No. 1856 ISSN 1023 / 6996
4
MONDAY 30th JULY- THURSDAY 2nd AUGUST 2012
Big Runner: Super Elegant is very talented on her day and Anton Marcus rides
FLAMINGO PARK
12:20pm (Monday) p.4
KENILWORTH
11:55am (Tuesday) p.13
CLAIRWOOD
12:30pm (Wednesday) p.27
VAAL TURF
12:25pm (Thursday) p.35
Gr3 FINAL FLING STAKES over 1800m at Kenilworth on Tuesday The curtain comes down on the 2011/12 season with the running of the Gr3 Final Fling Stakes on Tuesday. The Kenilworth fillies and mares 1800m feature is a minefield & could have punters & bookmakers scratching their heads. An upset result may well be on the cards.
T
his race was a casualty of the abandoned meeting of Saturday 21 July, and was apparently originally scheduled for this past Saturday. But jockey commitments to the Super Saturday meeting at Greyville led to a sensible reconsideration, and it brightens the midweek fare considerably. While the R138 000 gross stake is not going to attract the best of the female talent around, this little Gr3 feature certainly raises the bar a few notches in a province in the grip of a winter cold spell and floundering
in a trough on its annual racing calendar. And the connections brave enough to take on the elements will know that a Gr3 win is also a welcome commercial blacktype booster for any future sales catalogue page.
are a few ladies here who may also be nearing the end of their racing careers. Glen Kotzen sends out a quartet, headed by the ill-fated legend Big City Life’s full sister, Cash Register, who appears to be maturing well and fulfilling her early promise. She has won her last two, and her win in the Listed Ladies Mile was impressive indeed. That race was run in very soft going, but Grant Van Niekerk, who has built up something of an affinity with her, rode her with confidence to win going away by 1,25 lengths. She has gone up 4kgs in the weights on that run, and the collateral form with six of her opponents on Tuesday may hold the key – even if this event is over 200m further.
Legacy
Game Dame
Phillipi trainer Riaan Van Reenen, who is not represented this time, won this race for the past two years with the very capable Windrush mare, A Daughters Legacy. The 2011 Final Fling Stakes was her swansong before retiring for maternal duties in the beautiful Avontuur paddocks. There
Closest to her in the Ladies Mile was Andries Steyn’s gallant hard-knocking seven year old Mystery Dame, who was beaten 2,75 lengths and is now 2kgs better off with Cash Register. Mystery Dame jumps from the best of the draw and after 57 runs, she will probably be driving the float to the races.
Main Aim
Daylami filly Super Elegant, the ride of champion jockey Anton Marcus on this final local raceday of the current season. Marcus and Steyn flopped last Wednesday at the same venue with a fancied double, but this race could see them forget that afternoon very quickly. Super Elegant finished 9,50 lengths behind Cash Register in the Ladies Mile but is also 4kgs better off here. She has lost her form since winning the Victress Stakes in mid-December, when she beat subsequent Greyville 1900 winner Beach Beauty. That is no mean feat, even in receipt of 9kgs, and in her favour is the fact that she has drawn nicely at 3. She is a talented sort who ran fourth over this course and distance in the Paddock Stakes. She may well be crying out for this trip as she gets older and we must bear in mind that she ran off a career highest merit rating of 104 in January 2012. Against her is the fact that she may need the going on top, which is not Elegance going to happen, to show her An interesting runner at dou- best. But include her in all calble figure odds is Piet Steyn’s culations.
The last of the six Ladies Mile collaterals is the Mike Bass trained Margaret Court who is 4kgs better off with Cash Register for a 10,75 length beating. The daughter of Lake Coniston has never won beyond the mile and her best form is around 1400m -1600m. Glen Kotzen’s remaining two fillies are both poorly drawn, but the three year old Golden Dawn may be the better. This daughter of Goldmark is held in high esteem by her trainer and confirmed that when winning the Sweet Chestnut Stakes going away in April. Her subsequent two starts at feature level over a mile and 2200m, have been somewhat below that. She finished 3,25 lengths behind Rush For John in the Winter Oaks, and meets the Snaith runner at the same weight terms here. Veteran Capetonian Gerrit Schlechter returns from the East to partner her. >> cont. on page 2
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(GB)
Oasis Dream – Orford Miss by Selkirk
Timeform 123
With the equally experienced Fareed Anthony in the saddle, she is a quartet inclusion. Next best were Yogas Govender’s coupling of Rosie Tibb and Approach Me who both contested the Ladies Mile with limited success and look quite pressed to make the frame in this field. They meet Cash Register on the same weight terms for hammerings of 5,85 and 8,60 lengths respectively. That said, Approach Me did run a fair second in an MR 82 Handicap over 2000m at the beginning of May to the subsequent multiple feature winner Feel My Love. She may be a better proposition over this trip. Then Cash Register’s chestnut stablemate Platinum Cat is 4kgs better off here for a 9,10 length beating in the Ladies Mile. This white-socked daughter of Tiger Ridge is drawn right next door and has a good turn of foot that may see her running on when a few are stopping. She is not a slouch when things go her way.
Son of Champion Sprinter OASIS DREAM 6 wins incl 2xGr wins & 8xGr places (1200m -1400m)
HIGHLANDS Tel: Mike Sharkey 082 372 2682 www.highlandsfarmstud.co.za