ANDREW HARRISON

BY their high standards, the Dennis Drier stable has been quiet since racing resumed after lockdown but it was business as usual at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday with three winners lifting the gloom.

Most impressive was maiden winner Hail Columbia and given Drier’s high praise for the Irish import, the gelding is definitely a horse for the notebook.

Although bred to northern hemisphere time which puts him six months behind others of his generation, he has been a late starter mainly due to his aversion to the starting stalls.

“He has been a bit of a nightmare at the pens,” revealed stable rider Sean Veale. “Many thanks to (horse  behaviouralist) Mike Shaw.” The starters assistants were given some work to do before taking up his gate but there were no serious issues.

Hail Columbia was hard into the bit for the first few furlongs but still had plenty to come when Veale eventually released the handbrake.

Well fancied on debut, he came up against the highly rated Captain Fontane, but both Drier and Veale were disappointed that they got beaten. “I thought he would win,” said Drier, “but he bumped a bloody good horse and Garth’s horse is going somewhere.”

“If people were watching closely, my horse slipped coming out of the pens. We could have finished a lot closer,” said Veal.

“I think (mine) is a progressive little horse,” concluded Drier.

Earlier the stable sent out Spring High who also let the side down on debut. “He was so green,” said Veale. “The boss was clever and put on the blinkers.”

“We though he would win and were disappointed but we put on a little pair of blinkers,” confirmed Drier.

Three runs later Dieci completed the Drier treble as the mare backed up her last win with a stout effort to get the better of favourite Georgina Rose.

Solid Gold has always had potential but has never been the easiest to catch ‘right’. He was in a galloping mood yesterday and in spite of stretching Serino Moodley’s arms in the early exchanges, he quickened smartly in the straight to hold a fast-finishing Brass Bell and give Michael Roberts a double with Rachel Venniker doing the honours on Enjoy The View in the Workriders Conditional Plate.

A seasoned punter once opined that when the weather changes suddenly before a racemeeting one needs to be wary of upset results. His prophecy rang true yesterday, with berg wind to freezing overnight. Solid Gold (10-1) started the Pick 6 rot and after the last leg was run the pay-out was to 0.05 tickets with R1093554.50 carried over to another day.

Andrew Harrison

The Dennis Drier-trained Golden Chance can put her last run behind her and record the third success of her career when she lines up in the sixth at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday.

She pulled up last of the 13 runners in the Pointsetia Stakes but was going along sweetly before shortening her stride and Sean Veale easing her out of the race, looking both sides for the problem.

A post-race vet check reported not striding out off-fore which accounted for the disappointing showing.

Prior to that she had matched strides with the best including a third behind Celtic Sea in the Sceptre Stakes and beaten less than two lengths by Front And Centre in her warm-up to that race. That form sees her rated way higher than her opposition, hence the steadier of 63.5 kg on her back but that has been countered by the presence of 4kg claimer Kyle Strydom in the saddle. Strydom is way more accomplished than most four-claimers and Golden Chance should get a solid ride.

Sorting out the balance is a little tricky. Georgina Rose has been trying further but her last win was over this trip and that form did hold up. A further plus is that Anton Marcus stays aboard. Jack’s Bird and Queen Of Alamo are two others to consider.

In the opening leg of the Pick 6, Stoptheclocks was well beaten by Via Salaria last time the two met but is now 2 kg better off. They are both having their second run after a break and are drawn alongside each other which could make for a match race. But there are a couple that could put a spoke in the works. One is Mark Dixon’s runner Admiral’s Guest. The gelding is under sufferance but has done well when stepped up in this company before and has a light weight. Solid Gold is smart on his day but is not always reliable while Duc D’Orange found his best form last start and is one to keep an eye on in the betting.

What A Thrill will be a popular banker for many exotic bet punters in the opening leg o the jackpot even though she has done most of her recent racing over further than the 1400m of the fifth race. However, she has hit top form since returning from a break and meets modest opposition. 

Joyful Winter had the worst of the draw last start and her form before that was consistent. From a better gate she should improve on her last effort and along with Ms Rosa Parks could provide the sternest test for What A Thrill.

Lezeanne Forbes is never afraid to toss her charges in at the deep end and after her maiden win on debut, Sofia Erin was tested in two features including the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship where she finished last but ran below the form of her previous start in the Strelitzia Stakes.

She meets a lot weaker here and given that Forbes thought enough of her to take on feature company speaks volumes. Of the balance, 

Bella Bellarina has been consistent of late and goes well this course and distance. Royal View was a close-up second over course and distance last time out and is at her peak while somewhere In Time has had one outing since a break and is likely to improve. She may be worth following in the betting.

The last two races are difficult low-rated handicaps and it could pay handsomely to load up in these two legs of the exotics.

Rite Of Passage and Hail Columbia look to dominate the opening leg of the PA. The younger Rite Of Passage made good improvement at his second start finishing a close-up third at relatively long odds for a Justin Snaith-trained charge but should strip cherry-ripe. The imported Hail Columbia is a late starter but made a smart debut and is sure to come on from that effort and looks the biggest threat to Rite Of Passage.

The card opener is a work rider’s race where at best, Drunken Sailor should be hard to beat. However, he has lost some form of late which is a concern. The filly Bindi will have her supporters as she has gone close at her last two and has an accomplished rider aboard. 

TELLYTRACK, South African horseracing’s exclusive channel on DStv, will be moving from channel 239 to channel 249 from Monday 24 August.

DStv will be streamlining their channels to sports themed channels on SuperSport as of 1 September.

Tellytrack is currently positioned after the Máximo channel and these two channels will move by several slots to allow for additional SuperSport channels.

DAVID THISELTON

PHUMELELA have conducted an inquiry into the incident in race seven at Turffontein on Sunday in which the jockeys were confused by the ambulance siren being activated shortly after the horses had jumped.

In the NHA enquiry it was discovered that seven of the eight jockeys had heard the siren and some of them had consequently stopped riding.

The race was declared null and void.

However, the ambulance company does not fall under the NHA’s jurisdiction so a further inquiry into the matter had to be done by the operator.

Medi Response consequently sent the following report to Phumelela:

1. You requested an investigation into an incident whereby the racing

ambulance’s siren was allegedly activated immediately after the starter

released the gates for Race 7 [of 10 August 2020] held at the Turffontein

Racecourse.

2. This report serves to record the findings of our investigation into the

abovementioned incident.

3. We can confirm that the siren of the racing ambulance was activated after the

gates were released during Race 7 on 10 August 2020.

4. We are further able to report the following findings to you for consideration in

the matter:

4.1 The personnel involved reported the incident to Medi Response

management on the same day as the issue arising. To this extent, a

statement was received from the driver, while the crew was also interviewed

by the undersigned writer.

4.2 Our conclusion is that the siren was activated accidentally while the

ambulance was manoeuvring around a stationary vehicle (now identified as

the veterinary vehicle) in order to follow the string of horses in-running.

4.2.1 TAKE NOTE: emergency vehicle sirens are often wired (via the

vehicle’s steering column) to the hooter on the steering wheel for

ease of activation when needing to respond to an emergency. The

vehicle deployed at Turffontein on 10 August 2020 has such a

configuration (i.e. the siren is activated through the steering wheel).

4.3 In addition to the above-mentioned stationary vehicle, there were some

pedestrians standing (and seated) on the inside track that is generally used

by the ambulance during races.

ANDREW HARRISON

FORMER champion jockey Mark Khan’s lengthy riding career has been punctuated by many injury-induced lay-offs and he recorded his first winner back from his latest setback with a hard-fought victory aboard the Duncan Howells-trained All The Way Up at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday.

Paying R63.50 a win on the tote it was not a popular result for punters but for Khan, who has been riding plenty of work for Howells in his effort to get back to race-riding fitness, it was a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure for both jockey and trainer.

One had to delve back in All The Way Up’s form to realise that he was a horse with potential but as Howells eluded to in his post-race interview, the stable was badly hit by a virus and not all the affected horses had come back to form.

A two-month lock-down break and a big drop in his handicap rating and blinkers saw All The Way Up back to his best as he fought on gamely to hold a hard-charging King Julian and replacement rider Keagan de Melo.

In this age of a battling economy and a huge reduction in stakes, it is not easy for trainers to find new patrons, let alone keep the ones that they have, but Suzette and Basie Viljoen, relatively newcomers to racehorse ownership, have been exceptions with well over 50 horses in training spread amongst a variety of trainers.

They were in the winner’s box twice yesterday as Gavel Strike made short work of the opposition in the third followed by an equally facile win by Good Rhythm in the seventh. Gavel Strike for Lezeanne Forbes and stable rider Serino Moodley and Good Rhythm for Louis Goosen under an inspired ride from apprentice Kyle Strydom.

There was also a double for Gareth Wright. Anmer Hall made a winning local debut for Andre Nel in the second with the imported filly making short work of her opposition and Wright followed up with a similar ride on the Wendy Whitehead-trained Twice As Smart as she rocketed away up the home straight to show her opposition a clean pair of heels in the sixth.