year-olds of 53kg for a male and 52kg for a filly, although Black Arthur would officially be 2kg under sufferance and Bela-Bela 0,5kg under sufferance.

Snaith said a lot of thought would have to be put into planning their SA Champions season routes from here but added, “The main thing is they have both pulled up out of their races in fantastic shape.”

By David Thiselton

Picture: Baritone (Nkosi Hlophe)