Nine KZN Breds In Four Gr1’s At Scottsville
| Nine KZN Breds In Four Gr1’s At Scottsville |
Nine KZN-breds will be competing in the four big Gr1’s on Saturday in Scottsville, amongst them our young sires’ Visionaire and Just As Well are well represented.
Summerhill’s son of Grand Slam has got off to a cracking start at stud, with a number of juveniles not only winning but anihilating the opposition in the process.
Toreador, a stallion that is consistent has been on a particularly purple patch recently, getting six winners so far just in the month of May. He has a great chance at notching up yet another Gr1 Gold Medallion winner, with 12-length debut victor Prospect Strike.
Visionaire’s progeny will be headed up by the very exciting chestnut filly for 3A Racing Syndicate, Team Valor and Mr and Mrs Vaneshree Singh, the aptly named Royal Pleasure. She goes into the Gr1 Allan Robertson undefeated, including a Gr3 under her belt.
Just As Well is represented with his first winner Just Africa, as yet unplaced from all his starts and winning his last race going away by four lengths.
After coming off a five and half length victory over 1000m at Scottsville for KZN Breeder and trainer Michael Roberts, Class Act by Yellow Star sire Lion Tamer is a reserve in the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship for owner Mrs Verna Roberts. Virgo’s Babe will be looking for her sixth win in the Gr1 South African Fillies Sprint over 1200m, for breeders Midlands Thoroughbreds.
Flyfirstclass and Sheik’s Braashee line up for the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m.
See the trainers comments below for each:
Race 5 Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship
Royal Pleasure (Team Valor)
(Visionaire – Royal Purse by King Of Kings)
Glen Kotzen has a strong hand in the Gr1 Allan Robertson over 1200m at Scottsville Racecourse on Saturday.
The Visionaire filly Royal Pleasure was purchased for just R30,000 and has realised a dream for her part-owners, the popular 3A Racing Syndicate, who have done a lot to promote racing to KZN’s youth. She is full of precocious speed and Kotzen described her as a beautifully balanced and strong filly. She tends to put it in when working, so the yard have just kept her ticking over since the Strelitzia by working her alone. She has landed a plum draw of four and Anton Marcus has retained the ride. She will likely be the filly they are all going to be chasing late in the race. Her second dam Taineberry won over 2400m and produced Jalberry, a stakes-winning sprinter who finished third in the Gr1 Golden Slipper over 1400m, so Royal Pleasure should see out the trip.
Lala
(Visionaire – Hlabelela by Muhtafal)
Speedily-bred Lala, trained by Doug Campbell for owner Albert Rapp, won her debut by almost five lengths at Greyville over 1200m on 1 March. Her second start saw her finish seven lengths off behind Royal Pleasure in the Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes. She will be ridden by Donovan Dillon, jumping from a 10th draw.
Race 6 Gr1 Gold Medallion
Just Africa (Bruce Le Roux)
(Just As Well – Hallo Africa)
Paul Peter’s son of Just As Well, Just Africa takes his place in the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion at Scottsville on Saturday. The colt finished four lengths behind subsequent Gr1 SA Nursery winner Arabian Beat on debut over 1000m and then won his maiden next time out by four lengths also over 1000m.
Peter said, “He has a lot of gate speed but it is his first time beyond 1000m.” His sire was a middle distance horse and his dam-sire Stratum won Australia’s most prestigious two-year-old race, the Gr 1 Golden Slipper over 1200m, so there might be a mixture of stamina and precocious speed.
Just Africa is drawn eight in the ten horse field with Keagan de Melo aboard. Peter said the horse had been doing well. Just As Well, from a handful of runners, already has Black Type with Just As I Said placing in the Storm Bird Stakes Listed.
Jet Air (Team Valor)
(Visionaire – Jet Park by Jet Master)
Robert Fayd’herbe, assistant trainer for the Mike Bass yard, described the Visionaire colt Jet Air as a “nice little horse” and felt the yard had done enough with him “to run a nice race”, but he added that his main aim would be the Gr1 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m on Vodacom Durban July day. In his second start in the maidens in March over 1400m at Kenilworth, he showed fair pace to overcome a wide draw, before sitting in second and winning cosily. He should enjoy the tough 1200m and is a dark horse from draw three. Stable jockey Grant van Niekerk has the ride.
Prospect Strike (Tawny Syndicate)
(Toreador – Prospect Fever by Mr Prospector)
One of the most interestingly bred horses at Saturday’s Scottsville Racecourse Festival Of Speed racemeeting will be the Dominic Zaki-trained Prospect Strike, who displayed his class on debut when waltzing in by 12,75 lengths over 1200m on the Vaal turf. He recorded a fast time that day and could be a big threat in Saturday’s Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville. Zaki said, “His preparation has gone smoothly and he is as fit as a fiddle. I am very happy with him, he is top class.”
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. Prospect Fever had already produced the Gr3-winning Danehill colt Way West, who became known as a speed influential sire at Summerhill Stud.
Way West won an Australian Gr3 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 has an unfavourable high draw, by trends, but there is only a small field of ten runners so it shouldn’t be too much of a disadvantage. Craig Zackey keeps the ride. Prospect Strike sold for R425 000 at the 2014 National Yearling Sale.
Race 7 Gr1 South African Fillies Sprint
Virgo’s Babe
(Malhub – Linzertorte by Special Preview)
Turffontein-based trainer David Nieuwenhuizen has rags-to-riches Malhub filly Virgo’s Babe who could earn a cheque in the Gr1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint over 1200m.
Nieuwenhuizen said that the speedy Michael Leaf-owned four-year-old had needed her last two runs badly and had come on a lot from them. Furthermore, she was caught in the worst going down the middle when finishing a 7,85 length fifth last time out in the Gr2 Camellia Stakes over 1160m at Turffontein. She had some good horses behind her that day including City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint contender Sarve and the crack three-year-old sprinter by Toreador, Lazer Star.
Virgo’s Babe has landed a plum draw of one on Saturday, which by trends is on the favourable side of the Scottsville straight. Niewenhuizen said that the other positive was that she is a filly who is helped by the rail. He believed Muzi Yeni would give her a confident ride and he just hoped that she wouldn’t be squeezed out on the rail.
Virgo’s Babe was from a 2010 crop of just three foals produced by Malhub. She turns in, an apparent trait of Malhub’s progeny, and went through the ring unsold before originally being leased for just R10,000.
She has caused a massive big race upset before as she won the Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery for Nieuwenhuizen by five lengths at odds of 28/1. She was bought by popular owner Michael Leaf after she had finished downfield in last year’s Gr1 Computaform Sprint and this decision immediately paid dividends as she won her next two races, including one at Greyville in one of only two runs she has had in KZN.
Nieuwenhuizen has done a fine job of keeping the filly sound, considering her less than perfect legs, and in 23 runs she has had five wins and nine places for earnings of R751,575.
Race 8 Gr1 Tsogo Sun Sprint
Flyfirstclass
(Kahal – Radiant Lass)
Craig Eudey’s big five-year-old Kahal gelding Flyfirstclass is drawn well in barrier five for Saturday’s Gr1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville and is doing well at Summerveld.
Flyfirstclass has won three times over the Scottsville 1200m trip, but finished 8,5 lengths back from a high draw last time out over 1100m in the Listed In Full Flight Handicap. However, the stipendiary report revealed that he took a bump and jockey Athandiwe Mgudlwa also reported that he had felt something amiss. The veterinary surgeon later reported him to be not striding out on his off hind. Eudey said Flyfirstclass had been freshened since then and had put up a good grass gallop on Monday. He added this race had been the sprinter’s long term aim and said, “We have got a ticket. We are hoping for rain but don’t think we are going to get it.”
Sheik’s Braashee
(The Sheik – Sleek Braashee)
Mike Miller believes that his 50/1 shot Sheik’s Braashee can “run a place at least” in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint at Scottsville Racecourse on Saturday.
He said about the four-year-old gelding by The Sheik, who has improved from a merit rating of 91 to 103 this season, “He loves that track and has been doing very well and working well, he has really come into himself and has not put a foot wrong. He was very unlucky to not finish second or third last time (in the Listed In Full Flight Stakes over 1100 at Scottsville) as he was cleaned up just as he was doing his best work. He is drawn next to Flyfirstclass who has given us a lead before and I think he will run in the first four.”
An interesting point about the his unlucky In Full Flight Stakes run was that the winner Gulf Storm as given a nine point raise, while Sheik’s Brashee avoided any raise at all back in fifth.
Sheik’s Brashee has landed a plum draw of four. The winner of this race has come from draw five in the last two runnings and from draw three the year before that.
He will be ridden by accomplished apprentice Mathew Thackeray, who will obviously not be able to take his 2,5kg claim, but he has ridden this horse before.
– information from Gold Circle
