The Equus Champion Sprinter award might be decided by the Mercury Sprint outcome, because the Sean Tarry-trained three-year-old Captain Al filly Carry On Alice, who was third in the Cape Flying and second in the Computaform, exacted revenge on Alboran Sea in Saturday’s Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint.

The Klawervlei Stud-bred filly lifted a shoe on the way to the start, so had to be reshod, but this didn’t stop her showing her usual good cruising speed from a favourable low draw under S’Manga Khumalo. When she kicked Alboran Sea, who had come from a high draw, couldn’t go with her and the former clearly relished the extra 200m.

Fly By Night loves KZN and Scottsville and ran a fine race from a tough draw, only just failing to repeat her runner up spot from last year. David Nieuwenhuizen has done miracles to keep the R10,000 sales throw out Virgo’s Babe going for so long considering her less than perfect legs and she ran a gallant fourth from draw one ahead of Jet Aglow, who showed fine pace for a horse that prefers a mile.

Carry On Alice’s next options are either the Mercury Sprint or the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes on Vodacom Durban July day.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)

Masterful trainer Dennis Drier and leading owner Markus Jooste were once again to the fore at the country’s biggest sprint meeting at Scottsville on Saturday and combined for two more Gr 1s.

Klawervlei Stud, part-owned by Jooste, bred two of the day’s Gr 1 winners while their leading stallion Captain Al was sire of two Gr 1 winners and their new kid on the block Seventh Rock produced a second successive winner of the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion. Seventh Rock in 2007 became the first of six wins Jooste has had in this race and the first of five for his retained jockey Anton Marcus.

Drier has also won six Gold Medallions and has won five of the last six Renewals, including the last four in succession. The last three of those, Captain Of All, Guiness and Saturday’s winner Seventh Plain all ran in the Jooste silks and the last two were ridden by Marcus.

On Saturday Captain Of All, a strapping four-year-old Riverton Stud-bred colt by Captain Al, joined greats like J J The Jet Plane to have won the Gr 1 Tsogo Sprint over 1200m with top weight. It was Drier’s first win of this race, but Jooste was winning it for the fourth year in succession.

Jockey Cormack described Captain Of All as a clever racehorse and even when Barbosa had come alongside 800m out he had not overreacted, so he was still able to power up the hill with 60kg on his back and win comfortably at odds of 7/2.

Gulf Storm did well to finish second having been punished nine points for winning the Listed In Full Flight Stakes. Sheik’s Brashee was the unlucky horse in the In Full Flight Stakes, but consequently received no merit rated raise and duly finished a fine third at odds of 33/1. Three-year-old Bichette was the only filly in the race and ran a cracker off a 108 merit rating to clinch fourth ahead of second favourite Willow Magic.

The race was marred by a delayed start after Brutal Force had kicked the gate and been vet-checked for as a consequence many horses had to stand in their gates for a long time. Furthermore, Chekilli had to be euthanized after breaking down in the running.

The merit of Captain Of All’s victory was enhanced by him having to come from a tricky draw of nine, while the other earners were drawn favourably in the four lowest numbered barriers. Captain Of All came back bigger and better after missing most of his three-year-old season and Cormack rates him the best sprinter in the country, especially over 1200m. Over the tough Kenilworth 1000m he failed by a whisker to catch three-year-old filly Alboran and was defeated comfortably by the latter in the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over the quick Turffontein 1000m.

Jooste’s racing manager Derek Brugman said Captain Of All would likely become Captain Al’s first son at stud next season, so his swansong could be in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Greyville, depending on the draw he lands.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Captain Of All (Liesl King)

Andrew Fortune is still suffering from the kick he received in his fall nine days ago and he was forced to give up his rides at Kenilworth on Saturday.

The 2008/09 champion said: “Nothing is broken, thank God, but my back is still very bruised and sensitive. I couldn’t ride work during the week and the doctor said to give it another week or so. I will probably be back at the weekend.”

He missed a winner on Mister Matchett in the itsarush.co.za Handicap but even Manna Fortune would have admired the way Karl Neisius brought his mount with a sustained run to pick off the pace-setting Asstar inside the last 50m.

But apparently it wasn’t as straightforward as it looked. Neisius said: “River God jumped out onto me at the start and, while I always thought I was going to get there, Asstar then went on again and I wasn’t so sure.”

Darryl Hodgson, who has done well to win four consecutive handicaps with Hassen Adams’ gelding, added feelingly: “I was so glad that Karl was available when Andrew said he couldn’t ride.”

Stan Elley will run his Betting World 1900 winner and third, Dynastic Power and Punta Arenas (25-1 and 66-1 for the Vodacom Durban July), in the Cup Trial at Greyville on Saturday week.

He said: “Punta Arenas would only switch to the Rising Sun Gold Challenge if it cuts up to about six runners. Both took the 1900 well and are as sound as a bell.”

Xavier Carstens has been suspended for three weeks for failing to ride Chasing Dreams to the line after the pace-setting 6-1 shot was passed in the mile handicap on April 25.

He had better luck on the Paul Reeves-trained Rebel’s idol who became the first two-year-old to beat the older horses in Cape Town this season when drawing away in the closing stages of the Rugby 5 Handicap.

Vaughan Marshall, on the mark with Three Blue Cranes (MJ Byleveld) in the Access Racing Handicap, has brought his 18-horse temporary Johannesburg satellite operation to an end and reckons it was well worth all the effort involved.

He said: “We had five winners and six seconds. The stakes there are far superior and I picked up R100 000 for a place in a Grade 1 with a maiden.

“However we have got to find a way round the acclimatisation problem. The season is three months long but you effectively miss the first month whereas when you go to Durban you can be racing within a fortnight.”

Richard Fourie has established where the best going is on the sprint course – for the time being at any rate – by making all on Justin Snaith two-year-old favourites Fifty Cents and Acaciawood, each time coming up the middle to the inner but keeping the width of several horses out from the rails. .”Where I went feels good and I didn’t like it right on the inside,” he reported.

Lucien Africa has found it hard to get rides since moving back to Cape Town eight months ago and he rode his first Kenilworth winner since when riding a peach of a race on Can Cope for Harold Crawford in the Soccer 6 Handicap, driving the 16-1 shot through a gap on the rails and keeping him going as Robert Khathi produced a sustained effort from the Mike Bass-trained Going My Own Way to share the spoils.

Africa, who has also ridden two winners in Port Elizabeth this season, said: “Things went a bit down for a while but I am working hard and looking forward to the future.”

By Michael Clower

Picture: Andrew Fortune

Champion jockey S’Manga Khumalo rode three winners over the weekend for Champion trainer elect Sean Tarry and this saw him edge six clear of Gavin Lerena in the intriguing race for this year’s national title.

Lerena rode the Geoff Woodruff-trained Touch The Sky to win yesterday’s feature at Turffontein, the Listed Syringa Handicap over 1600m, and completed a double for Woodruff aboard Sisters Of Mercy in the next race.

Lerena had given up his rides at Scottsville on Saturday in order to attend the funeral of trainer Lance Wiid, whose charge King’s Gambit gave him his first two Gr 1 victories in the SA Classic and SA Derby respectively in 2008.

Khumalo replaced Lerena at the top of the log last Sunday and had winners at all of Flamingo Park, the Vaal and Fairview last week to arrive at Scottsville five clear. His double at the latter centre included a fine ride on Carry On Alice to win the Gr 1 City of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint.

Khumalo added another winner at Turffontein yesterday. The Syringa Handicap was a thriller and the talented grey filly Touch The Sky, running in second time blinkers and over a step down in trip, produced a flying finish to catch the Mike de Kock-trained Maayaat in the final stride.

Khumalo rode a blank at Fairview yesterday, while Greg Cheyne rode a treble to cement his third place position on the log, thirteen winners off the lead.

By David Thiselton

Picture: S’Manga Khumalo (Nkosi Hlophe)

Geoff Woodruff’s star Black Minnaloushe colt Louis The King has been retired from racing following an injury sustained in work and can now look forward to a career at stud.

Woodruff, after confirming that the horse had fractured a sesamoid, said, “We are gutted, but he has done more than enough.”

The public hero became the first horse since the great Horse Chestnut to land the Triple Crown last season.

This season he won a third career Gr 1 when carrying 59kg to victory in the SANSUI Summer Cup.

The Alchemy Stud-bred horse was the ultimate rags-to-riches story. He went through the ring at the Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale unsold and was later purchased for just R60,000 in a deal brokered in the sales car park. Woodruff had only gone to the sale to pick up some Vodacom Durban July tickets and bumped into The Alchemy’s owner Philip Kahan looking disappointed at not having sold his “best colt on the sale.”

He was later bought by a client of Woodruff’s, Tiaan van der Vyfer, who then named him after his son Louis and gave him to the latter as a gift. He was the first racehorse that Louis had ever owned.

Louis The King followed his Summer Cup win with a flying 0,75 length second to the best horse in the country, Futura, in the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate in January.

However, he ran below par in his next outing in the J&B Met and then ran dismally in both the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and the Gr 1 President’s Champion Challenge at his favourite stamping ground, Turffontein.

Rather than gelding him a decision was then made to remove one testicle, which he had apparently been pulling up while galloping, causing pain.

A previous Woodruff inmate Royal Air Force had the same operation and it did not affect his subsequent stud career.

It is a pity Louis the King could not have had his swansong in the country’s premier race, the Vodacom Durban July, especially considering the roar he received from the crowd on the way to the start last year before having terrible luck in running.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Loius The King (Liesl King)