Geoff Woodruff will attempt to end a hoodoo when sending out the robust Australian-bred mare Wild Ash in Saturday’s Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup over 3200m at the Super Saturday meeting at Greyville.

The five-time champion trainer has finished second in the country’s premier staying race no fewer than four times.

Wild Ash had a pleasing grass gallop last Friday at Summerveld, where she has been staying in the Dennis Bosch yard.

The Gold Cup will be the culmination of a carefully laid out plan.

She needed her penultimate start when fifth in a Pinnacle Stakes event over 2400m at the Vaal and then showed her class over staying trips last time out when rallying back in the Gr 2 Gold Vase over 3000m at Greyville on Vodacom Durban July day to finish a 0,75 length second. She beat Solid Speed by a neck in the Gold Vase and will now be 3kg worse off. However, she should now be cherry ripe and that last race proved she would stay this trip.

Woodruff also pointed out that as a relatively lightly raced horse, considering she is turning five on Gold Cup day, she would not be going in “tired”.

He was also not concerned about her Gold Cup jockey Donavan Mansour having never been aboard her in a race before as he said she was “a pretty straight forward ride”. However, he admitted that her draw of 12 was a tad tricky.

Woodruff has pointed out before that he hardly considers Wild Ash to be a filly as she is a “big, strong girl” and quite masculine in countenance. She will definitely not be intimidated by her male rivals or be pushed around.

The Dylan Thomas mare has snuck into the handicap with the minimum weigh of 52kg and as a 20/1 shot with Betting World she could offer good each-way value.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Geoff Woodruff

According to the weather experts the Super Saturday eLan Property Group Gold Cup racemeeting rescheduled to 1 August will take place under excellent weather conditions.

On raceday golf will be played at Royal Durban which means that there will only be limited parking on the golf course and this parking area is now officially SOLD OUT.

In order to accommodate as many cars as possible in the limited parking that has been made available we appeal to drivers to park efficiently and to cooperate when directed by parking attendants.

For those that choose to park in the streets around Greyville Racecourse please note that there will be an added security presence in these areas. Racegoers are advised not to park illegally such as on red or yellow lines or in areas that block entrances to private properties.

As from tomorrow (Wednesday July 29) bookmakers, in general, will no longer be pricing up ante-post betting and the betting will now only be available on the day of the racemeeting. Prices will be up at 10.00am sharp at which time claims will be available. Ante-post betting will only be available for major feature races.

Michael Weare confirmed that Betting World: “with due respect for the concerns of fellow bookmakers but in the best interest of punters will continue to price up at least 24hrs prior to each racemeeting.”

More to follow…

Joey Soma runs the Eyeofthetiger gelding Savage Wind in Saturday’s Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup over 3200m and expects him to find the frame.

Talking about the pace of the race, Soma reckoned the topweights would not get home in a fast race and those that wanted a true test would not want it slow. He added Savage Wind was one of the few horses who would be happy with any pace. In the past he had sometimes had the tendency to pull, but appears to be over it as he  settled well in a very slow paced race in his last start when a narrow 0,2 length third in the Gr 2 Track And Ball Derby over 2400m at Scottsville.

Soma said, “He is a nice consistent horse over this distance and is getting stronger and stronger the older he gets.”

Savage Wind is better off at the weights with all the horses that finished around him in the Track and Ball Derby, Disco Al, Hot Ticket and Kingston Mines, yet at 16/1 with Betting World is longer priced than any of them. However, Soma admitted the pace in that race had been false.

He concluded, “He is the type of horse that could finish second in a maiden or second in the Gold Cup.”

The promising young apprentice Callan Murray rides from a wide draw of 15 and Soma said, “He knows him well as he works him every day. He will play it by ear and just allow him to do his own thing.”

Soma also runs the former Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic winner Athina in the Gr 2 Gold Bracelet over 2000m and said, “She has been very disappointing in her last two races, especially in her last one (tailed off last in the Gr 3 Cup Trial over 1800m). I have discussed it with the connections and it is likely that if she runs another bad race she will be retired to stud but otherwise she might race for another season. We couldn’t find much to explain those last two races, although she was a bit above herself on the day of the Cup Trial.

“I have freshened her up and she has been working very well, so we hope she can show some of her old brilliance. There is not much between her and Jet Belle on the form of the Summer Cup and the Paddock Stakes. She has pole position draw and she does get on well with Piere Strydom (rode her to a narrow and unlucky second in the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m as well as a narrow second in the Gr 2 Jo’burg Spring Fillies and Mares Challenge over 1450m).”

David Thiselton

Vaal-based trainer Dominic Zaki will raid KZN for Super Saturday at Greyville this weekend with a string of three horses and has two lively chances of Gr 1 success.

In the Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup over 3200m he runs the Jet Master gelding Storm Warning, who bounced back to his best last time out when sauntering to a five length victory over 3000m on the Turffontein Inside Track, having made up ground quickly in the straight from last.

Zaki said Storm Warning had been doing very well and gave him a big chance provided he travelled well. The gelding lost his form earlier this season due to a breathing issue but his last two runs have shown that the wind operation he has had has been successful.

Storm Warning will stay every inch of the Gold Cup trip. On top of his easy win over 3000m last time out he also finished a narrow second in last season’s Gr 2 Gold Bowl over 3200m on the Turffontein Standside track. He ran off a 94 merit rating in the Gold Bowl and now runs off a 95. He was given a maximum six point raise for that last run, but actually ran to a higher rating, so this makes him one of the best handicapped runners on current form.

He has also had the advantage of altitude training. He has the turn of foot necessary for the tight Greyville track and could be a big runner if producing his best. Zaki said a “bad draw is a bad draw but” was not too overly concerned about Storm Warning’s barrier 16 position over a trip of this length. Furthermore, when dropped out to last in his last run, he settled beautifully in behind horses before turning it on impressively in the straight. Craig Zackey will be champion apprentice by Saturday and has formed a good partnership with the gelding.

Zaki runs the classy Toreador gelding Prospect Strike in the Gr 1 Premiers Champion Stakes over 1600m and said if it were not for his wide draw he would have made him a “massive runner.” This horse’s two wins over 1200m and 1400m respectively were by 12,75 and 4,6 lengths and in his only other start he finished a fine 2,65 length third in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville, when running on strongly from an unfavourable draw. Prospect Strike has an interesting story behind his breeding. She was bred by the Tawny Syndicate and is owned by two of this syndicate’s members, Larry Nestadt and Greg Blank, in partnership with Knut Haug.

Nestadt and Blank found his Mr Prospector dam, Prospect Fever, in Australia and brought her back to South Africa. Their reasoning was not only that Mr Prospector mares were hard to come by but that she would also likely be an excellent mating for their Danehill stallion Toreador. This was partly due to the famous Northern Dancer-Mr Prospector nick. Toreador is from the Northern Dancer sire line and Prospect Fever herself has the Mr Prospector-Northern Dancer cross close up in her pedigree.

Furthermore, Prospect Fever had already produced the Gr 3-winning Danehill colt Way West, who became known as a speed influential sire at Summerhill Stud. Way West won an Australian Gr 3 over 1100m as a two-year-old in 2004, beating the now sort after sire Oratorio, so it is not surprising that his three parts brother Prospect Strike is also packed with precocious speed. Prospect Strike is in fact the third Toreador foal that Prospect Fever has produced and this emphasises the vagaries of breeding as the other pair, Abstract and Portrait, have not amounted to much, having won just three minor races between them, all over 1200m.

However, Zaki felt that this gelding was now looking for this 1600m trip, and he certainly gave that impression in his last start. He will have the advantage of a champion jockey aboard as Gavin Lerena would have officially secured the title the previous evening. Zaki predicted Prospect Strike would be “up there” in the running in order to overcome the draw.

Zaki was also bullish about the chances of his promising Fort Beluga filly Cataluga, who runs in a MR78 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1000m on the polytrack. She has two wins from four starts over this distance and her breeding suggests she should enjoy the polytrack.

David Thiselton