David Thiselton
THE general view of the three-year-old male crop this season has been like a rollercoaster but on Saturday the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Second Base kept it on its current bull run when winning the Grade 3 Sea Cottage Stakes over 1800m at Turffontein Inside in impressive style under Chase Maujean.
The Gold Star Stud-bred gelding is yet another horse to prove the worth of the sire Gimmethegreenlight.
Janse van Vuuren-trained Second Base’s half-sister by Captain Al, Xplosive Kiss, and she won on debut over 1000m by five lengths so it is not surprising he and owner Laurence Wernars went back to the well.
Wernars owns Second Base in partnership with A Devachander.
The scopey, long-striding bay has now won five races from six starts.
His win in his penultimate start in a handicap over 1800m was eyecatching as he did not have much cover but still relaxed well and displayed an impressive range of gears in the straight despite running off a 98 merit rating and carrying 58kg against older horses.
Punters must have missed that as he drifted out to 8/1 on Saturday.
They must have believed giving 2kg to some decent sorts and having to jump from a wide draw would be too much.
Furthermore, he was 4.5kg under sufferance, according to official merit ratings, with the Dingaans fourth-placed Al Muthana.
However, there was always going to be a question mark about the latter’s suitability to the tight Inside track as he appeared to need every inch of the long Standside straight in the Dingaans.
Maujean was content to drop Second Base out to last in the running on Saturday. He displayed a fine turn of foot in the straight and won easing up by 1,75 lengths from Nartje, to whom he gave 4kg. Gimmethegoahead made it a first and third for Gimmethegreenlight, finishing 4,85 lengths back. The pacemaker Shah Akbar ran below his previous start by finishing a 5,60 length fourth. Al Muthana was a touch flat-footed at the top of the straight and did not find much extra either after traveling well enough in a good position from which to strike. His 8,75 length sixth was most disappointing.
The three-year-old male crop did not shine in its two-year-old season but were receiving high accolades after a number of classy sorts like Mount Pleasant, Malmoos, Forever Mine, Seeking The Stars Rascallion, Linebacker, Gatekeeper, MK’s Pride etc were introduced this term.
Their reputation took two successive blows, first when Mount Pleasant ran unplaced in the Dingaans, a race which was won by 9/1 shot Catch Twentytwo, and then when the 100/1 shot Russian Rock won the Grade 1 WSB Cape Guineas, defeating Malmoos and all of the previously heralded Cape Town stars.
However, the crop’s reputation has been on the up ever since.
Catch Twentytwo showed his Dingaans win was no fluke by winning the Grade 3 Tony Ruffel Stakes against a decent field.
Cape Guineas fourth-placed Jet Dark then came out and won South Africa’s probable most prestigious weight for age mile, the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.
On Saturday Bartholdi, only sixth in the Tony Ruffel, won a handicap easily over 1500m.
Second Base then impressed and Janse van Vuuren looks to have an exciting Triple Crown horse in his hands.
