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Troy Finch
Team Linebacker at the draw – Vaughan Marshall, Jenny Jones, Ken & Jane Truter and Cheryl Gabler enjoy the function
MARSHALL’S MET MAGIC Milnerton master Vaughan Marshall fancies his chances of securing his fourth Met trophy at Kenilworth on Saturday with his multiple Gr1 winner Linebacker primed and ready to fire. With trophies dating back to La Fabulous in 1996, Hill Fifty Four in 2014 and One World in 2020, the now 70 year old former Natalian is the winningmost conditioner in Saturday’s renewal. The senior statesman of the Cape trainers, he says that he is loving the job far too much to even consider retirement. He told the Sporting Post on Tuesday that the hard work
had been done and it was all systems go for the Klawervleibred 4yo. “We will give Linebacker a sprint up on the sand track here at Milnerton on Thursday and then the work is done. He is superbly well, and while I have been in racing too long not to respect my opposition, I feel that he has a massive winning chance,” added the veteran. Regular pilot Grant van Niekerk, who won the Met in 2018 on Oh Susanna for the Snaiths, is back after his personal overseas travel plans were aborted in early January, and Vaughan says that there shouldn’t be any excuses.
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“Grant knows him well and has been aboard at both his Gr1 victories. He really is a versatile horse so I am not worried about the pace either. We are going in with confidence,” he added. Linebacker is currently at 5-1 with Hollywoodbets.
Cover Image The only filly in the 2022 Cape Town Met presented by World Sports Betting field, Marina carries the same silks as 2016 Met winner, Smart Call. Image courtesy of Chase Liebenberg
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Chase Liebenberg
Double Superlative - Guineas champ takes his next step
THE YOUNG GUN There is only one threeyear-old in this year’s R2 million Gr1 Cape Town Met presented by WSB. The Justin Snaith-trained Cape Guineas winner Double Superlative is the first male of his age group to contest the Met under weight-forage conditions. If he wins it might prompt more threeyear-olds to enter the big race because the weight for age conditions might well favour them.
showed three-year-olds perform better than their older counterparts in every month of the season. This could be due to a number of factors and one of them could be that the wfa scale is over generous to three-year-olds throughout the season. In fact when a more comprehensive study done in the UK over a six year period showed a similar trend, the British Horseracing Authority adjusted the wfa scale slightly.
David Thiselton writes on www.goldcircle.co.za that a study done by racing statistician Jay August on handicaps in SA from the 2017/2018 season through the 2020/2021 season
Another factor in favour of three-year-olds in the Met is that in SA, WFA allowances change per month and not per half-month as they do in the UK. If the UK system was used the three-year-olds
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would receive 5.5kg on the last Saturday of January as opposed to the 6kg they do receive. In fact when the Met’s 2013 renewal was rescheduled to February 2 the three-yearold King Of Pain had to carry a whole 1kg more than he would have had to. South African weighting is done in kilograms, and half-a-kilogram is assumed to be one pound. This also gives SA three-year-olds a slight advantage over their UK counterparts because in the Met they receive 6kg as opposed to 12 pounds (5.4kg).
The ground is faster out here too and it could be argued the effect of weight differences is thus not as severe. However, if these factors do advantage three-year-olds, connections have been slow to react because only two three-year-olds have run in the race since it became a wfa event in 2018, despite Oh Susanna winning the first WFA renewal. In fact there have been a scarcity of three-year-olds in the Met for decades.
The famous race has traditionally been run on the same day or, like now, close to the Gr1 Cape Derby and, as there is only one Cape Derby and many Mets, connections would have to regard a threeyear-old to be something out of the ordinary before tackling the Met. Double Superlative in fact becomes the first male threeyear-old to run in the Met under WFA conditions. He has landed a good draw and this scopey colt is full of substance and looks to have
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the potential to be one of those out of the ordinary sophomores who can do it. The first question is whether the opposition such as Do It Again, Kommetdieding, Jet Dark, Linebacker, Marina etc are as good as the horses Gimmthegreenlight faced on WFA terms in 2012, i.e. Igugu and Bravura, and the answer would be every bit as good considering Igugu had an interrupted preparation that year and had to stay under vector protected quarantine conditions.
ON THE MOVE!
Trainer Piet Botha saddles his first Met runner on Saturday when the 6yo longshot Rockin’ Ringo goes to post for passionate lifetime owners, Ron Caris and Barry Nel. While the gelding is an optimistic entry, the connections are proud to have a runner and it’s a case of ‘no ticket,no chance’. “He is very well. Win, lose or draw he will run his heart out,” added the trainer who moved into his new Milnerton barn this week. Piet’s new stable at Milnerton is taking shape
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Chase Liebenberg
MJ puts another subject on the spot! The Kieswetter family and Real Gone Kid – Gr1 Cape Flying Championship in sights
World Pools On Met Day Tote betting on the Gr1 Cape Town Met presented by World Sports Betting racemeeting on Saturday will open on Friday. It will be a Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool platform. The Hong Kong Jockey Club World pools will operate on races 4 through to 11 and apply to Win, Place, Swinger and Quinella bets. TAB will provide a more detailed announcement later this week. The World Pools were popular last year when Gold Circle hosted the Daily
News 2000 meeting and the Marshalls World Of Sport Festival racemeeting. Punters in Hong Kong wagered more than R500 million on the Hong Kong Jockey Club tote on the latter racemeeting, which was held on the last day of the 2020/21 season. The top-turnover race on the day was the Mercury Sprint. Nearly R100 million was wagered, significantly more than any other race and probably due to the presence of rank outsider Pearl of Asia.
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The gelding’s name apparently caught the attention of many Hong Kong punters because he was well backed on the tote and paid R18.10 for a Win after springing a 40-1 surprise and beating 10-1 chance Sakheet by a neck. On Saturday, the R1 million Pongracz Gr1 Cape Flying Championship is one of three elite races on the twelve race programme. David Thiselton reports on www.goldcircle.co.za that Rio Querari is the reigning Equus Champion Sprinter
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and attempts to go one better than last year in the 1000m weight for age event. He has only had one comeback run this season, finishing a close 0,30 length second over 1100m at Kenilworth to the up and coming Real Gone Kid to whom he gave 3kg. He now faces the latter at level weights so should reverse the form on paper. He won his comeback run last season in October but was beaten in his second start by Erik The Red whom he easily beat in the subsequent Cape Flying. However, on the upside he is obviously
being prepared for the Cape Flying and Justin Snaith has been setting new milestones in Grade 1s this summer. Brett Crawford won this race last year with the under the radar Run Fox Run who was heavily supported and shortened from 8/1 into 9/2 before the off and was retired to stud immediately, her mission having been accomplished. He will try and repeat the feat with Real Gone Kid who has won all three of his starts this season and is going for a five-timer. Crawford has won at least one Grade 1 event every season for the last eight
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seasons and this might be his best chance to keep up the sequence, as it was last season. In fact last season ended a sequence of seven multiple Grade 1-winning seasons which shows his expertise in peaking horses for the big ones. The superbly bred Real Gone Kid, by Snitzel out of Gr1winning Jet Master mare In The Fast Lane, is still an entire so this race will be of the upmost importance in order to enhance his value in the stallion barn of his owners Ridgemont Stud.
• Race 4 – Pick 6 Megapool Leg 1 – Carryover R3 000 000 – Likely Pool R10 000 000
• Race 9 – Jackpot Three Leg 1 – Likely Pool R400 000.
• Race 2 – Bipot One Leg1 – Likely Pool R600 000
• Race 5 – Jackpot Two Leg 1 – Likely Pool R750 000 • Race 7 – Bipot Two Leg 1 – Likely Pool R150 000
• Race 12 – Quartet Carryover R100 000 – Likely Pool R500 000.
• Race 3 – Place Accumulator Leg 1 – Likely Pool R1 000 000
• Race 9 – Quartet Maxipool Carryover Over R 500 000 – Likely Pool R2 000 000
All the carryovers for Saturday: • Race 1 – Jackpot One Leg 1 – Likely Pool R250 000
Life’s A Beach!
MJ puts another subject on the spot! 12 For those fortunate enough to crack the nod, the Snaith’s annual pre Met breakfast last Friday was most enjoyable. Image courtesy of Candiese Lenferna.
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14 Team Kommet! Gavin Lerena, Michelle Rix and Ashwin Reynolds pulled the 1 gate at the draw ceremony
Troy Finch
NOT A DRY EYE IN THE HOUSE...IF KOMMET WINS! 15
When the starting gates are sprung shortly after 17h00 at Kenilworth on Saturday as the lengthening shadows form a dramatic backdrop to the thrilling theatre of the 2022 Cape Town Met, no quarter will be given or received. Everybody wants to win the coveted trophy. But they are going to have to literally be on their A plus game to beat hometown hero, Kommetdieding! Not since the halcyon days of Pocket Power has a racehorse so captivated the public attention and imagination on the scale generated by the 2021 Vodacom Durban July winner.
While it will take more than a 360 degree turn at the wheel of the troubled ship SA Racing to sail into calmer waters, a victory for the Michelle Rixtrained colt could be the unscripted real life fairytale that will be the catalyst and extend the often elitist tagged sport’s hand of friendship to the ordinary people on the ground.
When Grassy Park-born owner Ashwin Reynolds, smartly attired in the blue and red of his now very familiar racing silks, stepped forward in the Kenilworth parade ring last Wednesday evening and drew barrier gate 1, it was another indicator that the stars were aligning – not that the barrier gate in the modestly sized field over the Kenilworth 2000m makes too much difference. While some have swiped at the need to harp on race, history reflects that Mr Reynolds became the first person of colour to own a Durban July winner when Kommetdieding paralysed his opposition in Africa’s greatest horseracing event six months
Candiese Lenferna
The fact that Kommetdieding
was a relative ‘cheapie’ in the Klawervlei Farm Sale ring and is owned by a local man who made good from nothing, means that the son of SA Derby winner Elusive Fort represents an aspirational symbol for thousands enduring the daily challenges of life and eking out frugal existences on the means streets of the Cape Flats.
16 Kommetdieding – strides at his July gallop with Gavin Lerena up
ago. The thrilled owner said at the time he was ‘chuffed’ to be part of history. His own life story is one of overcoming the odds. Ashwin's father passed away when he was eight-years-old and he was brought up by his grandfather Titus Reynolds, who introduced him to horseracing. He recalled in an interview with David Thiselton on www. goldcircle.co.za , "He used to allow me to write down the results for the quinpot." Ashwin began working at the age of 16 to support his family and was given his first job by well known horseracing owner Oswald
Fouten. He later saved enough pounds during a two-year stint in the UK where he worked as a labourer to start his currently successful building and maintenance business. His interest in the sport continued when he married into the Barnes family, who owned Jamestown United football club and also loved horseracing. Ashwin made it one of his goals to own a racehorse by the age of 40. He was invited into a syndicate by friend Ricky Achmat and acquired a ten percent share in a Dean Kannemeyer-trained horse called Noordhoek Ice, who won one race.
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Ashwin is on record, describing the excitement of that win and added, "Each and every win is a totally different type of excitement". He continued, "Owning horses is almost like a drug. You then just buy and buy." His first feature winner, also in a syndicate and trained by Kannemeyer, was African Warrior. One day he was sitting at home when veteran Harold Crawford phoned him from a Sale he was attending with his daughter and training partner Michelle Rix, Harold asked if he could buy a horse for him.
"I replied yes but not for more than R80 000. I went around to their yard a few days later and they said to me 'Here's your horse, we got him for R55 000.'" Ashwin was taken aback and replied, "This horse! You bought this ugly horse for me?!"
He admitted, "Such words said in English sounds alright but using it in an Afrikaans sentence it sounds terrible. My Grandfather would have smacked me silly if he heard me using it, it was not the sort of language expected of us, and he is waiting to smack me silly in heaven!"
He continued, "But in the next two weeks he just bloomed and continued to bloom." Ashwin gave the horse his name after being challenged to do so by a friend one day over a couple of drinks.
He added, "When I watch horses gallop, they go 'wrrrrr' past me and all look the same. But Sihle Cele came to me one day and said 'This horse reminds me of Edict Of Nantes' and I then knew I had a good horse."
He explained, "It is Afrikaans slang among the Cape Flats coloured community and it means 'Bring it on' as in 'I'm not scared, bring it on.'"
Ashwin took 33/1 about him on his debut and said, "He actually started at 35/1 because everybody saw Crawford/Rix, Cele, Ashwin Reynolds ..."
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While Sihle Cele has been replaced by Gavin Lerena, the show goes on and there won’t be a dry eye in the house if Kommetdieding delivers the goods. And SA Champion trainer Justin Snaith could yet live to rue his joke at the Wednesday function, where he chirped: “My worst draw on the day could be our box next to Ashwin’s suite on the grandstand. It could be a long Saturday night for us!” The Cape Flats will be partying for a week if Kommetdieding wins the Met. If you are punting with your heart, there is only one horse that could possibly be carrying your dreams!
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Candiese Lenferna
‘Many talented milers have won the Met in the past - prime examples being Sledgehammer and Wolf Power’
Jet Dark - aiming to become the first horse to complete the Queen's Plate/Met double since Futura in 2015
MET – QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS This weekend's running of the Gr1 World Sports Betting Cape Town Met poses a number of interesting questions, not least whether current favourite Kommetdieding can add the Kenilworth showpiece to his Durban July success. Furthermore, will market rival Jet Dark stay the 2000m trip and could Double Superlative become the first sophomore
male winner in 21 years? Let's see if past history can provide us with some pointers. Should Kommetdieding succeed in his quest, he will be the first July winner in a decade to complete the double, the last being Mike de Kock's magnificent filly Igugu. Despite an interrupted preparation and a troubled passage, the 2011 July victress showed true grit when she reeled in pacesetter
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Bravura close home to win the 2012 Met by a half-length, with future champion sire Gimmethegreenlight back in third. In the process she joined triple Met winner Pocket Power, who had forced a famous deadheat with the grey mare Dancer's Daughter in a pulsating finish to the 2008 July. On the other hand July winners who have tried and
failed in the Met over the last decade include Pomodoro (fourth in 2013), Legislate (sixth in 2016), Marinaresco (third in 2018) and of course dual July winner Do It Again, who returns for a fourth crack at the prize. Now seven, his best efforts in three previous attempts were his neck second behind Rainbow Bridge in 2019 and a fourth place twelve months ago. In contrast, four-year-old Jet Dark will be in the Met lineup for the first time. Fresh off a second successive L'Ormarins Queen's Plate victory, the colt will aim to become the first horse to complete the Queen's Plate/ Met double since Futura succeeded back in 2015. Futura strode to a facile
2.25-length victory three weeks after defeating Louis The King by just under a length in the Queen's Plate. Remarkably, his Met victory came twelve years after trainer Brett Crawford had lifted the trophy when Angus won the race in Sabine Plattner's silks. For Futura's part-owner, the late Jack Mitchell, the wait was even longer, 47 years to be exact, as his father Wally had won the Met back in 1968 with Hawaii's accomplished halfbrother William Penn! Others who pulled off the double include such household names as Sledgehammer, Politician, Wolf Power and of course record triple winner Pocket Power. Although Jet Dark has yet
to score over the distance, he did win last season's Gr1 Champions Cup over 1800m and maturity should see him cope with the extra furlong. His connections can also take heart from the fact that many talented milers have won the Met in the past - prime examples being Sledgehammer and Wolf Power. In addition, over the last decade, Past Master (2011), Martial Eagle (2013) and One World (2020), had only scored up to a mile prior to their Met success. Besides, Jet Dark is out of mare by Jet Master, the sire of three Met winners and broodmare sire of dual winner Rainbow Bridge, who sadly will be missing from this year's line-up following his untimely Troy Finch
MJ puts another subject on the spot! 22 Girl Power! Candice Bass-Robinson waves Marina’s 8 gate ticket at the Met draw last week
retirement after the Queen's Plate.
rivals only Saturday's race will tell.
Significantly, Jet Master is broodmare sire of another fancied runner in Double Superlative. Victorious in the Gr1 Cape Guineas on just his fifth start, Justin Snaith's charge will attempt to break a 22-year drought and become the first three-year-old male winner since Mike de Kock's Badger's Coast defeated El Picha by a neck in the 2000 renewal.
Incidentally, the last threeyear-old to win the Met was a filly, Drakenstein's Oh Susanna, who held off Last Winter and champion Marinaresco in the 2018 renewal. This year's line-up features just one member of the fairer sex in Candice Bass-Robinson-trained fouryear-old Marina.
Snaith has made no secret that he rates Double Superlative highly and as a son of Twice Over, the colt should have no problem staying the 2000m trip. Whether he will be able to cut the mustard against battlehardened, experienced Gr1
A typical, late-maturing daughter of Silvano, her link to the Met is a tangible one, as she is an own sister to Marinaresco, who appropriately was the first Gr1 winner for Candice in her first season as a fully-fledged trainer. Successful in the Gr3 Victress
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Stakes two runs back, Marina most recently flew for third in her Met prep when beaten two heads in the Gr1 Cartier Paddock Stakes over 1800m. While many will feel that she could be found wanting in this company, one shouldn't forget that she took on the boys in last season's Gr3 Variety Club Mile and finished third, beaten less than a length. One thing is for sure, she will be running on when the whips come out and is just the type to take advantage of any chinks in the armour of her male rivals.
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Candiese Lenferna
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Captain Al’s son Captain Fontane runs in the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship on Saturday
MET - A CAPTAIN OF A DAY! Now deceased multiple champion sire Captain Al (Al Mufti) looks set for a memorable, posthumous Met day at Kenilworth this Saturday. The former Cape Guineas winner is well represented,
both as a sire and broodmare sire, with the former Klawervlei Stud resident poised to make a big impression in a number of feature races on Met day. In the Gr3 Cape Racing Politician Stakes, Captain Al's G3 Kenilworth Fillies
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Nursery winning daughter, Wheredowego, is represented by her progressive son, Senso Unico (Twice Over), a winner of two of five starts to date. Captain Al is no stranger to enjoying success in the Gr1
Cape Flying Championship (sponsored this year by Pongracz), with his son, Sergeant Hardy, landing the 2018 Cape Flying Championship, his champion daughter, Carry On Alice, victorious in the 2017 renewal, and his champion son, Kasimir, successful in the 2019 race.
with yet more posthumous big race success.
Kasimir will again represent his sire in this year's 1000m feature, as well another regally bred son of Captain Al, Captain Fontane.
Captain's Ransom is one of two Majorca Stakes winners for Captain Al (whose half-sister, Shadow Dancing, won the race in 2005) thus far, with the latter also responsible for former Majorca winner, Snowdance.
The champion son of Al Mufti is also well represented in Saturday's Gr1 Schweppes Majorca Stakes, with his brilliant, recent Gr1 Cartier Paddock Stakes winning daughter, Captain's Ransom. Winner of the 2021 Majorca Stakes, Captain's Ransom looks set to provide her sire
Captain Al is very well represented as a broodmare sire in the Schweppes Majorca Stakes, with his daughters, Princess Royal (Princess Calla), Betty Burke (Pretty Betty) and Earth's Orbit (Mercury Rising).
Already sire of a pair of Met winners in Hill Fifty Four and One World, Captain Al is represented both as a sire of sires and as a broodmare sire in the 2022 Gr1 World Sports Betting Cape Town Met. His champion sprinter son, Captain Of All, is responsible for Met
contender, Linebacker, while Captain Al's stakes placed daughter, Adorable, is dam of current Met favourite, Kommetdieding (Elusive Fort). Captain Al could also make his mark in Friday's Fairview Merchants. Not only is he sire of Merchants entries, Al Qaasim and Regimental, but his sons, Captain Of All and William Longsword, both have horses entered in the Merchants, while Captain Al mare, Petala, is the dam of promising three-year-old, Whatever Next. Captain Al mares continue to impress at stud -with the late sire's daughter Sovereign Flo dam of Saturday's very impressive winner Supreme Warrior.
Klawervlei Se Kaptein Captain Al spent his entire stallion career at Klawervlei. It all started in 1918, when Ralph Koster, John Koster’s grandfather, arrived from Germany and set up Klawervlei. The farm was originally only a sheep farm and was situated outside Beaufort West in the Karoo. In 1953, Ralph started introducing broodmares onto the farm and Klawervlei Stud came into being. He imported broodmares from the best Irish and English bloodlines. They became
the backbone and genetic pillars of the stud today. The Klawervlei broodmare band has been expanded more recently under the stewardship of John. Peter Koster, John’s Dad, continued this legacy in building up Klawervlei. In 1981, John Koster, in collaboration with his father Peter Koster, bought and built up the current Klawervlei Stud in Bonnievale. 26 The multiple champion breeders today are based at
Wagenboomheuwel farm on the banks of the Breede River east of Bonnievale, a village in the BAR valley. This area has traditionally been associated with the breeding of high-quality racehorses. These traits are procured predominantly as a result of climatology and soil type. Not only is the area known as a high-quality breeding ground, but the farm is also situated against the most breathtaking mountains and rivers.
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Klawervlei kingpin Captain Of All – Linebacker set to carry his flag
KLAWERVLEI – CAPTAINS OF ALL! It’s a busy few weeks ahead for John Koster and his champion Klawervlei team. They have an exciting Met day on Saturday and then a week later they will be aiming to make waves with a high quality draft in the CTS De Grendel Cape Premier Yearling Sale arena. Klawervlei have an outstanding record in the Cape flagship race and are well represented in the
2022 Met renewal by the fancied Kommetdieding and Linebacker, the latter a son of their top sire, Captain Of All. “It is extremely satisfying that Captain Of All has produced a horse in the highest calibre of Linebacker. He was very close to being nominated horse of year last year. It is going to be an epic race, with great horses participating against each other. May it be a trouble-free race and may they all come
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home safe.” Klawervlei Stud's successful sire, and former champion sprinter, Captain Of All (Captain Al), has made a superb start to his stud career. He is steadily climbing the stallion log and now sits at 12th place on the active sires table in SA. South Africa's Leading First Season Sire of 2018-2019, Captain Of All's eye catching
first crop was headed by dual Gr2 stakes winner SHANGO, stakes winning two-year-olds CAPTAIN ANNE BONNY and WHAT YOU ARE, and millionaire CARTEL CAPTAIN. The Equus Champion's second crop was equally impressive, with Captain Of All's second crop topped by G1 Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby/Gr1 Daily News 2000 winner LINEBACKER, Gr2 Pospack SA Fillies Nursery queen SPRINGS OF CARMEL, and the stakes placed two-yearolds CAPTAIN'S FLO and EMBLEM OF HOPE. Captain Of All also has some talented three-year-olds this season, including the likes of CAPTAIN LANNISTER and the record-breaking CAPTAIN'S RUN. Captain Of All has some very well bred yearlings on offer at the upcoming Cape Premier Yearling Sale.
Lot 33 c Captain Of All -Elusive Spirit Bred on a similar cross to the Captain Al sired graded stakes winners DOOSRA, EMERALD COVE and FIORELLA, this colt, a half-brother to a winner, is out of a five time winning half-sister to Gr2 Betting World 1900 winner ELUSIVE SILVA (Silvano) and Listed Jockey Club Stakes runner up ESTEEMAL. The latter was sired by Captain Of All's own sire, making this colt very closely related indeed to Esteemal. This colt's granddam is a winning full-sister to Equus Champion, and very much inform sire, ELUSIVE FORT (Fort Wood), and this is the famous "E" family. Lot 38 c Captain Of All -Epsom Downs This colt is out of Listed Oaks Trial winner EPSOM DOWNS (Tiger Ridge). Bred on the same cross as the stakes placed CAPTAIN'S FLO
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(Captain Of All), this colt's granddam is a twice winning half-sister to Gr1 winning champion KOCHKA (Black Minnaloushe), whose sire, like Tiger Ridge, was sired by STORM CAT (Storm Bird). Lot 62 c Captain Of All -In Other Words This colt is out of a stakes placed, seven time winning TRIPPI (End Sweep) halfsister to Gr1 Cape Derby third BUCKED OFF (Casey Tibbs). His granddam is a twice winning own sister to Victress Stakes winner NIGHT SIGHT (Caesour) and she is also closely related to the Caesour sired Gr2 SA Fillies Classic winner CAUGHTINTHESLIPS -who produced Gr3 winner DOOSRA to the cover of Captain Of All's sire Captain Al.
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JC Photos
Richard Fourie gets Aragosta up in the final stride
ANOTHER RAFEEF ACE Visiting Cape jock Richard Fourie produced a peach of a ride to deliver the favourite Aragosta at the right moment to nab free-striding stablemate Clafoutis in the last stride and give Mike de Kock an exacta in Saturday’s Gr3 Sea Cottage Stakes at Turffontein.
delivered the bacon at evens, albeit in a heartstopping final swoop.
Only eight 3yo’s lined up in the R250 000 Highveld classic season curtain raiser, and with Aragosta’s victory over the 1800m at his penultimate jump, and a smart third behind Safe Passage in the Dingaans at his last start, he looked a worthy favourite and duly
But Fourie is a master and he timed his effort to perfection, producing Aragosta from some lengths off in the 1800m contest to win going away by a quarter length in a time of 111,60 secs.
After the two fillies Shing Armour and Clafoutis has cut the fractions early on, it was the latter who looked a winner late as she stayed on strongly in the final stages of the long home straight.
Clafoutis (6-1) was full merit for a gutsy effort in second, while Hollywood Syndicate’s 34
Platinum Sky (9-2) stayed on a further two lengths back in third, and may be looking for further. A R220 000 National Yearling Sale graduate, Aragosta made it 3 wins with 1 place from his 5 starts for stakes of R286 385. Bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein, Aragosta scored another milestone for Rafeef, SA’s leading first season sire of 2020/21. Rafeef registered his first graded stakes success when William Robertson won the Gr3 Tony Ruffel Stakes over 1400m on New Year’s Day.
The blue blooded Ridgemont Highlands champion, a fullbrother to Equus Champion and Gr1 SA Nursery winner Mustaaqeem, is one of more than 170 stakes winners sired by multiple champion
Australian sire Redoute’s Choice, and he is out of former South African Horse Of The Year National Colour. Aragosta is out of the Galileo mare Miss Galidora, who was
placed over 2000m at 3 in the UK in 2 starts. She is a half sister to French Guineas winner Clodovil. She throws stamina into the mix!
The Merits Mike de Kock’s 3yo Aragosta has had his merit rating increased from 105 to 109 following his success in the Gr3 Sea Cottage Stakes for three-year-olds over 1800m on the inside track at Turffontein on Saturday 22 January.
The Handicappers were of the view that 4th placed CASTLETOWN made for the most suitable line horse when assessing this race, which leaves him unchanged on a mark of 99. Runner-up Clafoutis has had her rating raised from 99
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to 103, while 3rd finisher Platinum Sky goes up from 94 to 104. There were no further ratings increases, and no horse was given a rating’s drop as a result of this race.
Electric Start Canford Cliffs up and running with first South African bred winner
BODY ELECTRIC A first foal out of Listed winning mare, Leaves Of Grass, was simply electric when dominating the field by five lengths at Kenilworth Racecourse.
CANFORD CLIFFS has sired winners in over 30 countries, with over R320million in stakes won.
Craig Carey | E: craig@ridgemont.co.za36| M: +27 (0) 82 654 5169 | w w w .r id g em o n t h ig h l a n d s .c o .z a
CANFORD’S POETRY IN MOTION! Ridgemont Highlands’ multiple Gr1 winning stallion Canford Cliffs celebrated his first SA-bred winner when his daughter Body Electric turned on the jets to record a facile victory on her 1000m debut at a sizzling Kenilworth on Sunday. With only seven runners from his first SA crop having seen the racecourse, Canford Cliffs, who was recently recognised by Timeform, as one of the greatest milers to grace the turf this century, looks to make a big impact. Body Electric’s impressive pace would have thrilled the Kieswetter family after the champion farm’s exciting young Redoute’s Choice stallion Rafeef marked his second stakes winner in a matter of weeks when his son Aragosta won the Gr3 Sea Cottage Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday. Bred by Ridgemont Highlands, Body Electric is out of the stakes winning Poet’s Voice mare Leaves Of Grass. The fact that she is bred to go a mile plus made her success all the more impressive as she stormed clear to win unextended by 4,50 lengths in a time of 58,93 secs.
A ‘straightforward sort’ in the words of trainer Candice BassRobinson, she handed her opposition a galloping lesson. “She certainly has been forward in her work and her gallop suggested she could be competitive today. She has a lovely temperament like many of the Canford Cliffs progeny,” said a clearly impressed Ridgemont jockey Greg Cheyne, who had time to pose for the camera at the line. The winner is raced in partnership by Ridgemont and Wehann Smith, and went through the Cape Premier Yearling Sale ring, with the gavel falling at R300 000. Ridgemont Highlands boss Wayne Kieswetter was on course. “’The Canford Cliffs progeny have produced some close seconds and even a course record-breaker by a runner-up in Fairview! His second crop should be even better as we were supporting Dynasty in that first year. I’m really happy that Candice and her team trained the first locally-bred winner as she has had good success with the sire previously,”said Mr Kieswetter. Europe’s dominant miler at three and four, Canford Cliffs
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won five consecutive Gr1 races over the trip. His splendid Gr1 treble of the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes (over multiple Gr1 winner Dick Turpin) and Sussex Stakes (over champion Rip Van Winkle), saw him rated the top three-year-old miler in England and Ireland. He signed off with a second to the mighty Frankel in the Gr1 Sussex Stakes and was voted the champion older miler in Europe in 2011, receiving a Timeform rating of 133. Retired to Coolmore Stud in 2012, the son of Tagula did shuttle duty between Ireland and Australia until his purchase by Ridgemont Highlands. He has produced winners in over 30 countries, including more than 40 stakes perfomers. Canford Cliffs has nine lots on the CTS De Grendel Cape Premier Yearling Sale on 6 February.
JUST NOT WRIGHT A KZN jockey has felt the full might of the National Horseracing’s Authority’s wrath, despite the fact that he appears to have genuinely erred rather than intentionally conspired to commit an offence. Gareth Wright’s family are rallying round to garner support to assist him. A clearly upset Karen Wright told the Sporting Post on Tuesday that while she respected the racing regulator’s role in enforcing rules, she did not believe that her son warranted the level of financial punishment meted out for his underweight contravention. The impact on his financial position, coupled with his current injuries, was potentially devastating. The Sporting Post reported in October last year that a hundred gram underweight on a hot KZN raceday day cost jockey Gareth Wright a month’s earnings. But the penalty has taken on greater gravity after his appeal failed. Please read the full story here
FASTER VORSTER! Adelaide-based jockey Barend Vorster is enjoying a purple patch of form that shows little sign of abating. His red-hot run extended to a rain-soaked Gawler on Saturday with a winning treble. The leading hoop has now banked eight city winners in two weeks, riding at 42 per cent runners to winners in 2022, reports racingsa.com.au. As a result of his flying start to the year which included a five-win haul, Vorster has moved just three wins behind Jason Holder on the Adelaide Rider’s Premiership for 2021-22. Vorster recorded a double in combination with Victorian horseman Mark Webb when Miss Gobcain and Ocean Reward justified their cross-border raid while he was also aboard the Stuart Padman-trained Montign who continued his progression to make it consecutive Gawler victories. Vorster’s next opportunity to add to his tally will be on Saturday at Morphettville’s Durbridge Stakes meeting.
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ARROWFIELD MILESTONE The gutsy win by Arrowfield-bred Inglis Easter graduate Stronger in Sunday’s HK$12 million Gr1 HKJC Centenary Sprint Cup brought up the eigthieth individual Gr1 graduate in Arrowfield’s 36year history. Bred by Arrowfield & long-time breeding partner Planette Thoroughbred, Stronger is one of three winners so far left by Star Pupil, a winning Starcraft daughter of the fine racemare and excellent producer Ain’t Seen Nothin’. Star Pupil has a yearling filly by Pariah and a 2021 filly by Snitzel. Arrowfield and Planette are also breeding from two other daughters of Ain’t Seen Nothin’: Farsight (by All American) and Taste of Honey (by Dundeel), while Glentree has bred Dundeel’s talented son Ain’tnodeeldun from a fourth daughter, Star Pupil’s stakes-winning sister Ain’tnofallenstar. Stronger brought up several other milestones; he is: Not A Single Doubt’s sixteenth individual Gr1 winner and his sixth stakes-winner this season. 13-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey Douglas Whyte’s first Group 1 winner as a trainer. The second Gr1 winner (after Instant Celebrity, also by Not A Single Doubt) among 15 stakeswinners out of emerging broodmare sire Starcraft. The fourth Gr1-winning graduate of Arrowfield’s yearling Class of 2018, following Castelvecchio (sold at Inglis Classic). The fourth Arrowfield graduate Group 1 winner this season, after Profondo, Yearning and Hitotsu. The fifth Gr1 winner bought for A$1 million+ from Arrowfield at Inglis Easter since 2007 – after Estijaab, Mustaaqeem, Wandjina and Master Of Design.
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JC Photos
Heavenly Blue wins the SA Classic
FIRST HEAVENLY BLUE IN RING
Drs. Ashley and Rose Parker of Ascot Stud have three well-related representatives at this year’s Cape Premier Yearling Sale, including the first ever offering by freshman stallion Heavenly Blue (AUS), a son of the Australian powerhouse Snitzel. Ashley Parker noted: Lot 79: Colt by Global View (USA) – Light on Her Toes “He is by Global View (USA)
- who had four winners just last week and is on a very good run - from a Graded-placed mare by Gimmethegreenlight. He hails from a very good Gr1 family.” Lot 173: Colt by Fire Away (USA) – West Wacker “A big strong colt by Wilgerbosdrift’s first-season sire Fire Away (USA), from West Wacker, by Western Winter. He is from the close family of Silver Arc; walks extremely well.”
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Lot 184: Filly by Heavenly Blue (AUS) – Al Bella “Her sire was a Gr1 winner, and her dam is an Al Mufti mare from the potent stakes family of Shadow Dancing. She is really scopey and beautiful, and should attract plenty of interest in the sales ring.” The sale will be held at De Grendel Estate on Sunday 6 February.
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MAINE CHANCE’ PREMIER NOTEBOOK The Maine Chance Stud manager Tim Bootsma provided the Sporting Post with his De Grendel CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale notebook. It makes for interesting reading and the champion farm’s record for quality over decades speaks for itself.
LOT 23 – COSMIC WIND(FILLY) COSMIC LIGHT/WILLIAM LONGSWORD Early foal from Gr2 winning COSMIC LIGHT, a daughter of QUERARI who is the damsire of this year’s Fillies Guineas winner CHANSONETTE Early and a speed machine!
LOT 2 – BAVARIAN BEAUTY (FILLY) BANDOLA/QUERARI(GER) Bred on the highly successful Querari/Silvano cross which has already produced the Gr2 winners WONDERWALL and COSMIC LIGHT. Scopey, racy filly.
LOT 27 – DAILY EXPRESS(COLT) DAILY FLIGHT/VAR(USA) From a stakes placed JET MASTER mare who hails from a family of speed. The only Var on the sale – a strong and correct colt.
LOT 6 – BOHEMIAN GROVE(COLT) BELLA SPUMANTE/ QUERARI(GER) Sharp colt from SAF’s leading sire of juveniles from a stakes winning speed mare Big strong precocious colt. LOT 15 – CAT’S MEOW(FILLY) CAT’S PAW/POMODORO From a family of sprinters. Half sister to stakes winner Celtic Voyager and facile juvenile winner CARTEL BOSS, both exported. Strong, good-looking sort.
LOT 51 – FLAMBOYANT FLYER(FILLY) FREQUENT FLYER/ ERUPT(IRE) From a multiple Gr1 placed dam and the half sister to Hong Kong winner BEAR AGAIN. By the first freshman sire to have a juvenile winner this term. LOT 53 – GALAXY ROSE(FILLY) GALLICA ROSE/WILLIAM LONGSWORD From a very well performed dam, late foal which has plenty improvement to come Smart looking precocious filly – moves well!
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LOT 55 – KING OF THE GAULS(COLT) GRANDE ROCHE(AUS)/ VERCINGETORIX A second foal by SAF’s leading sire and from a winning HIGH CHAPPARAL mare, who is the daughter of an Australian Gr1 winner. One of only three Vercingetorix progeny on sale. LOT 73 – LA HORCHATA(FILLY) LA CALLISTO/HORIZON Half sister to stakes placed LA QUINTA, by the next son of DYNASTY at stud LOT 76 – LORD QUINN(COLT) LADY SEYMOUR/ QUERARI(GER) Bred on the highly successful Querari/Silvano cross which has already produced the Gr2 winners WONDERWALL and COSMIC LIGHT. Early foal from a fantastic family of speed. Scopey, athletic, good mover. LOT 107 – POINTDEXTER(COLT) PAMPERO/ERUPT(IRE) Strong colt from the family of PUNTA ARENAS and top three year old POMP AND POWER. Sire is off the mark early with
a winner and several placed horses already. Good substance – a really nice individual. LOT 117 – POP SONG(FILLY) PRITTI/VERCINGETORIX By SAF’s leading sire and from a daughter of TRIPPI, fast becoming a very influential broodmare sire. From the
family of PUNTA ARENAS and POMP AND POWER Moves well, good sized filly. LOT 118 – QUESTION OF FAITH(COLT) QUIPPI/ERUPT(IRE) A half brother to the talented QUEEN OF SHADOWS and placed debutante QUANDARY. From a daughter of the very influential broodmare sire TRIPPI. Family of Querari.
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Strong good looking colt! LOT 159 – THE NIGHT FERRY(COLT) TIA/TWICE OVER By in form sire TWICE OVER, this colt is the first foal of TIA who is the full sister to TELLINA Athletic colt!
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Lot 77 is a racy, precocious colt by exciting new sire, Danon Platina
SOETENDAL GO PREMIER!
The industry leaders in pre-training and preparing horses for Ready to Run sales, Julia Pilbeam and her Soetendal have also prepared horses for yearling sales on a small scale in the past. “This is the first time we are consigning horses to the
Cape Premier Yearling Sale, and have been supported by both existing long-term clients and new clients, on whose behalf we are preparing the yearlings,” Julia Pilbeam told the Sporting Post. She adds that the draft to go through the De Grendel sales ring on Sunday 6 February is
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a mix of new stallions and older, more established stallions. “There are some excellent families represented, and some very athletic horses on offer,” adds the seasoned horsewoman with a glint in her eye.
The Soetendal graduates have made their mark and Street Outlaw, a 2021 CTS Ready to Run Sale product, was an impressive winner of his first start and is a runner in the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes on Met Day. Other exciting Soetendal pretraining graduates running on Met Day include Senso Unico, Universal and Waiting for Summer in the Politician Stakes; Doublemint and Holy Warrior in the Western Cape Stayers; and Mr Cobbs in the Cape Flying Championship. Julia’s De Grendel CPYS Notebook:
Lot 14: Master Of My Fate ex Cashmere ‘n Caviar filly: We’re excited to have a Master Of My Fate filly on the sale, with his fillies firing so well over the last season. She’s from a black type Fort Wood mare (already the dam of three other winners), from the family of Legislate. This filly has a beautiful head and a bold eye, and is a fluent mover. She is quite typical of her sire and still has plenty of maturing to come. Lot 22: Pomodoro ex Coral Colour colt: A half-brother to the top filly, Basadi Faith. The dam is 100% winners to runners, and
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this smart colt looks sure to follow in their footsteps. He’s powerful, with a great hindquarter and shoulder, and has a lot of his broodmare sire, Captain Al, about him. Lot 48: Futura-Fragrant Breeze colt: A son of exciting young stallion, Futura, from an incredible family that has bred Victory Moon, William Longsword and Real Princess, among others. He’s a half-brother to a stakesplaced filly, and has plenty of scope and depth. He was born on 9 November and will just get better and better.
Lot 56: Captain of All-Hold Fast colt: There’s a lot to like about this strong, muscular son of Captain of All. His dam has produced four winners from four runners so far and is from the family of Champion Two Year Old, Forward Filly. This colt walks exceptionally well. Lot 57: Fire AwayHollywood Strip filly: Out of a half-sister to Hollywoodboulevard, this is an imposing filly by the very well-related first season sire, Fire Away. She has great depth and a big engine! Lot 71: Master Of My FateKiribati colt: Out of a stakes-winning Model Man mare, from the family of Indian Squaw and Yorker. He walks well, and being a November colt will continue growing into his frame. Lot 77: Danon Platina-Lady Val colt: A racy, precocious colt by exciting new sire, Danon Platina. His blue-blooded dam, by High Chaparral from a Giant’s Causeway mare, is
from a prolific winner-producing line which includes multiple stakes winners Intelligence Cross and Sweet Orange. Lot 83: Time Thief-Lunar Landing colt: From a half-sister to the dam of Magical Wonderland and Magico, this classy, athletic colt is going to mature into a lovely specimen. Lot 90: Potala Palace-Miss Aphrodite colt: This scopey colt is by the sire of Katak, from the family of Cataloochee. He’s grown a lot during his prep and will continue to develop. Lot 96: Danon Platina-My Lovely colt: A most attractive colt standing over ground, with good rein, he’s hard to fault and is a good advert for his sire, Danon Platina. Lot 123: Captain Of All-Royal Yacht colt: A later developing November foal, he stands over ground with some class about him. He’s a brother to four winners and his dam, by proven broodmare sire Caesour, hails from the tremendous family of Captain America and Kommetdieding.
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Lot 168: Captain of AllVanda filly: Out of a full sister to Champion Two Year Old, Link Man, this filly looks racy and precocious, there’s a lot to like about her. Lot 180: Trippi-Yoshie filly: One of only two Trippi fillies on the sale, she is out of the tough 13-time black type winning mare Yoshie. The mare’s first and only runner to date, the highly rated Cleaver Greene, won his first start by over 4 lengths. Lot 181: Quasillo-Zinthle colt: A good walker with substance, this imposing colt is by exciting young sire, Quasillo, who from only 8 runners in his first crop sired two black type performers. From a Silvano mare, this colt looks like a classic type.
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1979 Met - Breathtaking! One of the great Met finishes dates back to 1979 when Politician completed the double to beat the filly Festive Season in a thriller. Carrying top weight again – this time under 58,5kg – Politician became boxed as they swept into the home straight. There was nowhere
for him to go and with 200 m of the race left the chances of him getting a run let alone winning looked impossible.
to catch the champion filly Festive Season just short of the post and beat her by half a length.
But the strapping chestnut was not to be denied and virtually finding his own way through the orses ahead of him he produced an explosive burst of breathtaking acceleration
It took another 30 years for Politician’s feat of back-toback J&B Met wins to be emulated. It came in 2007 in the shape of Pocket Power.
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- Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden
n Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies -
Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies
Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golden Oldies - Golde
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Airborne! Shishkin and jockey Nico de Boinville storm to victory
SHEW! SHISHKIN SUPERB
A wide margin victory on Sunday at Thurles and a titanic finish at Ascot on Saturday were the final starts for three of National Hunts star names before the championship races at Cheltenham in March. Allaho shortened to 5-4 favourite for a repeat victory in the Gr1 Ryanair Chase at the Festival after a performance of complete authority in defending his crown when winning the Gr2 Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles.
The giant French-bred was a little rusty over the first couple of fences, but thereafter he warmed to his task and from halfway the result looked a formality. A spectacular jump two out had all of his rivals under the pump to make inroads into his lead, and he was full of running as he cruised home. He came home 12 lengths clear of Fakir D'Oudairies, the same margin of victory he enjoyed over that rival in last year's Ryanair Chase.
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Trainer Willie Mullins said: “For him, I thought he was very iffy over the first few fences and maybe he needed a bit of company. He didn't really start to jump until about the fourth or fifth fence.” "Paul said he was only really warming up coming down the straight and was flying at the finish. He was a bit more positive on him today.” “That's probably it now until Cheltenham and I would imagine the Ryanair will be his target.”
At Ascot a day earlier, racing pundits and commentators were describing one of the races of the century as the English two-mile chaser, Shishkin narrowly denied the until then unbeaten Irish chaser be a length going away.
jumped them fast, while Shishkin was not quite as slick, but he stayed close off the pace, no more than around two to three lengths off the Irish raider throughout most of the contest.
“I thought we were starting to get him going to the last and after that he’s just motored away,” De Boinville said. “All credit to the horses in behind him, because that was one of the best races I’ve ever been involved in.”
Shishkin’s jockey Nico de Boinville said it was one of the best races he had ever been a part of after winning the Clarence House Chase at Ascot.
The unrelenting pace drew an error from Shishkin midway, as he pecked badly on landing, with De Boinville very good to stay aboard. Energumene pressed on upfront climbing on the way home from Swinley Bottom.
The race with its compelling finish, delivered on all the pre-race hype and more. Two unbeaten records over fences were on the line going into the contest, with the race taking place at Ascot before the Festival.
Clearing the last down the side, last year’s winner First Flow was left behind and Shishkin was hard at work with two fences remaining to stay with the leader as the noise from the crowd could be heard building in the stands.
"Energumene ran his heart out and Paul gave him a terrific ride,” he said. “Nico de Boinville was excellent on Shishkin and, of course, Shishkin did what he always does. He pretends to be beaten and then he nabs you on the line, although, to be fair, he usually does it a bit earlier than that.”
The Ascot crowd packed in around the paddock to see the runners limber up and then filled the lawns in front of the stands to watch them compete.
Into the straight and two out, Shishkin still trailed and Energumene was pouring it on up front. At the final fence, it was still the Irish challenger who was clear, as he was with a half a furlong to run.
The performances of Shishkin and Energumene were enough for both sets of connections to ensure they meet once more in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham.
But it was the relentless Shishkin, the tenacious champion who fought his way back to lead in the shadow of the post and go on to claim victory. De Boinville saluted in victory, Townend to his credit congratulated De Boinville a few strides after the winning post.
As winning trainer Nicky Henderson declared: “The nice thing is there is going to be a rematch now,” There’s nothing between them and if we can both get them there it’s going to be fascinating and a lot of fun.”
As expected, once the race started, champion jockey Paul Townend wasted no time going forward on Energumene, asking Shishkin to come by and beat him – if he could. Energumene jumped his fences efficiently and he
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Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins was left to ponder the tactics on how to reverse the result in six-weeks’ time.
HKJC
Vincent Ho and Doug Whyte celebrate
WHYTE – GR1 LIGHTNING! Revered as the most successful rider in Hong Kong racing history with 13 jockeys’ championships and a record 1813 wins, Douglas Whyte forged new territory on Sunday when Stronger provided the South African with his first major victory as a trainer with success in the Gr1 Centenary Sprint Cup. The diminutive chestnut upstaged Gr1 LONGINES
Hong Kong Sprint champion Sky Field by a head under Vincent Ho after a protracted battle over the final 400 metres, with another Gr1 winner Hot King Prawn a further half length away in third place. Whyte’s satisfaction was manifold, joining the select ranks of trainers to have succeeded at Gr1 level in Hong Kong, while the success also vindicated his faith in a horse he has repeatedly praised
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for his honesty despite his relative size. “I’ve had numerous amount (of G1) wins as a jockey, so to get the first one on the board as a trainer is great. I’ve been stiff a few times, but it’s a good feeling,” said Whyte, who accumulated more than 20 major victories as a jockey. “Stronger came out of that International run significantly injured. He was lucky to get away with the (leg) injuries
that he had, but he pulled through and we sent him up to Conghua for a while and brought him back and trialled him and got his confidence back. “Since that trial, he hasn’t put a foot wrong. “He’s been a bit unlucky, he’s been a bridesmaid a few times, he’s had a few excuses but today everything went his
way and he can do something like that when he gets the run he got today. “His trial last week he indicated he would arrive in great shape but, I tell you, today was the longest 400 metres of my life so far. The winning move was putting him to sleep and coming out wide and the second horse (Sky Field) had to come around us and sort of push us along.
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“Look, he was vulnerable but he dug deep and that’s all that matters. It was a very long 400 metres.” Stronger finished fifth in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint on 12 December, suffering severe interference on the home turn.
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results up to: 2022-01-25
TRAINERS Name
Runs
Wins Win%
669 530 391 250 592
Mr S J Snaith Mr P A Peter Mr S G Tarry Mr M F de Kock Mr G D Smith
91 98 44 50 66
13.6. 18.5 11.3 20.0 11.1
Other Places Place %
Win Stake (R)
Total Stakes (R)
146 110 65 50 107
46.5 46.0 36.1 46.0 39.7
6,439,025 5,658,313 3,427,625 3,164,938 2,777,813
9,164,038 8,257,063 4,890,813 4,446,500 4,361,888
3rd
Other Places Place %
Win Stake (R)
Total Stakes (R)
105 72 82 62 64
153 119 151 91 109
7,334,125 10,862,163 6,236,575 8,607,713 4,397,750 7,281,525 4,590,300 6,599,025 3,152,700 5,445,275
2nd
3rd
82 78 37 37 69
83 56 39 28 59
2nd 125 74 88 74 67
311 244 141 115 235
JOCKEYS Name
Rides Wins Win%
Mr W B Kennedy Mr S Khumalo Mr M A Yeni Mr R D Fourie Mr K de Melo
804 608 720 431 484
139 103 85 84 62
17.3 16.9 11.8 19.5 12.8
383 265 321 227 240
47.6 43.6 44.6 52.7 49.6
BREEDERS Name
B.T. B.T. Total Runrs Runs AEPR Wnrs Wins Winrs/ Places Winrs Wins Stakes (R) Rnrs %
Wilgerbosdri� & Mauritzfontein Klawervlei Stud Drakenstein Stud (Nom: Mrs G A Rupert) Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd Ridgemont Highlands
237 862 281 1062
41,658 30,220
93 122 80 97
39.2 355 28.5 414
7 3
8 4
9,872,888 8,491,688
128 117 93
49,570 42,377 41,983
49 42 38
38.3 192 35.9 181 40.9 177
10 2 2
10 2 2
6,344,900 4,958,063 3,904,425
B.T. Wins
Total Stakes (R)
9 5 1 5 1
6,161,363 5,490,625 5,331,238 5,166,238 5,041,650
465 435 369
70 59 49
SIRES Name Vercingetorix Gimmethegreenlight (AUS) Master Of My Fate * Silvano (GER) What A Winter
Runrs Runs AEPR 125 148 147 129 144
447 500 582 457 517
49,291 37,099 36,267 40,048 35,011
B.T. Wnrs Wins Winrs/ Places Winrs Rnrs % 54 50 52 51 51
70 66 65 64 68
43.2 33.8 35.4 39.5 35.4
185 191 270 197 219
See all the detailed standings - Click here 67
7 5 1 5 1
LATE NIGHT DABBLES! 68
It’s a sort of weird international break this weekend, is it a winter break? Circuit breaker? Is it the universe forcing all of us in world football to cast our attention and our focus to the AFCON?
simply, something foreign. They have been battered by almost everyone who has visited, and I don’t think that changes here.
Ryan Liberty writes that nevertheless, it is an opportunity for some shrewd betting, and who doesn’t enjoy a late night dabble?
1/4 USA | Draw 38/10 | El Salvador 11/1 (02h00)
Friday 28 January 2/1 Paraguay | Draw 33/20 | Uruguay 29/20 (01h00) There isn’t anything eyecatching about the hosts, they’ve been largely inconsistent and usually enjoy operating below the radar. Uruguay would have been disappointed with their loss to Bolivia – and you would imagine they are seeking to make amends here.
I can’t believe Mexico are currently trading at 7/10…get stuck in.
The consistency with which the USA continue to rise in international football has been something to behold and admire. They are a tough nut to crack and, on their day, always look like they can create something. Their defence has been sured up – conceding just three from their last six outings – and I think that’s the difference. El Salvador are winless from six, and whilst they have been poor…they too have made it tough for the opposition to take them apart.
Uruguay fails to score goals and Paraguay have seen their last five of six fixtures without both teams scoring in their games. I reckon under 2.5 goals at 5/10 should be the play.
I think backing the home side to win + under 2.5 goals at 31/20 is the sort of smash and grab we need in January.
4/1 Jamaica | Draw 2/1 | Mexico 7/10 (02:00)
These old rivals will once again lock horns on Friday morning, in what should simply be another endearing encounter. Chile have found comfort recently in keeping teams out and just edging past to win, but against an Argentinian
The idea of exhilarating football, capturing the minds and hearts of the Jamaican people when played on their beautiful island is, quite
29/20 Chile | Draw 18/10 | Argentina 19/10 (02h15)
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side full of attacking threats I’m not sure too much trust will prevail in the ‘old way’. I suspect another cagey affair given the defensive pride of both nations – but the draw looks playable. Get on. 1/1 Costa Rica | Draw 18/10 | Panama 28/10 (04h05) Looking at the last few games above, there is a clear pattern emerging here: if you don’t usually wake up with the chickens (my grandmother always said that…so don’t judge me) I wouldn’t be in any rush setting too many alarms for this one. Neither side have been involved in a thriller since well, ever. However, an interesting fact about Costa Rica – their national anthem plays on their radio every morning! This sort of support and nationalism is likely what they desperately need! At even money, I’m happy to have a punt on the home win. 13/20 Colombia | Draw 21/10 | Peru 42/10 (23h00) This could be the upset we need this weekend… Colombia have been flat when playing at home (winless in nine games) and sort of quietly nestled in a juxtaposition with Peru continuing to notch up the wins and grow in confidence.
Once again, I wouldn’t hold my breath for a thriller here given neither side have been involved in a game which has seen over 2.5 goals from the last 14 fixtures across both nations. I wouldn’t discourage a punt on the Peruvian nose, but given their inconsistency in front of goal, I would hedge the bet on the away win/ draw double chance. You can still enjoy odds of 1/1.
Saturday 29 January
glass slipper moment.
7/10 Venezuela | Draw 22/10 | Bolivia 37/10 (00h00)
Bolivia have just lost once from their last six games, and whilst they have played so-called ‘lesser’ teams like Trinidad and Tobago, I don’t think they are going to roll over here.
The hosts justify their favouritism, but only just in my opinion. I think they have enough creativity up front to generate chances and test the Bolivian goal, but their recent form doesn’t exactly stir up provident fund confidence – even if their midnight start time is reminiscent of a particular
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Both teams scoring at even money is more comfortable for me – get onboard.
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