Barrier trial Greyville 1000m 30/05/2018
2yo C&G – Poly – 1000m (1st Trial)
1st Buckleberry (De Gouveia/Lafferty 2 ch 57kg Draw 10) – good looking colt having his second trial. More relaxed this time around. Travelled handy throughout and quickened nicely when popped the question. This was major improvement on his first trial and he did it in good time. 59 secs
2nd Kingdom Come (Hewitson/Lafferty 2 ch c 57kg draw 1) – Smart son of Visionaire who covers a lot of ground. Has a huge stride and raced with wrapping bandages. Very green but did it easily and was allowed to run along. He looks like one to follow. 59.50 secs.
3rd Stream Ahead (Kennedy/GH Van Zyl 2 gr c 57 g Draw 12) – was stubborn at the pens and had to be bundled in even though this was his fourth visit to the track that includes a victory. He still showed signs of being green and was travelling smartly before being allowed to ease up to the line. This was a smart trial. 60.05secs)
4th At The Opera (Arries/Roberts 2 b c 57kg Draw 3) took off to the start and looks very green. Showed early pace after taking a bump out of the gate. Was allowed to run along in the hands the last bit. – 60.38 secs.
5th Saffinator (Randolph/Forbes 2 b g 57kg Draw 7) looked tuned up and progressive in the paddock but jumped awkwardly and took time for the penny to drop. Showed decent pace but still very green. – 60.47secs
6th Uncle Charlie (Mgudlwa/Puller 2 b c 57kg Draw 11) raced green on the turn and was pushed out wide to stay in touch. Not asked for much in the straight but stayed on. – 60.62 secs
7th Arrow Mark (Ngwane/Gadsby 2 b g 57kg Draw 9) looked at everything and needs to furnish. Very green and was hanging in over the final two furlongs. – 60.90secs
8th Toronto (Tarentaal/Howells 2 b g 57kg Draw 5) – slow out of the gate and green. Not asked to do much more than keep his mind on the job. 61.68secs
9th Master Of Fire (Ferraris/Roberts 2 b g 57kg Draw 8) – did nothing but run along at the back of the field. Did move up in the straight but did not appear to be striding out all that well. 61.83secs
10th Clash City Rocker (Sakayi/Wright 2 b g 57kg Draw 4) – relaxed in the parade. Always at the back of the field racing green. Didn’t show much – 62.32secs
11th Gold Galleon (Godden/Drier 2 b c 57kg Draw 6) – started off relaxed but gradually got heated up in the preliminaries. Was slow out of the gate and never really got going. – 62.37secs
12th Flying Fort (Pagel/GS Kotzen 2 ch g 57kg Draw 2) – Moved well. Looks like a nice colt but raced very green and was urged along at the back off affairs. He made no impression in the straight and could need another outing or two – 62.78secs
By Andrew Harrison
Barrier trial Greyville 1000m 30/05/2018
2yo fillies – Poly – 1000m (2nd Trial)
1st Candy Galore (Kennedy/Van Zyl Jnr 2yof 56kgs Draw 1) – Very attractive daughter of Noordhoek Flyer, clearly quite well tried at home. Jumped smartly from pole position, settling in second before taking the initiative halfway down the straight. Ran on strongly through the line under the hands and looks ready to make her presence felt on debut. 60,56 seconds.
2nd 0,25 Lewa Downs (Ngwane/Gordon 2yof 56kgs Draw 2) – A “cheapie” at R15 000 by Marchfield out of a National Assembly mare. Very nice type and appears to have inherited pace from her damsire. Has shown promise at home and reproduced that here with a very good effort. Made good headway down the lane and was not overly pressed to finish a close second. Plenty of scope for improvement. 60,61 seconds.
3rd 0,75 La Valette (De Gouveia/Howells 2yof 56kgs Draw 11) – R300 000 daughter of Var. Showed natural speed from a wide berth and was quickly in front. Headed halfway down the stretch but stayed on well under an easy ride to finish under a length back. Well liked by the stable and is certainly one for the notebook. 60,70 seconds.
4th 3,75 Anuchke’s Wings (Fourie/Kotzen 2yof 56kgs Draw 5) – Tall leggy filly by Judpot who will furnish with time. Made a complete hash of the start, losing many lengths and raced green early. Got her act together in the straight and although well beaten in fourth, she does look to have plenty of improvement to come. Showed enough in this Trial to suggest she has a future. 61,26 seconds.
5th 5,25 Mocha Rose (Sakayi/Howells 2yof 56kgs Draw 9) – Nicely made daughter of Mambo in Seattle out of a mare by Al Mufti. With that pedigree she should appreciate more ground and is clearly not as precocious as others at this stage. Despite that, she showed good early pace and stayed on to finish a fair fifth. She looked good in the parade ring and canter past and her progress should be monitored. Probably needs at least 1600m to be at her best. 61,54 seconds.
6th 8,00 Cape Bluebell (Tarentaal/Van Zyl 2yof 56kgs Draw 7) – Very well bred filly by Trippi. Classy individual although lacking a little through the girth. However, has not shown much at home and her Trial here was disappointing. Showed no signs of quickening in the straight. 62,07 seconds.
7th 8,05 Counter Fate (Veale/Drier 2yof 56kgs Draw 4) – R200 000 daughter of freshman sire Master Of My fate. Caught the eye in the parade ring and according to her trainer is a nice type. That said, she raced very green in this Trial and performed below expectations. The run will have brought her on a ton and she looks to have a lot of scope. Likely to have another gallop at home before racing so watch for any market moves on debut. 62,08 seconds.
8th 9,55 La Duchesse (Samuel/Gadsby 2yof 56kgs Draw 8) – Another daughter of Master Of My Fate out of the Fort Wood mare Grisette. Looked well in the parade ring and cantered down smoothly. However, she was very slow away and raced very green. Made some progress early in the straight from the rear before running out of steam. Needed the experience badly and likely to improve. 62,38 seconds.
9th 11,05 Grecian Laurel (Ferraris/Howells 2yof 56kgs Draw 10) – Classically bred daughter of Ideal World. Given a soft introduction here but appears to need time and distance to be most effective. Was never a factor in the running and made no headway up the straight. 62,67 seconds.
10th 12,80 Aristocracy (Arries/Gadsby 2yof 56kgs Draw 6) – Half-sister to the very useful Vision To Kill but her trainer reports that she has shown very little at home and her Trial here was uninspiring. She raced very greenly on the bend but made no progress in the straight. May improve with time and more experience. 63,02 seconds.
11th 14,55 Star System (Mohapi/N Kotzen 2yof 56kgs Draw 3) – By stamina sire Golden Sword. Was always towards the rear and dropped away quickly in the straight. Will need time and a lot more ground to be effective. Unlikely to win as a juvenile or early 3yo. 63,37 seconds.
Barrier Trial – Older Horses – Poly – 1000m (3rd Trial)
1st Unbelievable Lad (Samuel/Moore 3yog 59kgs Draw 5) – Changed stables since winning maiden over 1400m in January. Looked extremely well in parade ring and canter past and is obviously very fit. Showed good gate speed and drew further and further clear in the straight to win this Trial impressively. Looks progressive, having only had six career starts to date, and his first official appearance for the Moore stable will be watched with interest. 59,17 seconds.
2nd 7,00 Kilmokea (Arries/Hill 4yof 59kgs Draw 7) – Rested since January, prior to which she won one of her eight starts – that was back in November over 1600m. Quite a nice type with a big stride and she may have more to come. No match for winner here but she showed pace throughout and clearly needs further to be most effective. Is looking well and could be a factor in a low grade fillies handicap. 60,46 seconds.
3rd 7,75 The Bayou (Hewitson/Lafferty 3yoc 59kgs Draw 4) – Very highly regarded, lightly raced 3yo half-brother to Grade 1 winner Orbison. Rested since winning at the second time of asking back in December and did all that was required of him in this Trial. Needs 1600m+ to be most effective and we await his official return with great interest. One to follow! 60,60 seconds.
4th 8,25 Cape Speed (De Melo/Kannemeyer 5yog 60kgs Draw 1) – Useful stayer who needs at least 2400m to be at his best. Rested since December and although a winner of five races from 18 starts, he has not won for nearly two years and appeared to lose his form completely before the break. For this Trial he looked burly in the parade ring but very well within himself. As expected he was always outpaced here but will hopefully come on plenty from this gallop and bounce back to his very best form. 60,70 seconds.
5th 17,75 Khetiwe (De Gouveia/Lafferty 5yom 59kgs Draw 2) – Rested since December and has had throat surgery in the interim. Still a maiden after 18 career starts and on this showing could battle to win a race. 62,55 seconds.
6th 20,25 Duke of Popham (Mgudlwa/Nel 3yog 59kgs Draw 6) – Absolutely no improvement since first Barrier Trial on 39 March 2018. Always languishing at the rear and despite a relatively vigorous ride, he continued to fall further behind. Trainer John Nel faces an uphill battle with him! 63,06 seconds.
7th 20,50 Pavarotti Passion (Lerena/Dixon 3yog 59kgs Draw 3) – Won a Barrier Trial in March and has obvious ability but put in an inexplicably bad run here. Nothing obvious was detected after the Trial or indeed the next day and for trainer Mark Dixon this performance is a real “head-scratcher”. Time will tell whether he was incubating a virus or something similar but this run has to be ignored. Perhaps he will Trial again before making his official debut? 63,11 seconds.
By Graeme Hawkins
