Category Archives: VDJ

St Tropez (Nkosi Hlophe)

Relief after Eagle is withdrawn

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Many jockeys will have breathed a sigh of relief when the worst kept secret in racing was confirmed early yesterday morning with the news that Legal Eagle was scratched from the Vodacom Durban July. His scratching means that all the weights will be increased by 2,5kg.

Sean Tarry had indicated as early as April, after Legal Eagle had won the Premier’s Champions Challenge, that the July was not on the gelding’s agenda. But Tarry played a smart tactical game by leaving Legal Eagle in the mix until after the weights had been published on Tuesday and it was only a matter of when he played his trump card.

If Tarry had scratched Legal Eagle before publication of the weights his other runner, French Navy, would have been allotted top weight of 60kg but all the three-year-olds, barring Abashiri would have been set to carry 53kg.

By leaving Legal Eagle in until after publication of the weights, French Navy still goes up to 60kg but the three-year-olds copped another 2,5kg and this means that all of the three-year-old males with the exception of Abashiri will carry 55,5kg including ruling favourite Black Arthur giving those runners who match their handicap rating a big advantage over their younger rivals.

The bottom weight horses will carry 54,5kg and this includes three-year-old filly Bela-Bela.

However, even though the weights have been bumped up, of the three-year-olds only Abashiri is not under sufferance.

What the increase in weights does do is open the field for the jockeys as most of the senior riders were unlikely to make 53kg.

St Tropez (Nkosi Hlophe)

St Tropez (Nkosi Hlophe)

One jockey who will be particularly relieved is Anton Marcus although he was likely privy to what was on the cards. With Legal Eagle out and the weights increased, he now has the option on six Markus and Ingrid Jooste owned horses in Rabada, Deo Juvente, The Conglomerate, Disco Al, St Tropez and Rainy Day Blues, not all certain to get a run however, but St Tropez his most likely choice.

Also scratched yesterday were the Tarry-trained Prospect Strike and Jubilee Line, leaving Mike de Kock in the unfamiliar position of having only a single entry, namely the filly The Centenary, whose chances of making the July will hang on her winning the G3 Gold Circle Oaks at Scottsville on Sunday and even that may not be enough.

With bookmakers probably already having already factored in the likely withdrawal of Legal Eagle, there were only marginal changes to the betting with Black Arthur shortening half-a-point to 7-2 and French Navy steady at 7-1.

Latest ante-post betting for the R4.5million Gr1 Vodacom Durban July to be run at Greyville on Saturday, July 2:

7-2 Black Arthur, 6-1 Marinaresco, 7-1 French Navy, 15-2 Bela-Bela, 11-1 Abashiri, It’s My Turn, 13-1 Solid Speed, St Tropez, 14-1 Mambo Mime, Rabada, 25-1 Deo Juvente, Dynamic, 28-1 Rocketball, Master Sabina, 30-1 Ten Gun Salute, The Conglomerate, Trophy Wife, 35-1 Negroamaro, 50-1 Samurai Blade, 66-1 Balance Sheet, Saratoga Dancer, Judicial, 80-1 New Predator, 100-1 and upwards others.

Andrew Harrison

Silver Mountain (Liesl King)

Silver Mountain stays in KZN

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Mike Bass’s Cape Fillies Guineas winner Silver Mountain is to stay on in Durban for the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province on Vodacom July day following her return to form in last Saturday’s Tibouchina Stakes.

Candice Robinson said yesterday: “Silver Mountain was unlucky not to win the Tibouchina. She was badly squeezed shortly after the start and nearly fell. She ended up at the back and chasing wide before the turn.”

Silver Mountain, who would have returned to Cape Town had she not run well, was beaten little more than a head by Alexis. Mrs Robinson confirmed that fourth-placed Inara will also be in the Garden Province line-up.

The stable’s July second favourite Marinaresco joined the rest of the Bass KZN string on Sunday after a 24-hour journey from Cape Town.

Michael Clower

Legal Eagle out, weights move up

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Topweight Legal Eagle has been scratched from the Vodacom Durban July the day after the publishing of the weights.

French Navy, who was originally set to carry 57,5kg, will become the new topweight carrying 60kg and all of the other weights will be dragged up accordingly by 2,5kg.

SA Triple Crown hero Abashiri will now carry 59kg.

However, his weight relative to other horses will not have changed and he will in fact still be the only three-year-old in the race who is not under sufferance.

The bottom weight horses will carry 54,5kg and this includes the fancied three-year-old filly Bela-Bela.

All of the three-year-old males with the exception of Abashiri will carry 55,5kg and this includes the ruling favourite Black Arthur.

David Thiselton

Maleficent (Nkosi Hlophe)`

Slipper next for Maleficent

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J&B Met-winning trainer Alec Laird believed he had landed a bargain when securing Judpot filly Maleficent for R160,000 at the Bloodstock SA Val De Vie Sale last year and she proved it at Greyville on Saturday when winning the Listed Devon Air Stakes over 1400m in fine style to give her regular rider Weichong Marwing the first leg of a feature race double.

Maleficent (Nkosi Hlophe)`

Maleficent (Nkosi Hlophe)

Her value had already been made greater recently by her full-brother Rocketball, who came close to upsetting Triple Crown hero Abashiri in the Gr 1 SA Derby before finishing a decent fourth in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000.

Maleficent ran green almost throughout on Saturday, but still managed to beat the always handy Querari Falcon by 3,25 lengths, an amazing margin considering how long she took to get going.

She is unbeaten in two starts over 1400m, having lost narrowly on debut over 1200m, and has put a total of 8,75 lengths between herself and the opposition.

Laird said, “She is a strong girl.”

He added she would likely line up for the Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper over 1400m on Vodacom Durban July day and he would play it by ear from there.

Laird won the colt’s equivalent of that race, the Durban Golden Horseshoe, with another progeny of Judpot, Forest Indigo, in 2013.

Both events have been downgraded from Gr 1 to Gr 2 this year.

Maleficent, who is owned by Chris Gerber and was bred by Shirluck Stud, has landed a plum draw of two among the 28 nominations for the Golden Slipper.

By David Thiselton

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Mac on July mission

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Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner Mac De Lago returned to trainer Weiho Marwing’s Ashburton yard after his victory at Greyville on Saturday and the latter will monitor how he comes out of the race before making the next move in his Vodacom Durban July preparation.

Marwing pulled off a fine training feat as the race, which Mac De Lago was awarded in the boardroom after going down by a short-head, was the horse’s return from a fourth place finish in the tough Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge run over 2000m at Turffontein on April 30.

The four-year-old Australian-bred Encosta De Lago gelding had travelled down from Johannesburg last Thursday and one of the decisions to be made will be whether the horse remains at Ashburton to train for the July or returns to Johannesburg.

The recently crowned champion workrider Sam Mosia will be there to ride him every day in routine work, no matter which training centre he is prepared out of.

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Marwing said, “Sam is very loyal, he’s been working for me for the past ten to twelve years, he’s the only guy I really let ride Mac De Lago at home and he gets on with him like a house on fire.”

Also of importance to the progressive bay’s July chances will be the handicapper’s assessment of Saturday’s weight for age race.

Mac De Lago had previously run in ten Graded races without a win and this was without doubt the best performance of his career.

His merit rating will likely be raised significantly from its current mark of 107. The possible line horses are the next four in the running, 113-merit rated Trip To Heaven (short-head margin), 115-merit rated French Navy (beaten 1,8 lengths), 110-merit rated New Predator (beaten 3,8 lengths) and 109-merit rated Captain Aldo (beaten 5,8 lengths).
Marwing lodged the objection on Saturday after the stipendiary stewards had announced a steward’s enquiry.

If the stewards had not already made up their minds they would soon have been convinced by jockey Piere Strydom’s argument.

Strydom pointed out the two different types of horses which were involved, Trip To Heaven being a sprint-miler type and Mac De Lago a middle distance type who took a while to get going. He then asked for the official winning distance, which was a short-head, before asking for the tape to be rewound to about the 150m mark, which was the stage just before Trip To Heaven had received the first of two bumps from Mac De Lago. The margin before the bumps was shown to be about half-a-length, meaning Mac De Lago had been finishing the faster of the pair despite the interference, which had caused him to be carried a number of horse-widths inward.

Trip To Heaven’s trainer Sean Tarry also presented a good argument, saying Trip To Heaven had come from last under the hands and his jockey Grant Van Niekerk, due to the proximity of Mac De Lago, had been forced into riding his mount with the hands all the way to the line, while Mac De Lago in the meantime had been hard ridden. Both he and Van Niekerk also pointed out the first movement, however slight, was made by Mac De Lago towards Trip To Heaven (although they did not brush at that stage).

Siren's Call (left) and Trophy Wife

Trophy Wife (right) – (Nkosi Hlophe)

However, the stewards did not take long to announce the upheld verdict and the majority, including Marwing, believed they had made the correct decision. Elated part-owner Dylan Chinsammy was on course to receive the trophy on behalf of the connections, who also include Hassen Adams, CF Delport, Lawrence Pillay, TJ Smith and ODT Visser. It was Chinsammy’s second Gr 1 win, the first being with Ash Cloud, who won the SA Oaks for the Marwing yard in 2014.

Mac De Lago finished second in last season’s Gr 2 KRA Guineas and fifth from the widest draw of all in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000, so clearly loves the tight city course.

His Champions Challenge run looks very good, as the fifth placed horse Judicial was 4,3 lengths behind him. Mac De Lago was receiving 2kg from French Navy in the Champions Challenge and the latter beat him by 1,8 lengths. Before the running of the Gold Challenge, Mac Delago was set to receive 4kg from French Navy in the July, which would have given him a massive chance. However, his task will now be harder with the pending merit rated raise.

French Navy meanwhile ran a tremendous July preparation race in Saturday’s event and it should bring him spot on for the big one. He was running on strongest of all to finish a 1,8 length third. He will be very well weighted in the July, unless Legal Eagle is scratched before the publishing of the weights tomorrow (Tuesday).

The three scenarios from now in are: If Legal Eagle is scratched before the publishing of the weights, French Navy carries 60kg and July favourite Black Arthur carries 53,5kg; if Legal Eagle runs in the July, French Navy carries 57,5kg and Black Arthur carries 53kg; if Legal Eagle is scratched after the publishing of the weights, French Navy carries 60kg and Black Arthur carries 55,5kg.

Strydom was not sure yet where his July ride would come from. However, he is sure to be in demand. The master jockey has already ridden two Gr 1 winners since returning just three-and-a-half weeks ago from a three-and-a-half month layoff for a broken collar bone.

By David Thiselton

Palladium (Nkosi Hlophe)

Laird in top form

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Former National Champion Trainer Charles Laird scored a tremendous treble at Greyville on Saturday, including winning two black type events for his chief client these days Alesh Naidoo.

However, Laird said he would not be supplementing Gr 3 Cup Trial winner Exit Here for the Vodacom Durban July. He said, “He has drawn well in five for the consolation event anyway.”

Laird was relieved to have been proven correct in his assessment of Exit Here’s poor last two runs, in which he believed the jockeys had gone to hard out in front. The blinkered Moutonshoek-bred Jay Peg colt was asked to go a particularly ridiculous pace in the Gr 2 Canon Guineas.

Palladium (Nkosi Hlophe)

Palladium (Nkosi Hlophe)

By contrast Weichong Marwing rode him to perfection on Saturday, controlling the pace from the front before extracting the necessary extra to repel challengers and beat the second favourite Dynamic by a quarter of a length. He converted odds of 40-1.

Naidoo was largely behind the decision to purchase Exit Here for R1,1 million at the CTS March Yearling Sale in 2014. Exit Here is a half-sister to Eventual Angel, who won four races for Naidoo, including the Gr 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes. Naidoo owns Exit Here in partnership with Laird’s long-time stalwart client Markus Jooste.

Earlier on Saturday, Laird and Naidoo had combined to win the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes over 1400m with the Avontuur-bred Silvano colt Palladium, who remains unbeaten after two starts.

Despite the tailwind, Palladium was able to come from last with an impressive run and beat the favourite Daffiq by a neck under Keagan De Melo.

Laird had advised De Melo to stick with Palladium after his strong finishing-debut win over 1200m at Greyville, knowing Anton Marcus would be tied to ride the Markus Jooste-owned stablemate Buffalo Soldier, who ran a decent 1,9 length fourth on Saturday.

Laird said he would keep De Melo aboard for Palladium’s next two races, which are due to be the Gr 2 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m on July day and the Gr 1 Premiers Champion Stakes over 1600m on eLan Gold Cup day.

Palladium is a half-brother to the former Equus Champion Sprinter Val De Ra, but Laird said he took more after his sire Silvano and would get the mile.

Laird clinched the treble with a brilliant front-running ride by Marcus on the Jooste-owned Top Form in the R200,000 KZN Winter Challenge 1200.

There was also disappointment for the yard as the luckless Ice Machine ran unplaced in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge.

Laird said Ice Machine had always been a horse who preferred being taken to the outside for his run as he was then able to be taken through the gears gradually on the back of a momentum building outwards catapult,  whereas taking a horse inward for a run, like he was on Saturday, required committing the horse too soon. “He is not getting any younger,” he said about the seven-year-old.

By David Thiselton

Liege (Nkosi Hlophe)

Liege and Trophy Wife impress

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The Sean Tarry-trained three-year-old Dynasty colt Liege made himself a Vodacom Durban July final supplementation possibility when winning a traditional pointer to the big race, the Gr 3 Jubilee Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein yesterday, in cosy style under stable jockey S’Manga Khumalo despite being 0,5kg under sufferance off his 93 merit rating.

The most fancied July horse in the field, Deo Juvente, who was a 13-1 shot for the big one, started favourite yesterday but had to be pulled out of the race. July 150-1 chance Rainy Day Blues was 3,5kg under sufferance and ran a 1,1 length second. Three-year-old Romany Prince was 25th on the last July log and remains a borderline horse after finishing a 2,2 length third while giving the winner 4kg.

Judicial, Jubilee Line, Stonehenge and Diesel Jet were not in the top 25 on the last log and did their chances of making the July field no favours by finishing fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. Earlier, the Tarry-trained Trophy Wife, who was 21st on the last July log, put her hand up for a place in the final field with a fine win of a Pinnacle Stakes race for fillies and mares over 1400m.

By David Thiselton

Mac De Lago (Nkosi Hlophe)

Big move for Mac

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Mac De Lago and Dynamic were the big movers in the Vodacom Durban July betting yesterday as bookmakers assessed the results, and likely impact, of Saturday’s big Greyville races.

Word Sports Betting cut the promoted Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner from 18-1 to 11-1 while Betting World shortened Weiho Marwing’s charge from 16-1 to 10-1. Dynamic, as big as 50-1 before his second to Exit Here in the Cup Trial, is now a best-priced 22-1.

French Navy, who ran on in eye-catching style to take third in the Gold Challenge, was shortened from 11-1 to 9-1 by WSB and is 8-1 with Betting World. However the layers were unimpressed with fourth-placed New Predator and marked him out from 60-1 to as big as 90-1. Black Arthur remains favourite at 11-2 (5-1 with Betting World) and Marinaresco has shortened a point to 6-1.

By Michael Clower

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Tarry’s trump

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Just how Sean Tarry plays his ‘Legal Eagle’ trump card over the next couple of days will have a marked effect on the weights for the Vodacom Durban July. The weights are due out tomorrow.

Until now Tarry has not been drawn on Legal Eagle but given current bookmakers betting and their information network, indications are that the gelding will not run in the July.

But just when Tarry decides to withdraw Legal Eagle, if indeed that is his intention, will make a significant difference to the weights for the race.

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

If Tarry withdraws Legal Eagle before publication of the weights then Tarry-trained French Navy will be allotted top weight of 60kg with current favourite Black Arthur 53,5kg.

If Legal Eagle runs, he will carry 60kg, stable companion French Navy will carry 57,5kg and Black Arthur 53kg. Should Tarry withdraw Legal Eagle after the publication of the weights French Navy will be pushed up to 60kg but Black Arthur would also rise by a corresponding 2,5kg to 55,5kg, 2kg more than if Legal Eagle is withdrawn before publication of the weights.

Also in this final scenario, a number of lower rated three-year-olds would get into the race not under sufferance as they would if Black Arthur carried 53,5kg or 53kg.

Tarry also pitched the July selection panel another curved ball as Trophy Wife scored a timely victory in a Pinnacle Stakes at Turffontein yesterday. Slow out, as is her want, S’manga Khumalo was content to sit well off the pace in the early exchanges of the 1400m event but moved the filly through smoothly on the inside rail to score a bloodless victory.

Trophy Wife had much in her favour here and just what view the panel takes will be interesting.

Not so lucky was Deo Juvente in the Gr3 Jubilee Handicap. 15th on the July log, Geoff Woodruff’s runner was pulled up before the line and his chances of making July 2 now look slim.

However, Tarry’s decision to send Leige up from his Summerveld yard paid dividends as he outlasted Rainy Day Blues giving some credence to the form of the Gr1 Daily News 2000. The first two home were not among initial July nominations but the final supplementary stage is today at a cost of R25k.

By Andrew Harrison

Same Jurisdiction (Nkosi Hlophe)

Road to the KZN Yearling Sale Million

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Entries for the R1-million KZN Yearling Sale Million, which will be run over 1300m on Vodacom Durban July raceday, falls due at 11:00 on Friday, 17 June, and are restricted to all qualifying graduates from the KZN 2015 Yearling Sales, as determined by Bloodstock South Africa.

Heading the list of prospective runners is the exciting Robbie Hill-trained Pathfork colt, Red Chesnut Road. Unbeaten in two starts to date, Red Chesnut Road suffered a slight setback which kept him out of the recent Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion but hopefully he will be ready for action on 2 July.

As of today’s date the top twenty six two year olds eligible for the KZN Yearling Sale Million, based on provisional handicappers’ ratings,  are:- Red Chesnut Road, Announcing Rain, He’s A Var, Last Chirp, Tamara, Poster Girl, Dawn Assault, Pool Party, Zevenastic, Hamunaptra, Answeringenesis, Chap Trap, Lunar Rush, Fashion Blast, Lil Gambler, Ocean Drive South, Phantom Rock, South Side, Structure Reply, Hurricane Shelley, Audrie Do, Golden Ball, Just Vogue, Mia Culpa, Je Suis Silver and Scent of the Tiger.

Bloodstock SA will be hosting the 2016 KZN Yearling Sale at Sibaya Casino on the Thursday and Friday preceding the Vodacom Durban July and catalogues are now available at several offices around the country.