Category Archives: Gold Medallion

Grade 1 Jackpot of sprints

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Sprinting stars from around the country will thrill the crowds at the annual festival of speed, the Tsogo Sun Sprint day at Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday that boasts the only official Grade 1 Jackpot in the country.

The R1-million, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint tops the bill supported by the R600 000, Grade 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint and the two R600 000, Grade 1 clashes for juveniles, the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and the Allan Robertson Championship – all four races over the testing 1 200m trip.

Fields for the races have been confined to 14 runners and with the inside rail being brought in some four metres to eliminate the alleged better going down the inside, racing is expected to be fairer for all runners on the day.

While the flying filly Carry On Alice will be seen by many as the banker of the day when she bids to complete the race double in the City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint having beaten Alboran Sea in the race last year, very competitive fields have been received for the three other events and racing should be hard, fast and exciting.

Carry On Alice won the Computaform Sprint at the end of April and under the weight-for-age conditions of Saturday’s race the Sean Tarry superstar looks very hard to beat.

Things are different, however, in the Tsogo Sun Sprint where the Computaform Sprint runner-up Talktothestars and third-placed Barbosa will lock horns again with the Dennis Drier-trained Barbosa being 4kg better off with Coenie de Beer’s charge for a four lengths beating recently at Turffontein. However Barbosa now has the “home town” advantage, things could be very close between them.

Adding to the interest in the race will be the return of former Tsogo Sun Sprint winner Red Ray from the Joey Ramsden stable that makes his re-appearance in this country after a two-year break during which he campaigned overseas.

In the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion, Drier will be out to secure his seventh win in the juvenile race and his fifth on the trot. He races the Horse Chestnut colt Horse Guards that won impressively by five lengths on debut on the polytrack at Greyville. He meets some smart young horses including the Var colt Rivarine from the Mike Azzie stable that was beaten into second place in the SA Nursery at Turffontein by the exciting Tarry-trained filly Cloth Of Cloud.

Also likely to produce a strong challenge is the Mike Azzie trained Oomph. The Tiger Ridge colt has demolished his opposition by more than three lengths in each of his races to date.

In the Allan Robertson Championship, Cloth Of Cloud is likely to be all the rage on her beating of the male opposition in the SA Nursery. She will be up against the winner of the SA Fillies Nursery winner Fursa from the Mike de Kock stable as well as the Tarry-trained Captain Al filly Myfunnyvalentine that ran second with the top young filly from the Cape, the Vaughan Marshall trained daughter of Captain Al, The Secret Is Out, a talented addition to the mix. The Secret Is Out has cruised home in both her races including the Strelitzia Stakes at Scottsville last time out and is expected to be a major player in this race.

The stage is set and the star cast is ready for what should be a fabulous day of Grade 1 racing on Tsogo Sun Sprint Raceday at Scottsville on Saturday, a meeting not to be missed.

Red Chesnut Road (Nkosi Hlophe)

Red Chesnut ruled out

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Racing industry persons of all walks were watching the “public” section of the SA Horse Racing website with keen interest yesterday morning and the most notable scratching from Saturday’s big Scottsville Festival Of Speed meeting was the impressive Robbie Hill-trained Red Chesnut Road.

Hill said after withdrawing the unbeaten colt from the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion, “He has an abscess on his hoof. There are a lot of disappointed people, but it is what it is, we couldn’t run him.”

Hill has no doubt the blinkered Highlands Farm Stud-bred Pathfork colt will stay up to a mile, so he will still have two more big race opportunities this season, the Gr 2 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m and the Gr 1 Premiers Champions Stakes over 1600m.

Red Chesnut Road had looked likely to be the meeting banker on Saturday as no other juvenile male had come close to creating the impression he had in his respective 7,75 length and 6,25 length romps in a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m and in the Gr 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes over 1100m, both at Scottsville, respectively.

Red Chesnut Road (Nkosi Hlophe)

Red Chesnut Road (Nkosi Hlophe)

However, the Gold Medallion has now been thrown wide open.

It would be a brave man to bet against the unbeaten Horse Guards as he represents the Dennis Drier yard, who have won five of the last six renewals of the Gold Medallion.

However, the most interesting entry is the Tiger Ridge colt Oomph, who has won all three of his races in Port Elizabeth with consummate ease, all of them over 1200m and one of them being a Listed event.

He has been bought out of the Alan Greeff yard by SA Triple Crown-winning owners Adriaan and Rika van Vuuren and will be saddled by their trainer Mike Azzie. However, his regular pilot Aldo Domeyer remains aboard.

The Mike de Kock-trained Australian-bred by More Than Ready, Act Of Loyalty, is another interesting entry as he beat a moderate field on debut over 1200m at the Vaal a lot more comfortably than the 0,2 length margin suggests and looks to have plenty of scope for improvement.

Corne Spies has shrewdly declared his classy filly Seattle Singer to face the boys in this race instead of pitting her against the like of The Seecret Is Out, who would have had her held, in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship for fillies. To date she has been runner up in three stakes race, including two Gr 3s. As a maiden she had weight allowances in all of them, but when she did get off the mark last time out in a Maiden she did it in impressive style, getting the better of a ding-dong tussle with the Mike de Kock-trained Ektifaa over 1200m at the Vaal with the rest of the field nine lengths back. She will receive a 2,5kg gender allowance on Saturday.

Vaughan Marshall has a good record at the festival Of Speed meeting and has Captain Al colt Always In Charge involved, a facile winner of his maiden at Kenilworth and the form has worked out well.

Sean Tarry has had a magnificent season with his two-year-olds and Red Rock is his representative, although at first sight he will have to improve on his last run when only managing a well beaten fifth in the Gr 3 Godolphin Barb.

Azzie also has the promising Var colt Rivarine in the race. He was a 0,9 length runner up to the classy filly Cloth Of Cloud in the Gr 1 SA Nursery with the rest of the field well beaten.

The Kumaran Naidoo-trained Godolphin Barb runner up Over Sure is one of only two KZN-trained horses in the race.

Dean Kannemeyer has entered Paperback Writer, whose form isn’t too inspiring, but this will only be his third start and as a superbly bred horse, by Var out of an Elliodor Gr 1 SA Fillies Guineas runner up, he could still prove himself worthy.

Brett Warren will saddle the classy Rebel King colt Sporting Monarch, who won easily on debut and was then narrowly beaten by the promising British Royale, to whom he was giving 5kg, second time out over 1000m with the rest of the field in a different province.

By David Thiselton

r horse guards

Horse Guards could be the one

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It has been a long wait to single out Dennis Drier’s chief Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion contender this season. But, yesterday’s first race winner at Scottsville, Horse Guards, could be the one.

Drier has won five of the last six runnings of the Medallion and the Horse Chestnut colt looked the real deal when powering home to win yesterday’s Juvenile Plate by 2,25 lengths under stable jockey Sean Veale despite carrying a 3kg penalty for his debut win.

The second race over 1200m was won in fine start-to finish style by the Duncan Howells-trained Muzi Yeni-ridden Toreador filly Blaze Of Mystery, who also carried a 3kg penalty for a win, and Howells said she was “underdone”, so should do even better in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship, although she will face a strong field there.

However, the most eyecatching winner on the card was possibly the Alistair Gordon-trained Royal Life. The talented gelding fought most of the way on the quarters of the leader Mountain Master in the fifth over 1600m, but still bounded away to win easily under apprentice Eric Saziso Ngwane and is now one to follow.

The Garth Puller-trained Asstar later downed Guiness and Tar Heel in a 1000m Pinnacle event and it will be interesting to see whether he is supplemented for the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Horse Guards (Nkosi Hlophe)

Born To Rule (Nkosi Hlophe)

Moving in the right direction

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In a concerted effort to eliminate any possible “crowding” on the inside rail, and to ensure a fair winning opportunity for all,  Gold Circle has taken the decision to limit the fields of the four Grade 1 Sprints at the Tsogo Sun Sprint Carnival Raceday to 14 runners and to bring in the far side rail by 4 metres. The famous Jackpot of Grade 1 sprints is set to take place at Scottsville Racecourse on Saturday, 4 June and entries are due this coming Friday, 20 May 2016.

Born To Rule (Nkosi Hlophe)

Born To Rule (Nkosi Hlophe)

“There is no doubt that moving the inside rail has resulted in much fairer racing,” said Gold Circle Racing Executive Raf Sheik. “We want to do everything we can on this day to ensure the integrity of our Grade 1 races and eliminating the perceived better going on the inside goes a long way to achieving this,” he added.

While the decision to limit the fields to fourteen runners may be met with dissatisfaction in some quarters, there is no doubt that the move will be welcomed by the majority of riders. Anthony Delpech was quoted recently as saying, “with the rail moved in by four or five metres, racing down the straight is a pleasure much fairer for all concerned. Draws are no longer a major factor and interference has been minimised.”

rock on baby nh

Rock On Baby has talent

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Trainer and jockey comments for Scottsville today

Dennis Drier is expecting a good run from Rock On Baby (4th race), a talented sprinter who was found to be coughing after her disappointing last start in the Gr 2 WSB Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m at Kenilworth five months ago.

Drier has won five of the last six runnings of the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and the public are still waiting for his contender for this year’s renewal, so all eyes will be on Seventh Rock colt Rocky Valley in the first over 1000m. Drier said, “He should run a nice race.” He is out of the fair sprinter by Mogok, Valley Of Rubies, who finished runner up in the Gr 3 Sycamore Sprint. He is owned by Markus Jooste, whose retained rider Anton Marcus will however be aboard the Charles Laird-trained Buffalo Soldier, who is by Warm White Night out of a USA-bred dam who hasn’t produced much to date. However, Laird has a fine record with first-timers so the betting should be watched closely.

Drier said the first-timer Anime in the second race would probably need the run. However, she is well bred being by Count Dubois out of Gr 2 KZN Guineas winner Rei Rei, so can’t be discounted.

Drier said it is about time Lighting The Fire, who runs in the fifth race over 1400m, “lit his fire” and he at least seems to be back down to a competitive merit rating and is over a suitable trip so can’t be ignored.

Warren Kennedy spoke on behalf of the Gavin Van Zyl yard and said, “Qatar Springs (7th over 2400m) is doing very well and has beaten all of these horses before. He stays well and should win.

Bagger Vance (5th) is one of my better rides on the day, he has the weight turnaround with Never Settle and should be there.

Northern Storm ran a cracker on debut. There was a lot of talk about Rebel Rose on debut (the Wendy Whitehead-trained filly duly finished second to an odds on shot) and she could be the one to beat, but if you go on times Northern Storm is ahead of her. It’s a difficult race and there are a lot of first-timers too but Northern Storm should be in the first three.

Cronological (3rd race) made a decent comeback but what you see is what you get, she is a struggler. Hello Mah also runs here but the 1000m is too short for her.

Lil Red a Rooster (1st race) has to improve.

Captain At Sea (8th) is a smart colt, but is drawn high on debut. It’s a weak field though and he has a quartet chance.”

Dennis Bosch was bullish about Lavender Bank and gave all his other runners chances too.

He said, “Lavender Bank will run a good race (3rd race – Anton Marcus retains the ride after she was backed to 9/20 on debut but ran green around the turn on the poly, although she still ran an eyecatching race to finish a staying on 1,3 length fourth).”

Bosch continued, “Regardstobroadway (4th) has always been talented but wasn’t being ridden correctly and is now being ridden the right way.”

He said Your Worship (7th) was also not given a good ride last time. However, the blinkers are back on and Delpech is aboard so he expected a decent run.

Bosch also expected a decent run from the sprinter Shezaleader (4th) too and this filly certainly loves the Scottsville straight.

By David Thiselton

Captain Alfredo (Nkosi Hlophe)

Planning for speed

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If you think racehorse trainers are a bunch of clowns, forget it! The successful ones, like five-star generals, know the strength of their troops and plan a campaign accordingly – no blood is shed but a few rands may be!

For most of the year races are spread like globs of butter, marge if you don’t fancy Prof Tim Noakes’s recommendations, with ‘feature days’ the flavour, but South Africa’s Champion’s Season is unique in that it crams some of the country’s most important races into a three-month frenzy and with those races in mind trainers plot for months.

Captain Alfredo (Nkosi Hlophe)

Captain Alfredo (Nkosi Hlophe)

Scottsville’s Festival of Speed is the pinnacle of the sprint racing calendar and with four Gr1 events settled on one afternoon and likely make-or-break for the year-end Equus Awards, the first Saturday in June is cut-throat.

The Gr1 Tsogo Sun, being handicap, has its detractors but given that past winners who retire with their crown jewels intact have a good record at stud it is a race that amounts to more than just a winner’s cheque.

With the new handicap conditions in place one needs to be a boring mathematician to work out the mechanics of the weights – and most punters couldn’t give a damn anyway. But while numbers may take you to a point in handicapping they do not transcend the perceived ability of an individual. As legendary race-caller Trevor Denman commented after American Pharoah wrapped up the Triple Crown in America, handicappers were so busy with the numbers that they forgot just how good the horse was and went against him.

Captain Alfredo stamped himself a strong contender for the Gr1 Tsogo Sun as did runner-up Captain Causeway in the Listed In Full Flight Stakes at Scottsville on Sunday but as alluded to, good generals plan their attack and Captain Alfredo, as strong as his formline suggests, will find the Tsogo Sun a much tougher assignment.

Possibly of more interest are the Gr1 Alan Robertson Championship and the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Medallion.

Exquisite Touch ran well below her earlier form in the SA Fillies Nursery at Turffontein on Saturday and barring anything untoward she must be given the benefit of the doubt if indeed she takes her place in the Alan Robertson.

Red Chesnut Road (Nkosi Hlophe)

Red Chesnut Road (Nkosi Hlophe)

After her SA Nursery win, Sean Tarry set last Saturday’s Computaform Sprint winner Carry On Alice the task of the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Medallion where she came up just short. Given that Carry On Alice came from possibly the best three-year-old crop of fillies ever, Cloth Of Cloud could find the males a touch stronger – also given that she runs in the Medallion.

Moreover, her antics approaching the finish are of concern and given the tricky Scottsville track any hesitation before the line will cost her.

The Gold Medallion form is up in the air after Cloth Of Cloud put one over the speedy Riverine in the Nursery and some exciting KZN runners have emerged.

Robbie Hill’s charge Red Chesnut Road has simply destroyed the opposition in his two starts but given the strength of the Godolphin Barbs Stakes field the form needs to be taken with a pinch of salt even though Rob’s Jewel, close-up in a Highveld feature and a subsequent winner, was soundly beaten fourth.

Gio Ponti’s Legacy, in the Godolphin pack, did Secret Captain’s form no favours but Duncan’s Howell’s charge won so well that one can possibly add four or five lengths onto that showing.

In all it does well to sum up what’s on the horizon for a bit of an edge.

By Andrew Harrison

drier site

Respect Drier’s juveniles

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Dennis Drier has won six Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallions, including five of the last six runnings, and punters and pundits have become used to scrutinising his Juvenile race results at this time of the year.

However, the Summerveld-based maestro trainer is even better known for bringing the best out of older horses, with the amazing mare Beach Beauty being the best example, and his six-year-old gelding Barbosa has blossomed this season from a useful top division handicapper into a Gr 1 World Sports Betting Computaform Sprint candidate. A former Medallion winner of Drier’s, Guinness, has also been entered for the WSB Computaform Sprint but will not be ready in time, so will not be making the journey to Turffontein. The WSB Computaform Sprint will be run on Champions Day, April 30.

Drier admitted his Juvenile runners to date this year had not shown Medallion credentials.

However, he was hopeful a couple could still emerge, so his two-year-old first-timers should be watched closely in the next few weeks.

A Western Winter colt called Apres Ski he has entered in a 1200m Maiden Juvenile Plate at Scottsville this Drier-siteSunday has a most interesting pedigree.

Western Winter is known for the speed he imparts and has produced Medallion winners Ice Cube (2003) and Warm White Night (2008).

Apres Ski’s dam is the Fort Wood mare Topless Towers, who won only one race over 1600m, but she is a half-sister to the Gavin van Zyl-trained Horse Chestnut filly Banbury, who won the Gr 3 Fillies Mile. Topless Towers has to date produced the useful Mike Azzie-trained filly Peep Show, a Listed-winning five-time winner from 1400-1450m. Topless Towers’ dam is Lady Helen, a twice Graded runner up, who is a daughter of the outstanding broodmare Lady Shirley Bird. Lady Helen is therefore a half-sister to dual Gr 1 winner Lord Shirldor, Gr 2 winners Dog Rose and Kestrel, and Listed winner Maximum Power. Lady Shirley Bird’s female descendants have been prolific stakes-producing broodmares. Apres Ski looks likely to have the speed to be competitive over 1200m and the stamina reserves to cope with the tough Scottsville finishing hill. On pedigree he might well be full of class. His owners Nicholas Jonsson and Dr NIcholas Labuschagne will likely be awaiting Sunday’s race eagerly.

Meanwhile, Drier is very happy with Barbosa.  The Captain Al gelding has won all of his last four attempts at the 1000m trip of the Computaform Sprint and has done it in impressive fashion.

However, KZN form has become a bit questionable of late. On the other hand, one horse who has put his hand up for the province is the Michael Roberts-trained Computaform Sprint entry Muscatt. He recently broke the Scottsville 1000m course record and followed up by beating two horses with good Cape Town form, Captain Alfredo and the Drier-trained Gr 2 Cape Merchants winner Triptique. Therefore, it is interesting to note Barbosa has defeated Muscatt no fewer than six times in his career and has been on the receiving end only twice. Barbosa has also given chunks of weight away to Muscatt in their last four clashes and beaten him every time. However, it has to be said Muscatt appears to have blossomed in the Roberts yard and the pair’s ninth career clash at Turffontein will be no foregone conclusion. Furthermore, the like of Carry On Alice and Trip Tease are going to be tough nuts to crack.

By David Thiselton

alboran sea nh

Alboran Sea retired after injury

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The Mike de Kock-trained three-time Gr 1-winning sprinter Alboran Sea has been retired after sustaining a knee chip when running second in Saturday’s Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint and will be covered by another former De Kock-trained star Soft Falling Rain in the forthcoming breeding sason.

Meanwhile, two of De Kock’s star two-year-old fillies Entisaar and Shaama are also unlikely to run again this season.

De Kock said that the connections of Australian-bred three-year-old Alboran Sea would not be considering operating on the knee and bringing her back to racing. Firstly, her local record, in which she won the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship over 1200m as a two-year-old and two weight for age Gr 1 Sprints over 1000m this season, the Betting World Cape Flying Championship and the Computaform Sprint, could hardly be improved upon and any further wins would not increase her already high stud value. Secondly, an overseas campaign has been ruled out due to the arduous five month journey via Mauritius and Europe that has to be undertaken to campaign horses in places like Dubai.

De Kock said he had suspected something had been amiss on Saturday when the Rock Of Gibraltar filly had not gone through with her effort in her normal fashion. She had been in a position to challenge the eventual winner Carry On Alice, but had made little impression and only just managed to hold on for second, which was still a fine effort considering she had to come from an unfavourable high draw.

Shaama had earlier started favourite for the Allan Robertson but disappointed, running a well beaten seventh, and she was found to have pulled up lame on her off fore, so will be given the rest of the season off.

The Allan Robertson winner Entisaar has pulled up well but De Kock believes she has done enough this season, having also won the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery, and he is also not convinced she will stay much further than sprint distances so she “will be put on ice”.

His Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion fourth-placed Muwaary “wants to go the Derby distance”, being by the classic producing sire O’Reilly. De Kock is “not in a hurry” to run him again this season as he is an immature sort, but he might consider running him in the Gr 1 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m on Vodacom Durban July day and/or the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes on Super Saturday provided he drew well.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Alboran Sea (Nkosi Hlophe)

 

Seventh Plain (Nkosi Hlophe)

Golden Horseshoe next for Seventh Plain

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The big Klawervlei Stud-bred colt Seventh Plain used his long stride to pull clear of the field in the latter stages of the Gold Medallion. He should get the 1400m of the Gr 1 Golden Horseshoe  on July day and that will be his next mission.

The connections of runner up Redcarpet Captain, another who flew the Captain Al flag on the day, believe he will be better over 1400m and third-placed Prospect Strikes also stayed on very well from a tough draw. Fourth-placed Muwaary faded late and jockey Anthony Delpech said that the bump he took at the start had not significantly affected him.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Seventh Plain (Nkosi Hlophe)

Seventh Plain (Nkosi Hlophe)

Drier’s medallion

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Dennis Drier and owners Markus and Ingrid Jooste have gained something of a stranglehold on the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion. Owners and trainer teamed up for the third year in succession as the son of Seventh Rock, himself a winner of this race back in 2007 for the Joostes, Anton Marcus and Charles Laird, scored  comfortably leaving Redcarpet Captain, Prospect Strike and Muwaary fighting over the scraps.

Drier always had the race tagged. “Don’t worry Ant, the hill will get them,” were his only instructions to Marcus who also boasts an exemplary record in the race. The words proved prophetic.

Marcus tracked the early pace set by Just Africa and was never in trouble. As the race got towards the sweaty end, Muwaary and Seventh Plain moved in together for the kill but Muwaary’s challenge was short lived as Seventh Plain, with Marcus just flapping the reins and flashing the whip in encouragement to keep the colt honest, quickened away to win comfortably. Redcarpet Captain stuck doggedly to his guns up the inside and stayed on gamely to hold off Prospect Strike with Muwaary emptying out but still a close-up fourth.

By Andrew Harrison

Picture: Seventh Plain (Nkosi Hlophe)