Empress Club S. (SAf-G1) (2/28)
Mother Russia has truly asserted herself as a filly of the very highest quality and continued on her merry way with a fluent success in the Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein (standside) on Sunday. The race had been scheduled for the previous day, but heavy rain on Friday night left the course waterlogged and the meeting was postponed by 24 hours as a consequence.
Mother Russia had put up a terrific effort in defeat when beaten half-a-length from a woeful draw in the J & B Met four weeks earlier and was always going to be a red-hot favourite to win the Empress Club Stakes, where she met ten other females at level weights. Mike de Kock’s four-year-old had easily beaten several of the same rivals on much less favourable weight terms in the Gr 2 Ipi Tombe Challenge over the same course-and-distance in December and went off as a 7/20 favourite in a race where she was rated between four and 25 pounds superior to her opponents. Only Prestic appeared to have any realistic chance at the weights of making a race of it with Mother Russia and was the 11/2 second favourite, with odds of 10/1 and better available about the others.
Anton Marcus had Mother Russia in the box seat throughout, racing in second spot on the rail as Queen’s Bay set a respectable pace on the soft ground. Kribati, Mitra and Prestic were next in line as Captain’s Gal, who is often ridden from the front, adopted waiting tactics this time and was held up some five lengths off the action. Mother Russia didn’t waste much time putting her seal on the race once turned for home. Queen’s Bay was soon under pressure, and Mother Russia was on her way 400m from home.
The hot favourite soon went a couple of lengths ahead, looking for a long way to be in cruise mode. Prestic did emerge from the pack coming to the last 300m and began to give chase, but Mother Russia had plenty more to give. Shaken up by Marcus well inside the final furlong, she responded easily and ran on strongly to win by two lengths from Prestic, who ran right to her rating in second. Lisa Anne was the surprise package of the race, turning into the straight last but making good late headway to finish third, albeit a further four lengths behind Prestic. Milk And Honey, stable companion to the winner, was beaten a total of 6.25 lengths into fourth, but Captain’s Gal didn’t quicken at all under pressure and finished a well beaten seventh.
This was fairly routine stuff for Mother Russia, who deserves to be rated as the best of her sex in training (remembering that she conceded 1.5 kgs to River Jetez in the Met), but she ran to her best form on ratings and remains capable of winning more big prizes in the remaining months of the season – quite possibly against males. A tilt at the R2m Champions Challenge over 2000m at Turffontein in late April could easily be on the cards. Pretty much as with the J & B Met nowadays, the Champions Challenge is a conditions race where Mother Russia would carry a once-off 2.5 kgs Gr 1 winner’s penalty and she may prove to be very nicely weighted as such. She gets the 2000m well enough, if her Met performance is any indication, and she is really peaking now in the second half of her four-year-old campaign.
Mother Russia is a daughter of Windrush out of the once-winning Russian Fox mare Russian Muse. She was bred at Normandy Stud and was initially acquired by Klawervlei Stud for R160 000 at the 2007 GrandWest Yearling Sale. She changed hands in a private deal at the end of her three-year-old campaign and now races in the colours of Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift. In all, Mother Russia has won twelve races from 21 starts and earned R3 269 638 in stakes.
Turffontein, South Africa, February 28, R1 million, 1600m, turf, good, 1.37.22 (CR 1.35.44).
MOTHER RUSSIA (SAF), 58.0, b f 4, Windrush - Russian Muse (SAF) by Russian Fox. Owner Wilgerbosdrift Stud; breeder Normandy Stud (SAf); trainer MF de Kock; jockey A Marcus (625.000)
Prestic (SAF), 58.0, ch m 5, Strike Smartly (CAN) - Press Ahead (SAF) by Fort Wood
Lisa Anne (SAF), 58.0, b m 5, Rambo Dancer - Forest Edge (SAF) by Complete Warrior
Margins: 2, 4, nk
Also ran: Milk And Honey 58.0, Run Angel Run (SAF) 58.0, Candy Singer (ARG) 58.0, Captain's Gal (SAF) 58.0, Golden Scold (BRZ) 58.0, Queen's Bay (SAF) 58.0, Kiribati (SAF) 58.0, Mitra (SAF) 58.0

J&B MET (SAf-G1)
The Pocket Power dream ended at Kenilworth on Saturday when the nation’s best horse failed in his bid to win the J & B Met for what would have been an almost outlandish fourth time. And who was there to pick up the pieces? His little sister, River Jetez.
Fans of River Jetez have been waiting as long for her to upstage her big brother as her connections have waited for her to win a Gr 1 race, but the moment finally arrived when River Jetez came rocketing between rivals in the final stages of a memorable (if, to many, rather sad) Met to land her first ever success at the highest level. And what a stage she found to finally do it. It was a brave decision to give the six-year-old mare another spin in the Met, a race in which she finished third in 2009, rather than the much softer option of the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes earlier in the programme. Some might have even considered it slightly foolhardy, but fortune favours the brave and forget about the meek inheriting anything.
Naturally, most eyes were glued to Pocket Power, who came here fresh from a fourth straight success in the Gr 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate three weeks earlier and who was seeking a remarkable 16th consecutive success around the Kenilworth turns. Not everyone was entirely impressed with his most recent Queen’s Plate performance, suggesting that his well-documented “flat spot” had taken the champ longer than usual to get out of, but he was still the 17/10 favourite on weight terms which favoured him enormously. The stable companions Oracy and Dan De Lago were next in the market at 11/2 and 6/1 respectively, while River Jetez was allowed to start as a 15/1 outsider in a maximum field of eighteen.
There was an unfortunate incident at the start when the gates opened while the loading process was still underway (and, dare one say, happening rather too slowly). Those horses already installed took off, but they were all pulled up within a reasonable distance. Still, this was a wholly undesired distraction and it may have had a particularly unsettling effect on Dan De Lago, who was left standing the best part of four lengths at the break when the race finally did start for real.
Mike Bass sent out a practically unheard-of five runners and there was never any danger that the 2010 Met would fall victim to the kind of pedestrian early pace which bedevils so many races in Cape Town. Supporters of ultra-consistent Red Rake who counted on their horse adopting his usual frontrunning tactics from the 1 draw soon saw their game plan vanish in flames when Bass-trained Diamond Quest rocketed off to the front and set a solid tempo from the start. He led the way from Red Rake, Fabiani and Surfin’ USA, with Mother Russia and Oracy next in line. As always, Pocket Power shuffled backwards through the field after an alert break and was a good ten lengths off the pacesetter, with River Jetez also bottled up well behind the leader.
Mother Russia made a break for it in the straight as Pocket Power angled to the outside of horses to ensure a clear run. Red Rake was still briefly in contention towards the far side, but 300m out Mother Russia had set sail for home. Pocket Power began to make some headway wider out, but was taking a little too long for comfort to hit top gear and it was stable companion Fort Vogue who looked the best prospect of the Bass runners as he loomed up with a big effort against the inside fence.
Mother Russia was holding the likes of Fort Vogue and Pocket Power at bay deep inside the last 100m, and Mike de Kock’s filly really did look to have the race won, but then the all-yellow jacket of River Jetez came slicing through the field with a tremendous late run under Glen Hatt to collar Mopther Russia in the dying strides. River Jetez went on to win by a widening half-length from Mother Russia, making it an exacta for the only two females in the line-up.
Pocket Power was running on well, and in the end he was only beaten one length by his year-younger sibling, but to be honest he never really looked like winning. Still, he was conceding 4.5 kgs to the winner and 3 kgs to the runner-up, and it says something for his reputation that to get beaten one length into the J & B Met at the age of seven can be considered disappointing. He didn’t run a bad race at all, even if it quite obviously was not his finest hour. Pocket Power is a gelding, and it is surely too late to harbor any thoughts of exporting him, so who’s to say that he won’t be back at the age of eight to try and pick up where he left off in 2009? For as long as he stays sound and enjoys his racing, he really does have nothing else to do.
Fort Vogue eventually finished fourth, within a short head of Pocket Power, leaving veteran jockey Karl Neisius to wait yet another year for an elusive first J & B Met success. This looked by some way to be Fort Vogue’s career-best effort, and the four-year-old is a progressive sort who may be set for a very lucrative KZN winter campaign. Fabiani was beaten little more than two lengths into fifth, which pretty much confirmed the improvement he has shown at four this season. Oracy seemed to have every chance before finishing eighth, but it all went pear-shaped for Dan De Lago. He quite clearly cannot be judged on this effort, which saw him finish with only Thundering Jet and a thoroughly spent Diamond Quest behind him.
The race may have been bittersweet for Mike Bass, but it was nevertheless a remarkable achievement to send out the winner, third, and fourth. He, of course, was winning the Met for a fourth time in succession, as was River Jetez’s co-owner Marsh Shirtliff, in whose colours Pocket Power competes.
“I don’t know whether to be happy or sad,” noted Bass, although it’s hard to imagine that anybody could stay unhappy for too long after winning a race like the Met. “Her work on Monday was outstanding,” added the trainer of River Jetez, a mare who was almost certainly only kept in training as a six-year-old solely to try and finally win a Gr 1 event.
River Jetez was given a copybook ride by Glen Hatt, who had previously won the J & B Met in 2001 with a similar late charge aboard Bass-trained Bunter Barlow. “I was able to get a lovely position behind Pocket Power and Fort Vogue,” said the jockey, adding that in the straight he switched his attention to tracking Mother Russia instead. It all worked out very nicely in the end, although one must still doff one’s hat to Mother Russia, who had the worst of the draw and who allayed any doubts that she stays a truly-run 2000m. She conceded 1.5 kgs to River Jetez, and was only denied a memorable win in the final strides.
River Jetez represents the somewhat legendary mating between champion sire Jet Master and Prince Florimund mare Stormsvlei, who herself won three minor races up to 1400m. Stallion and mare now have a perfect 100% record with two Gr 1 winners from two foals together, and it is worth noting that not one of Stormsvlei’s six other progeny by other sires (including some excellent ones) to race have managed even so much as a place in a Listed race. When it works, it works. River Jetez was bred by Out of Africa Stud and was acquired for R230 000 at the 2005 National Two-Year-Old Sale. Co-owned with Marsh Shirtliff by Mr and Mrs Cedric Amm, in whose colours she competes, River Jetez has won nine of her 30 starts for R3 331 150 in stakes.
KENILWORTH, South Africa, January 30, $328,000, 3&up, 2,000mT (9.94fT),
good, 2:02.82.
1st—=RIVER JETEZ (SAF), 118, B. m. 6, =Jet Master (SAf)—=Stormsvlei
(SAf), by Prince Florimund (SAf). Owners—C. A. Amm and N. M. Shirtliff;
Breeder—Out of Africa Stud (SAf); Trainer—Mike W. Bass.
2nd—=MOTHER RUSSIA (SAF), 121, B. m. 4, Windrush—=Russian Muse
(SAf), by Russian Fox.
3rd—=POCKET POWER (SAF), 128, B. g. 7, =Jet Master (SAf)—=Stormsvlei
(SAf), by Prince Florimund (SAf).
Margins: 1/2, 1/2, head.

INVESTEC CAPE DERBY (SAf-G1)

Anton Marcus has ridden some superb races in his time, not least to win the 2008 Dubai Duty Free aboard Jay Peg, but the ride he gave Bravura to land the Investec Cape Derby over 2000m at Kenilworth on Saturday is up there with the best of them. On-course presenter Stan Elley summed it up afterwards when he remarked that “we are all in awe of that ride.”
Bravura came into the Derby unbeaten from four previous appearances over distances stretching from 1200m to 2000m, having only made his racecourse debut in mid-November. From unraced maiden to Gr 1 winner in eleven weeks is pretty good stuff, and it delighted those who made Bravura a well-supported 33/10 second favourite behind Gr 1 Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas winner Noordhoek Flyer, who was the 13/10 market leader to complete the Cape classic “double.” Noordhoek Flyer’s stable companion Irish Flame, undefeated in three races including a Listed contest since being tried beyond sprint distances, was the 11/2 third choice in a Derby where the rest were all available at double-figure quotes.
In contrast to the later J & B Met over the same distance, there was no great pace on early in the Derby. Marcus made sure that Bravura broke out well from the widest draw in a field of 16 and was briefly in front early, but he managed to slot in just behind the leaders as Quickshot soon went on by to set the pace. Aim High and Bravura tracked the leader, with the Port Elizabeth-trained pair of Celtic Fire and Bold Silvano next in line, just ahead of Captain’s Secret.
The race changed complexion soon after they turned for home, where Quickshot began to give way. The field bunched up, and there was considerable interference just past the 400m mark, where Aim High was forced to check severely as Bold Silvano shifted inwards and Irish Flame took a very hefty bumped which ended whatever chance he may have had of featuring in the finish. Bravura, meantime, had come forward to take a slight lead, with Noordhoek Flyer making smooth and rapid headway from off the pace to join issue. The two market principals had the race to themselves as they ran away from the rest of the field from at least 200m out. Noordhoek Flyer looked to be travelling the stronger and probably headed Bravura for a few strides, but Marcus still had a little bit left up his sleeve. Getting stuck into his mount in the final drive to the wire, he extracted a little more from Bravura, who regained the advantage close home and went on to beat Noordhoek Flyer by a neck, going away.
Robert The Bruce, who had finished less than four lengths behind Noordhoek Flyer when eighth in the Guineas, ran on to finish three lengths adrift of Bravura in third place, with Paddy O’Reilly running on well to finish only another head away in fourth. Ancestral Fore had also been impeded in the melee earlier in the straight and not much can be read into this effort, his first in the colours of his new owner, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum. One imagines that the son of 2003 Derby winner Dynasty is now destined to join the Mike de Kock stable.
Noordhoek Flyer was given every chance to win the race and was certainly not disgraced. Bravura came into the Derby with the potential to be almost anything, and thanks to a stunning piece of jockeyship he has yet to be bested in a race. There is always something fascinating about an unbeaten horse, and Bravura’s progress through the KZN season will be followed with interest. It almost inevitably takes a horse of real class to win the Derby, and there have not been many who have not gone on to win again at Gr 1 level.
Bravura is trained by Joey Ramsden, who warned against any ideas that there is still a great deal of further physical improvement to come from the gelding. “What you see is more or less what you get,” he remarked, adding that Bravura “is calm and laid-back. He’s just a champion.” What we see is plenty good enough, and there will be many who will fancy his chances of emulating the feat of such recent Derby winners as Dynasty and Big City Life, who went on to win the Vodacom Durban July in the same year. That is all well into the future, but to state the plainly obvious, Bravura has done nothing wrong.
Anton Marcus admitted that he went into the race without a game plan, but that he decided very early on in the piece “to take the bull by the horns.” He added that, “I think he’s something special,” and coming from someone who has ridden so many great horses that counts for plenty.
Bravura was bred by Veronica Foulkes at her Normandy Stud, and is still part-owned by her in partnership with Markus and Ingrid Jooste. Normandy-breds have been on a fantastic streak of late, with J & B Met runner-up Mother Russia herself a product of the same stud. Either under its own name or as agent, Normandy will be represented by 30 lots at this Sunday’s Grandwest Yearling Sale and it will be worth the effort of looking at every single one.
Bravura is a son of Silvano and is the fourth foal and third winner of Centenary mare Musing, who won one race over 1000m and who also produced the Stakes-placed performers Epic Poetry and Mazar-E-Sharif. Musing in turn is a half sister to Winter Solstice, a former horse-of-the-year who won four Gr 1 races including two Queen’s Plates when trained by Ramsden, which no doubt goes a long way to explaining why Joey bought Bravura for R400 000 at the 2008 National Yearling Sale. With five wins from five starts, Bravura has earned R531 250 in stakes.
KENILWORTH, South Africa, January 30, $78,720, 3yo, 2,000mT (9.94fT),
good, 2:04.06.
1st—=BRAVURA (SAF), 126, B. g. 3, Silvano (Ger)—=Musing (SAf), by Centenary.
Owners—Veronica Foulkes, Ingrid Jooste and Marcus Jooste;
Breeder—Normandy Stud (SAf); Trainer—Joey Ramsden.
2nd—=NOORDHOEK FLYER (SAF), 126, Ch. c. 3, =Pivotal (GB)—=Serra Negra
(GB), by =Kris (GB).
3rd—=ROBERT THE BRUCE (SAF), 126, Ch. c. 3, Jallad—=Grace Me Guide
(SAf), by Western Winter.
Margins: 1/4, 2 3/4, neck.

KLAWERVLEI MAJORCA S. (SAf-G1)

J & B Met day was another feather in the cape for champion sire Jet Master. Not only was he responsible for the winner and third finisher in the main race, but he managed to produce two Gr 1 winners in one race when his daughters Love Is In The Air and Gluwein dead-heated for top honours in the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m.
With 2009 winner Mother Russia and River Jetez both opting for the J & B Met instead, the Majorca looked tailor-made for Sparkling Gem to get another Gr 1 win under the belt. Last season’s Cape Fillies Guineas winner went off as a heavily backed 11/20 favourite in this WFA event for females of all ages, with talented but somewhat out-of-form Lady Windermere the 5/1 second choice in a field of 12. Love Is In The Air was the 8/1 third favourite, but bookmakers couldn’t give Gluwein away (despite the De Kock factor) and she was allowed to start at 16/1 after an ante-post call of 7/2.
Sparkling Gem has achieved almost all of her best results with frontrunning tactics, but she had shown when runner-up to Mother Russia in the Gr 1 Paddock Stakes three weeks earlier that she can be effective when ridden from off the pace as well. She settled into a comfortable fourth spot here as Temair went on to set a decent pace from stable companion Croc Valley, with Giant’s Jewel next in line as Love Is In The Air races a few lengths off the action and Gluwein was also waited with in the pack. Sparkling Gem began to make her move not long after turning for home and came forward to dispute the lead some 300m out, but she was always under pressure and she soon had a serious race on her hands.
Love Is In The Air was the first to take on the red-hot favourite, running on well to take a narrow lead in the closing stages, but then Gluwein came flying onto the scene, weaving her way past rivals and flying up to join Love Is In The Air on the line. The naked eye at first suggested that three-year-old Gluwein had snuck in by a whisker from her year-older paternal half-sister, but the camera could not separate them and we were left with the rare occurrence of two horses by the same sire dead-heating in a Gr 1 race.
Gluwein’s rider Anthony Delpech tried to change all that when he lodged an objection against the co-winner on the grounds of interference some 700m from home, but while the two daughters of Jet Master did have a coming-together at that point it really was difficult to apportion blame, or to think that the outcome would have been different otherwise. Not surprisingly, the objection was overruled and the original result allowed to stand.
Sparkling Gem was beaten less than one length into third place, which was somewhat disappointing especially as she had finished 2.25 lengths ahead of Love Is In The Air in the Paddock Stakes. It became even more disappointing in hindsight, when the winner and third finisher from the Paddock Stakes occupied the first two places in the J & B Met. Sparkling Gem is an enormous filly, and even taking her excellent Paddock Stakes effort into account it may well be that she is most effective when allowed to race up front, in clear air.
Lady Windermere again looked nothing like the champion three-year-old filly of last season, a title she sealed when beating Sparkling Gem in the Gr 1 Garden Province Stakes at Greyville, and was never in with a chance here before being beaten more than three lengths into sixth place. Instead it was KZN visitor Goat who occupied fourth place, beaten less than a length by the winner and staying on steadily while not quite able to match the finishing kick of the two winners in particular.
Gluwein at least restored some pride to the somewhat tattered reputation of the three-year-old filly crop, stepping up considerably on her very disappointing defeat in a minor set weights race at Turffontein just eighteen days earlier. Together with unbeaten Sidera and last season’s champion two-year-old filly Laverna, Gluwein gives Mike de Kock a strong hand for the fillies’ classics of the Gauteng and KZN seasons. Gluwein is out of the Our Casey’s Boy mare Apres-Ski, who won one race over 1000m and who is also the dam of Gr 3 winner Alpine Club and Gr 3 placed Avalanche Way. Bred by Cheveley Stud and never offered on any yearling sale, Gluwein is still part-owned by her breeder and has now won three times from six starts for R323 225 in stakes.
Love Is In The Air is trained by Mike Bass, who had expressed some fears that 1600m would be his filly’s absolute minimum distance, although she went into the Majorca boasting three wins from only four previous attempts at 1600m. Her most recent success had come in the Listed Winter Oaks over 2200m, though. Love Is In The Air was bred by Mrs Patricia Devine and is raced by her in partnership with her husband Henry. Another filly that was never sold at auction, Love Is In The Air is out of the Jungle Cove mare Careful Step, who won one race over 1600m and who has bred several other, less distinguished winners. Love Is In The Air was recording her sixth win from exactly twice that number of appearances, and has now collected R550 700 in stakes.
KENILWORTH, South Africa, January 30, $65,600, 3&up, f&m, 1,600mT
(7.95fT), good, 1:38.65.
DH—=LOVE IS IN THE AIR (SAF), 128, B. m. 4, =Jet Master (SAf)—=Careful
Step (SAf), by Jungle Cove. Owners—Mrs. P. J. Devine and H. C. Devine;
Breeder—P. J. Devine (SAf); Trainer—Mike W. Bass.
DH—=GLUWEIN (SAF), 117, B. f. 3, =Jet Master (SAf)—=Apres-Ski (SAf), by
Our Casey’s Boy. Owner—L. J. Westwood, A. H. Chandler, M. F. de Kock,
V. W. Koster and R. McIlroy; Breeder—Cheveley Stud (SAf); Trainer—
Michael F. de Kock.
3rd—=SPARKLING GEM (SAF), 128, B. m. 4, Joshua Dancer—=Crystal
Chalice (SAf), by =Royal Chalice (SAf). Margins: 3/4, neck.

Cape Flying Championship (SAf-G1) (1/23)

Warm White Night bounced right back to his best form with a hard fought success in the Betting World Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth on Saturday. This was a return to the sort of form which saw the handsome colt finish a close third behind Private Jet in the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint at Turffontein last April and he is sure to be amongst the favourites to win the 2010 edition of that race during the Gauteng autumn campaign.
Warm White Night missed the whole of the most recent KZN winter season through injury and disappointed in both starts since his return, but even so he went off as a 4/1 joint favourite with Villandry. Interestingly, Warm White Night and Villandry represent the last two winners of the Gr 1 Gold Medallion for two-year-olds at Scottsville. Captain’s Secret, who has a date with the Cape Derby over twice Saturday’s distance this weekend, was a 9/2 third choice, with Port Elizabeth ace Hear The Drums very well supported into 11/1 in his bid to record his 31st career win and first Graded race success.
The southeaster stayed away and the Flying Championship was run at a strong pace from the start. Hear The Drums led the way from Warm White Night over towards the inside of the course, with Relinyane very speedy towards the centre. Villandry showed good toe wider out, with Cyber Case also prominent early on. Thunder Key was not far off the action back on the inside of the field, but Captain’s secret looked to be outpaced from the break.
Hear The Drums was as game as ever, but Warm White Night had taken his measure inside the last 200m and in the end it was Blue Tiger who proved to be the final threat. Having to squeeze his way between rivals, Blue Tiger produced a storming run up the grandstand rail, but his effort came just too late and he was beaten a neck by Warm White Night, who was ridden for all he was worth by a typically determined Anton Marcus to hold on and land the spoils.
Thunder Key stayed on gamely to finish 1.25 lengths behind Blue Tiger in third, with a head further back to Hear The Drums, who once again ran with distinction. It could easily be argued that this represented the best of Hear The Drums’ three efforts in the Flying Championship, but once again he failed to live up to the fact that he boasted the highest merit rating in this WFA contest. There is no point rehashing the argument made after Hear The Drums had been beaten under similar circumstances in the 2009 Flying Championship, except to note that once again the PE merit ratings looked out of kilter.
Blue Tiger could have been considered to have been an unlucky loser in this event for a second year in a row. He also encountered traffic problems before he charged home late to take second prize behind Warm White Night’s stable companion Rebel King twelve months earlier and Mike Bass’ talented grey deserves to win a Gr 1 event at some point. No doubt, he’ll get his next chance during the KZN winter season.
This return to prominence by Warm White Night came as a relief to all concerned, not least his rider, who admitted to having had his doubts after the colt’s two disappointing comeback performances. All ideas that Warm White Night would be an even better horse beyond sprint distances have long since flown out of the window and the four-year-old seems to be very much at his best in races up to 1200m. He could easily be in line for big race success in 2010.
Warm White Night is trained by Charles Laird, who has now teamed up with stable jockey Anton Marcus to win the Flying Championship four times following back-to-back victories with Nhlavini in 2005 and 2006, and last year’s win by Rebel King. Warm White Night is by leading sire Western Winter out of the fantastic Foveros mare Thousand Nights, who won eight races including a Listed event and who is the dam also of dual Gr 1 Gold Cup winner Highland Night, Gr 2 winner Prince Asad, and Listed winner Night Watch. Given his natural speed and the fact that he was a precocious type who won a Gr 1 race at two, Warm White Night should prove an attractive stallion proposition when the time comes.
Warm White Night was bred by Highlands Farms Stud and was an expensive R1.8 million purchase at the 2007 National Yearling Sale. He has won six times from 12 starts, earning R1 529 125 for owners Markus and Ingrid Jooste.

Kenilworth, South Africa, January 23, R600.000, 1000m, turf, good, 58.23 (CR 56.67).
WARM WHITE NIGHT (SAF), 58.0, b c 4, Western Winter - Thousand Nights (SAF) by Foveros (GB). Owner Mrs I Jooste and Mr M J Jooste; breeder Highlands Farms (SAf); trainer C S Laird; jockey A Marcus (R375.000)
Blue Tiger (SAF), 58.0, gr h 5, Counter Action (SAF) - Manuka (SAF) by Rainbow Dream (FR)
Thunder Key (SAF), 58.0, ch g 6, Muhtafal - Special Key (SAF) by Brother Philips (IRE)
Margins: nk, 1¼, sh hd
Also ran: Hear The Drums (SAF) 58.0, Casey Cool (SAF) 58.0, Gaultier (SAF) 58.0, Bush Pirate (SAF) 58.0, Mainbrace (SAF) 58.0, Villandry (SAF) 54.5, Captain's Secret (SAF) 54.5, Rushing Wind (SAF) 58.0, Alvaro (AUS) 58.0, Cyber Case (SAF) 58.0, Relinyane (SAF) 58.0

 

Paddock Stakes (SAf-G1) (1/9)

Mother Russia returned in style to her old hunting ground when she comfortably won the TBA Paddock Stakes over 1800m at Kenilworth on Saturday, appearing in the process to underline her status as the best female in training. The four-year-old was formerly trained at the Cape by Joey Ramsden before relocating to Mike de Kock’s yard at the beginning of this season, but it was like she never left as she proceeded to record her sixth win from only nine appearances at the Cape’s flagship course.
The Paddock Stakes was largely viewed as a match-in-two between Mother Russia and River Jetez, who is still seeking an elusive first Gr 1 success and who was kept in training as a six-year-old this term with the very aim of trying to rectify that situation. Mother Russia went off as the 11/10 favourite, with River Jetez the second choice at 16/10, but you could have had double figures about any of the other nine runners in the line-up.
The pace was distinctly moderate and it was Jalantra who ambled along at the head of affairs, with Croc Valley and Silver Fantasy closest to her. Sparkling Gem, usually a frontrunner but now trying 1800m for the first time, was held up in fourth, with Mother Russia and Goat (who was trapped a little wide) next in line. River Jetez was further back in the field as Jalantra slowed the tempo down even further between the turns.
The race was always going to develop into a sprint down the straight and the potential for a somewhat farcical outcome was quite real, but in the end the cream rose to the top. Jalantra began to give way not long after turning in as Mother Russia loomed up wider out and Sparkling Gem quickly came through down the inside to challenge. Goat was still in with a shout wide out as River Jetez began to make her way past horses over to the inside, but Mother Russia could be seen to be travelling well under Anton Marcus a long way from home. The favourite led coming to the final 200m, and try as her old adversary Sparkling Gem did to get on terms the advantage was always with Mother Russia, who in the end was punched out by Marcus to beat Sparkling Gem by three-quarters of a length.
River Jetez stayed on well to finish half-a-length further behind Sparkling Gem in third, with stable companion Love Is In The Air a further 1.75 lengths away in fourth. To nobody’s big surprise, the trio of three-year-olds did nothing to improve the less-than-complimentary reputation of the sophomore filly crop and made no show, with Cape Fillies Guineas winner Field Flower finishing with only fellow three-year-old Townsend and the pacemaker Jalantra behind her.

River Jetez was probably the least suited of the first three finishers by the way the Paddock Stakes was run, finding herself with a little too much ground to make up in what became a dash up the straight, and the search for a first win at the highest level for Pocket Power’s sister continues. She may now go for the Majorca Stakes against her own gender rather than take another tilt at the J & B Met on the same day, for opportunities to win a Gr 1 race are running out for Mike Bass’ mare in what definitely will be her last season in training.
Mother Russia is not nominated for the Majorca Stakes (a race she won last year) and may have a go at the Met, but according to Mike de Kock she may alternatively return to Gauteng now and prepare for the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes over 1600m against her own gender at Turffontein in the autumn.
Both the winning jockey and trainer had something to say about the very slow pace at which the Paddock Stakes was run. “The pace got pretty ridiculous going through the 1000m,” noted Marcus, while De Kock added that he was worried about the slow pace. “I’ve never seen a Gr 1 race run so slow in all my life,” he noted. Welcome to Cape Town, boys.
Actually, the ploy to settle Sparkling Gem in behind the leaders and rope in stable companion Jalantra to control the pace was a clever move on the part of their trainer Justin Snaith, given that Sparkling Gem was far from certain to stay 1800m if ridden from her usual position in front. The race mapped out very well for Sparkling Gem, but in the final analysis she was beaten by a better horse on the day. Mother Russia is a versatile sort who doesn’t lack for speed, and was perfectly capable of quickening off the very slow pace without for a moment looking likely to be caught flat-footed.
We may never know just what it took for Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift stud to acquire Mother Russia in a private deal at the end of the last season. The filly was previously owned by Klawervlei Stud and one can only hazard a guess at how much it took to persuade the enormous Klawervlei operation to part with a Gr 1-winning filly, but Mother Russia is a very valuable commodity indeed. All the more so now, considering how frequently the Paddock Stakes is labeled the one race that every breeder wants to win. A daughter of Windrush, Mother Russia is out of the once-winning Russian Fox mare Russian Muse and was bred by Veronica Foulkes at Normandy Stud. Originally acquired for R160 000 at the 2007 GrandWest Yearling Sale, she has won eleven times from 19 starts and earned R2 144 638. The Paddock Stakes was a great advertisement for the GrandWest Sale, which will be held this year at Sandringham Farm near Stellenbosch on Sunday February 7th. Both Mother Russia and Sparkling Gem were acquired from that sale, coincidentally on the only previous occasion that it was held at Sandringham.
Kenilworth, South Africa, January 9, R1 million, 1800m, turf, good, 1.52.71 (CR 1.48.98).
MOTHER RUSSIA (SAF), 57.5, b f 4, Windrush - Russian Muse (SAF) by Russian Fox. Owner Wilgerbosdrift; breeder Normandy Stud (SAf); trainer MF de Kock; jockey A Marcus (R625.000)
Sparkling Gem (SAF), 57.5, b f 4, Joshua Dancer - Crystal Chalice (SAF) by Royal Chalice (SAf)
River Jetez (SAF), 58.0, b f 6, Jet Master (SAF) - Stormsvlei (SAF) by Prince Florimund (SAf)
Margins: ¾, ½, 1¾
Also ran: Love Is In The Air (SAF) 57.5, Goat (SAF) 57.5, Sunsational (SAF) 57.5, Croc Valley (SAF) 52.0, Silver Fantasy (SAF) 58.0, Field Flower (SAF) 52.0, Townsend (SAF) 52.0, Jalantra (SAF) 58.0

L'Ormarins Queen's Plate (SAf-G1) (1/9)
What more can one say about Pocket Power? You can call him the Peoples’ Horse, a horse-in-a-million, the King of Kenilworth or simply PP, but whichever way you dice it and slice it there has never been anything quite like him. Few horses in history can have registered seven Gr 1 successes at one course, anywhere in the world, but Pocket Power has done just that. Already the only horse to win the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate three times, the multiple horse-of-the-year went one better even than that astonishing record when landing the Cape’s premier WFA event over 1600m at Kenilworth for a fourth time on Saturday. Pocket Power, of course, also has three wins in the J & B Met at Kenilworth to his name and will be a popular favourite to pick up a fourth on January 30th.
Pocket Power had looked as good as ever when skating past Big City Life to win on his seasonal debut over 1500m in December and went off as the 9/20 favourite in a field of ten for the Queen’s Plate, with Big City Life the 3/1 second choice in a race where double-figure prices were available about all of the other participants.
Unlike the earlier Paddock Stakes, the Queen’s Plate was run at a tempo befitting a Gr 1 contest and it was Pocket Power’s stable companions Gaultier and Blue Tiger who showed up in first and second ahead of Big City Life. Forest Path raced a little keenly (not for the first time) and was prominent in fourth spot ahead of Fabiani and Thunder Key. Pocket Power had jumped out alertly from the 1 gate, but dropped further and further back as the race unfolded and must have had his legion of followers more than slightly nervous as he reached the top of the straight near the tail of the field.
Big City Life came through to challenge as pacemaker Gaultier began to waiver some 300m from home, with Fabiani getting into the hunt as well. Pocket Power is notorious for having a “flat spot”, but this time it seemed to be going on a little too long for comfort and Bernard Fayd’Herbe was starting to niggle at his mount a long way from home. However, the penny eventually dropped and Pocket Power flew through the gears in a matter of strides. In full cry as they entered the final furlong, he raced past Big City Life to lead around 100m from home and ran on well to the line, holding off a strong late run from Kapil with three-quarters of a length to spare.
Big City Life and stable companion Fabiani eventually shared third place, a further half-a-length behind Kapil, with Strategic News running on to be beaten a total of 2.25 lengths into fifth. None of the placed horses were in the slightest degree disgraced. Kapil was running on in great style to finish second and will meet Pocket Power on 1.5 kgs better terms in the Met. Long experience has taught us that Pocket Power is not the type of horse to win by much further than is strictly necessary and as such taking his winning margins literally is a very dangerous pastime for punters, but Kapil has every right to make his presence felt in the Met. Obviously so does Big City Life, who was beaten for a finishing kick over the mile on Saturday but who is a considerably better horse over the 2000m of the Met.
Winning trainer Mike Bass probably spoke for almost all of us when he remarked, “I am in awe of this horse.” Bass did go on to point out that the Met will be a tougher test for Pocket Power and the trainer, at least, is not taking it for granted that his champion can pull off an almost ridiculous fourth win in Cape Town’s biggest race. “It’s getting harder for him as he gets older,” he added. That said, Pocket Power is still as good as ever. He was bouncing on his toes in the pre-race parade, looking like a horse half his age, and remains very much the one they will have to beat in the Met. The weights will favour him and his record around the Kenilworth turns is almost mind-boggling. One thing seems certain. If Pocket Power cannot get new blood interested in the sport of racing, even if it’s only for a day, then we are royally up the proverbial poop creek with no paddle.
Pocket Power was recording his ninth Gr 1 success and has now overtaken his sire Jet Master, whose eight wins at the highest level included two Queen’s Plates. The seven-year-old gelding was recording his 18th win from 34 starts overall, and his fifteenth success at Kenilworth. Acquired for R190 000 at the 2004 Cape Summer Yearling Sale (the predecessor of the forthcoming GrandWest Sale) and bred by Dan de Wet at Zanvliet Stud. he has earned stakes of R9 231 025 for owners Marsh Shirtliff and Arthur Webber. Success in the Met would take Pocket Power’s earnings into eight figures – and again the mind boggles.Kenilworth, South Africa, January 9, R1 million, 1600m, turf, good, 1.37.16 (CR 1.35.80).
POCKET POWER (SAF), 58.0, b g 7, Jet Master (SAF) - Stormsvlei (SAF) by Prince Florimund (SAF). Owner N M Shirtliff & Mr and Mrs A D Webber; breeder Zandvliet Stud (SAf); trainer MW Bass; jockey B Fayd'herbe (R625.000)
Kapil (SAF), 58.0, b g 7, Jallad - Outstanding Star (AUS) by Bletchingly (AUS)
*Big City Life (SAF), 58.0, br c 4, Casey Tibbs (IRE) - Dollar Crisis (SAF) by Goldmark (SAf)
*Fabiani (SAf), 58.0, ch g 4, Model Man (SAf) – Lady Maroof (NZ) by Maroof
Margins: ¾, ½, dead heat
Also ran: Strategic News (AUS) 58.0, Ivory Trail (SAF) 58.0, Thunder Key (SAF) 58.0, Forest Path (SAF) 58.0, Blue Tiger (SAF) 58.0, Gaultier (SAF) 58.0

Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas (SAf-G1) (12/19)

“I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but I would like to point out that this was the seventh Guineas win for the Kannemeyer stable.” What Dean Kannemeyer didn’t add is that he has now won the country’s premier 1600m classic four times in the last six years, so eclipsing the three Guineas winners trained by his father and predecessor Peter. It is the sort of record that Lance Armstrong or he-whose-name-is-now-mud Tiger Woods would be proud of, and it all came about when 53-year-old veteran Karl Neisius gave Noordhoek Flyer a splendid ride to win the 2009 edition of the Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas at Kenilworth on Saturday.
In so doing, Noordhoek Flyer confirmed the superb record that the Gr 2 Selangor Cup can boast as a pointer to the Guineas. Selnagor winner Past Master had to be scratched from the Guineas (lame off fore), but Noordhoek Flyer had finished second behind that stable companion after being forced to race wide throughout in the Selangor and went off as a popular 9/2 chance for the Guineas. Favourite for the only remaining Gr 1 “colts” Guineas in South Africa was sole Gauteng raider Galileo’s Galaxy, who went to post as a 12/10 market leader after finishing second behind stable companion Curved Ball in the Gr 2 Dingaans at Turffontein in November. Also fancied was Captain’s Secret, bidding to give Mike Bass his first Guineas success and attempting to emulate the 1999 feat of his sire Captain Al, who won the Guineas from the widest draw.
Galileo’s Galaxy wasted little time in heading straight to the lead and he set a solid enough pace from Kiss Again and Lizarre, with Ancestral Fore and Bold Silvano prominent as Noordhoek Flyer was waited with some six lengths adrift of the pace. Captain’s Secret was racing towards the rear of the 14 runner field, caught some three horse widths off the fence, as Paddy O’Reilly brought up the rear. Galileo’s Galaxy would not go down without a fight. He saw off the persistent attentions of Kiss Again all the way down the straight, with Bold Silvano also challenging stoutly wider out.
Noordhoek Flyer was however starting to make steady progress, in the words of his jockey, “picking them off one by one” and arriving on the scene at the 200m looking very much like he was travelling the best of them all. Sure enough, he gradually wore down the gallant favourite inside the last furlong and asserted his superiority with some style in the end to win by one length from Galileo’s Galaxy. Kiss Again was only half-a-length further away in third, having finished an almost identical distance behind Noordhoek Flyer in the Selangor, when conceding the Guineas winner 1.5 kgs. This would appear to make nonsense of claims that Noordhoek Flyer improved on his Selangor form to win the Guineas, and if anything on Saturday he actually ran below it -if you want to be really picky.
What Past Master would have achieved had he contested the Guineas will never be known, but further evidence that the Selangor form is rock solid at face value and all excuses aside comes from Ancestral Fore, who finished fourth in the earlier race and occupied the same spot in the Guineas, where it was his turn to be drawn wide. Captain’s Secret ran on very strongly wide out to be beaten less than two lengths into fifth place, with Port Elizabeth visitor Bold Silvano eventually beaten 2.10 lengths behind the winner in sixth place.

A relatively bunched finish would probably confirm the view that this wasn’t the strongest Guineas in history, and it is easy to make a claim that the best three-year-old male in the country at present was absent in the form of Curved Ball. When all is said and done, Noordhoek Flyer had only won once from his five previous starts and was beaten in a merit rated 72 handicap over the Guineas distance along the way, but his preparation was geared towards the Guineas and, as we have duly noted, the Kannemeyers have fine-tuned that procedure to a degree that would please a Swiss watchmaker.
“I always thought he was going to be a classic horse,’ noted Dean afterwards, adding that the Gr 1 Cape Derby was a more likely next target for his colt than the Gr 1 J & B Met against the cream of the country’s older horses on the same day. Owner Lady Christine Laidlaw is a newcomer to the South African racing scene and was on hand to watch her expensive R2.5 million purchase win the Guineas.
Noordhoek Flyer was acquired on the select session of the 2008 National Yearling Sale, where he went by the name of White Hills. Sired north-of-the-line, he is a son of excellent sire Pivotal, who is sixth on the UK sires’ table for 2009. Pivotal was a champion sprinter who has sired many excellent speed horses, but he can also get them to go much further and in 2009 he was responsible for outstanding three-year-old filly Sariska, winner of the Oaks at Epsom and its Irish equivalent at the Curragh. Noordhoek Flyer is the fourth foal and first known winner of Kris mare Serra Negra, who won one race. This is the female line of European Gr 1 winners Cherokee Rose and Kirklees. Bred at Wilgerbosdrift, Noordhoek Flyer’s two wins from six starts have earned R753 250 in stakes.
Kenilworth, South Africa, December 19, R1 million, 1600m, turf, good, 1.39.62 (CR 1.35.80).
NOORDHOEK FLYER (SAf), 57.0, ch c 3, Pivotal (GB) - Serra Negra (GB) by Kris (GB). Owner Lady M C Laidlaw; breeder Wilgerbosdrift (SAf); trainer D Kannemeyer; jockey K Neisius (R625.000)
Galileo's Galaxy (AUS), 57.0, b c 3, Galileo (IRE) - A Star Affair (NZ) by Star Way (GB)
Kiss Again (SAF), 57.0, b g 3, Al Mufti - Whatsinakiss (SAF) by Elliodor (FR)
Margins: 1, ½, nk
Also ran: Ancestral Fore (SAF) 57.0, Captain's Secret (SAF) 57.0, Bold Silvano (SAF) 57.0, Lizarre (SAF) 57.0, Robert The Bruce (SAF) 57.0, Lion In Winter (SAF) 57.0, Nocturnal Affair (SAF) 57.0, Last Regal (SAF) 57.0, Paddy O'Reilly (SAF) 57.0, Cree Lodge (SAF) 57.0, Vliegendehollander (SAF) 57.0

 

Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas (SAf-G1) (12/5)

This season’s crop of three-year-old fillies has been described by some as the
weakest in decades. Whether that is exaggerated or not is a matter of opinion,
naturally, but when an 82-rated horse can win the Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies
Guineas then one thing seems perfectly clear. The best members of the crop are certainly not the same individuals who headed the two-year-old rankings last season.
The Fillies Guineas always looked ripe for a potential upset and it was delivered in the form of 50/1 outsider Field Flower, who stormed past rivals in the closing stages of the Cape summer season’s first Gr1 contest over 1600m on Kenilworth’s summer course to defy a handicapper’s assessment which put her in the bottom one-quarter of the field.

Of course, there is always plenty of shuffling about in the sophomores’ pecking order in the first half of the season especially, as later-maturing types catch up to and overtake their more precocious contemporaries. This is equally true amongst the males, and just one week earlier we saw a horse fresh out of the maidens win the Gr 2 Dingaans, but the result of the Fillies Guineas represented the sort of flip-flop of previous form that is never the hallmark of a strong generation. Four of the Fillies Guineas field had finished in front of Field Flower in the Gr2 Odessa Stud Fillies Championship over 1400m four weeks earlier, but none of that quartet ever got into the hunt this time and all finished unplaced.
The fact that there was no stand-out candidate for the Fillies Guineas was plain from the market, which looked more befitting of a handicap than a level-weights contest. Last season’s leading juvenile filly Laverna has had a disappointing campaign so far this term but went off as a weak 11/2 joint favourite with last-start maiden winner Croc Valley, with Jet Trail most favoured of the rest. It added to the confusion that Laverna and Jet Trail had the two widest draws, and that My Kazzie hadn’t raced since finishing second behind Laverna at Gr1 level at Clairwood in July.
Play Nice hopped out alertly, but soon it was Laverna who came across from her wide draw to try and emulate the frontrunning tactics which had won her the Gr 1 Thekwini Fillies Stakes at the back-end of last season. Mike de Kock’s runner showed the way at a reasonable pace from Celtic Cross and Play Nice, with Jet Trail just behind the leaders but caught a bit deep. Croc Valley had a nice position at the rail in about midfield. Laverna continued to lead well into the straight, but she was coming under heavy pressure from all sides coming to the last 300m. Tick Tock moved up nicely on the inside with Jet Trail very much in the hunt wider out. Tick Tock picked up the advantage well inside the last 200m and looked briefly as though she would win, but Field Flower was now making rapid headway wider out and stormed past Tick Tock in the closing stages to win by 0.75 lengths going away under a jubilant Gerrit Schlechter.
Jet Trail finished 1.25 lengths further adrift in third, with Laverna and a running-on Croc Valley dead-heating for fourth a further half-length behind. Little more than five lengths covered the first 13 to finish, which would also seem to underline the fact that this was far from being a vintage Fillies Guineas. Croc Valley did show plenty of promise in only her third career start and is one to take from the race, while Tick Tock was much better drawn than in her two previous attempts in Graded races, where she was placed both times, so was perhaps entitled to put up a good effort.
Field Flower, in fairness, would have found 1400m on the short side when she made no show in the Odessa, but she still reversed Odessa form with winner Townsend to the tune of some ten lengths and the lack of interest shown by punters in Saturday’s winner is not hard to understand. Still, 1600m is probably Field Flower’s minimum distance, and she has the pedigree to suggest strongly that distances of 2000m and beyond could easily be within her reach. She is trained by Stephen Page, who started the current season with a superb one-two in the Gr 1 Canon Gold Cup and who has simply not let up since. This is by a long way the best season of training which the former jockey has enjoyed.
Winning rider Schlechter admitted afterwards that he had tried to secure the mount on several other horses in the Fillies Guineas field, without success, and that getting the ride on Field Flower was almost a last minute thing. It was a first success in the race for Schlechter, who remarked that Field Flower that “picked it up nicely” after racing in midfield before adding that she “wanted to hang a little in the final stages.” She is still on the upgrade, and her trainer will now look at taking on older females in such Gr 1 events as the Paddock Stakes and Majorca Stakes later in the summer, but one fancies that most pundits will be looking outside of the three-year-olds for the likely winners there.
Field Flower is by much-travelled stallion Silvano, who was also sire of the previous weekend’s Gr 1 Sansui Summer Cup winner Aslan. Field Flower is the 12th foal and (remarkably) 12th winner produced from Northfields mare Field Princess. A winner of five races up to 2400m and placed in a Listed event, Field Princess is also the dam of Gr 2 KZN Derby winner Royal Land and was 22 years of age when Field Flower was born. Bred by Maine Chance Farms, Field Flower was bought for R225 000 at the 2008 National Yearling Sale. She has won three times from eight starts for owners John Bryant and Peter de Beyer, earning stakes of R557 810.

Kenilworth, South Africa, December 5, R750.000, 1600m, turf, good, 1.41.63 (CR 1.35.80).
FIELD FLOWER (SAF), 57.0, b f 3, Silvano (GER) - Field Princess (SAF) by Northfields. Owner J A Bryant and P G de Beyer; breeder Maine Chance Farms (SAf); trainer SH Page; jockey G Schlechter (R468.750)
Tick Tock (SAF), 57.0, b f 3, Captain Al (SAF) - Zeigler (SAF) by Elliodor (FR)
Jet Trail (SAF), 57.0, b f 3, Jet Master (SAF) - Azabu Park (AUS) by Bletchley Park (AUS)
Margins: ¾, 1¼, ½
Also ran: Laverna (SAF) 57.0, Croc Valley (SAF) 57.0, Strawberry Ice (SAF) 57.0, Play Nice (SAF) 57.0, Townsend (SAF) 57.0, Secret Pleasure (SAF) 57.0, My Kazzie (SAF) 57.0, Celtic Cross (SAF) 57.0, Opera Diva (SAF) 57.0, Check It (SAF) 57.0, Miss Pink (ARG) 57.0, Champs Elysees (SAF) 57.0, Possible Dream (SAF) 57.0

 

Summer Cup (SAf-G1) (11/28)

The horse named after a fictional lion showed all the proverbial courage of the real thing when Aslan narrowly landed the Sansui Summer Cup over 2000m.

Sent off as a 15/1 chance in a race which many pundits were (wrongly, as it transpired) touting as a two-horse race, Aslan responded to a driving ride from veteran Felix Coetzee to pick up the R1.2m first prize in Johannesburg’s richest race.
Unbeaten Oracy wasone of 5 runners in the field of 15 saddled by champion trainer Charles Laird and was a heavily supported 15/10 favourite to retain his spotless record despite racing beyond 1600m for the first time. Magical had proven stamina in his armoury and appeared to come here off an excellent prep. He went off as the 7/2 second favourite, with Rudi Rocks and Meet At Malamala most favoured of the others.
The absence of any obvious frontrunner had perplexed many form analysts in the run-up to the Summer Cup, but in the end the pace was reasonable if unspectacular as Likeithot showed the way from fellow Charles Laird-trained outsider Senor Versace. Aslan and Killaridge were next in line, with Captain Scott on their heels. Oracy was waited with some six lengths off his frontrunning stable companion with Catmandu also in about midfield as Magical raced towards the rear. Meet At Malamala waited at the back of the pack.
Likeithot and Senor Versace came under fire not long after turning for home, with Aslan and Captain Scott quickly coming forward to dispute the lead as Oracy was brought to the outside rail to secure a clear passage. The favourite began to make promising headway and had every chance 300m from home, but his effort began to peter out soon afterwards. Aslan and Captain Scott looked to be the main protagonists at the 200m pole, but Meet At Malamala was quickly making up ground behind them and Magical also came from the clouds with a storming run wider out. In the end little more than a neck separated these four at the line, with Aslan coming back after being briefly headed to just snatch the honours from Magical. Meet At Malamala clearly benefitted from more patient tactics after running out of steam over 1800m in his previous start and was beaten roughly a long head into third, with Captain Scott a similar margin behind him.
Oracy eventually finished 3.25 lengths behind the winner in seventh place, which isn’t all that bad considering he conceded between 6 kgs and 4 kgs to all of those that beat him. The jury may be out on whether the son of Zabeel stays 2000m, but this is by no means conclusive evidence that he doesn’t. The Summer Cup is a handicap, and it was always on the cards that there would be a great deal more to it than a two-horse market would have implied, and Oracy may simply have been asked to do too much. It was only the sixth start of his career and, an impressive seasonal debut win notwithstanding, suggestions that he is a superstar were premature.
Oracy still fared best of his trainer’s runners in what was a bitterly disappointing race for the country’s leading yard of last season, but it was a triumph for Sean Tarry, who had Aslan in peak condition despite a less-than-ideal preparation. A spanner was thrown into Tarry’s plans when Aslan was eliminated from the field for the Gr2 Charity Mile earlier in November, but Plan B obviously worked a treat. Aslan may have had a bit of good fortune on his side as arguments could be made that both the second and third were unlucky losers, but there is often an element of luck in racing and Aslan took full advantage of the way the dice fell.
The Summer Cup had been on Aslan’s agenda at least from the moment the gelding finished third in the Gr 2 Gold Circle Derby at Clairwood in July, and purely on that effort he could be considered to have been nicely handicapped. He finished seven lengths in front of Captain Scott in the Derby, and now received 1.5 kgs from that rival. At any rate, the winner will probably be given a break now. In all honesty it would surely be futile to consider a try at the J & B Met, where his Gr 1 winner’s penalty would make life almost impossible for him. He may have been well weighted in the Summer Cup, but quite the reverse would be true at Kenilworth.
“He’s very weak and is a big puppy, really,” noted Tarry, adding that “we’ll maybe focus on the Durban season.” Whatever Aslan’s physical drawbacks, the four-year-old “is as honest as the day is long,” according to his jockey. “They passed me down the straight, but he fought back and kept on plugging away resolutely,” added Coetzee, who has lost none of his drive to succeed at the age of 50. Most jockeys have hung up their saddled before they get near that age but when informed by a TV presenter that he needs to make more trips to ride in Gauteng, the Cape Town-based Felix immediately responded, “I’m available.”
Aslan was racing for only the ninth time and may still improve as he matures, but when all is said and done he was hard pressed to beat a less-than-awesome field under almost bottom weight. He is very useful, but he is a long way short of championship class and without further improvement he may not prove easy to place in future big races. Still, he has a big one in the bag now, and he deserves it after fighting so hard to earn it. Aslan is a son of globetrotting Silvano, who returned to Maine Chance Farms earlier this year after a spell of stallion duty in the northern hemisphere. Aslan is the fifth foal and fifth winner bred from unraced Elliodor mare Cry For The Lion, who herself in turn is a daughter of Gr 2 Natal Oaks winner and dual Gr 1-placed Danseuse Classique. Bred by Glenellen Stud and consigned as agent by The Alchemy to the 2007 National Yearling Sale, Aslan has won four of his nine starts and earned R1 379 375 in stakes.

Turffontein, SA, November 28, R2m, 2000m, turf, good, 2.02.64 (CR 2.00.13).
ASLAN (SAf), 52.5, b g 4, Silvano (GER) - Cry For The Lion (SAf) by Elliodor (FR). O: Brooklyn Bullet Trust & L M leisher; B: Glenellen Stud (SAf); T: S Tarry; jockey F Coetzee (1.250.000)
Magical (SAf), 54.0, b g 4, Labeeb (GB) - Bite Your Tongue (SAf) by Foveros (GB)
Meet At Malamala (SAf), 52.0, b c 4, Western Winter - Sweet Sweet (AUS) by Kenmare (FR)
Margins: nk, nose, nk
Also ran: Captain Scott (SAf) 54.0, Lion's Blood (SAf) 53.5, Senor Jet (SAf) 53.5, Oracy (NZ) 58.0, Senor Versace (SAf) 57.0, Rudi Rocks (SAf) 52.5, Killaridge (ZIM) 52.0, Likeithot (SAf) 57.0, Catmandu (SAf) 54.5, Cape Town (SAf) 53.0, Eight Street (AUS) 58.0, Buy And Sell (SAf) 60.0

Gold Cup (SAf-G1) (8/1)

Stephen Page teamed up with owner/breeder Bridget Oppenheimer to celebrate the first day of the new season in spectacular style when he saddled Mokaro and Noblewood in the black-and-yellow colours to fill the first two places in the Canon Gold Cup.

The 500/1 stable exacta marked Page’s first Gr1 success as a trainer and, remarkably perhaps, it was spearheaded by Mokaro becoming the first horse ever to carry the famous Oppenheimer silks to victory in SA’s premier marathon event. As Mrs O – as she is fondly known – cheerfully remarked in an interview earlier in the day, “we have given horses to other people that have won it!”
This time, the “Queen of South African racing” (to use jockey Richard Fourie’s words) was able to bask in the glory of a long overdue first Gold Cup success. Mokaro had run away with the Gr2 J&B Reserve Stayers event over 2800m at Kenilworth in January and was lined up for a bash at the Gold Cup thereafter. He had two starts in KZN prior to Saturday, on the most recent occasion setting the pace and finishing third behind Diamond Quest in the Gr2 Gold Vase over 3000m on Vodacom Durban July day. He came into the Gold Cup facing Diamond Quest on 1.5 kgs better terms for a beating of less than two lengths and it was perhaps not too surprising that Mokaro found plenty of support to start at half of his ante-post price of 16/1.
2006 Gold Cup winner Diamond Quest remained the favourite to register his second success in this event, but heavy support for Bouquet-Garni (trained by Mike de Kock but also sporting the Oppenheimer colours) saw the Gr1 SA Derby winner dispute the role of favourite at the off. Thundering Jet was another popular fancy after his excellent fourth in the Vodacom Durban July, but he had been beaten more than 11 lengths behind Mokaro in the J&B Reserve Stayers.
Port Elizabeth visitor Arctic Fleece lost some four lengths at the break, but Mokaro, Steady Chat and Equal Image hopped out alertly and were amongst the first to show in the very early stages of the race, but soon it was Polzeath who adopted her usual frontrunner’s role and set an ordinary pace. Steady Chat, Equal Image and Mokaro were closest to her initially, but Thundering Jet passed horses to move up into second spot heading up the back straight. Casey’s Son and Bill Of Rights were further back with Meteor Shower and Senor Versace as Diamond Quest was held up well off the pace.
The tempo appeared to slow down inside the final 1000m or so of the race, a fact later borne out by the winning jockey, and the field almost seemed to be playing a waiting game as Polzeath continued to show up from Thundering Jet and Steady Chat, with Equal Image on their heels. Mokaro was still in the perfect position to strike as heads turned for home, where Steady Chat and Equal Image flattered briefly before beginning to fade. Thundering Jet was very much in the mix coming to the last 200m, where his stable companion Bill Of Rights came forward strongly to dispute the lead. Mokaro was right on their heels, though, and mastered them all inside the last furlong, kicking away from 100m out to win comfortably by 1.25 lengths from his stable companion Noblewood. The latter ran on strongly all the way to the line, but Mokaro had the race safely won.
Bill Of Rights had every chance, but couldn’t match the winner’s turn of foot in the closing stages and eventually finished a neck further behind Noblewood in third place. Santa made steady headway wider out to finish fourth, half-a-length behind Bill Of Rights, with Senor Versace finishing a total of three lengths behind the winner in fifth, a virtual carbon copy of his earlier Gold Vase effort.
Bouquet-Garni didn’t really quicken when called for, having raced quite keenly for part of the race, and finished seventh. A stronger pace might have allowed him to settle better, but he raced in company with eventual runner-up Noblewood for most of the two-mile journey and probably had just about every chance. Diamond Quest never got into the hunt at all and was beaten six lengths, finishing 12th and showing nothing like the sparkle which won him the Gold Vase four weeks earlier.
Whatever he was feeling inside, Stephen Page outwardly looked remarkably cool and collected for somebody who had just pulled off the biggest success of his career. “Mokaro is just a fantastic stayer, he loves a fast pace,” noted the Philippi-based ex-jockey, before going on to thank fellow trainers Stan Elley and James Butterworth for looking after his two horses “as if they were their own, while I was away in Cape Town.” The winning rider admitted to having been a little concerned when the pace slowed approaching the final turn, but Richard Fourie had given Mokaro the perfect ride, finding plenty of cover just behind the leaders instead of racing alone up front as in the Gold Vase.
Not than television viewers would have seen or heard any of the post-race formalities unless by chance they managed to stumble on the replays at some godforsaken hour of the night. In its infinite wisdom, Tellytrack cut away from Greyville even before Mokaro had arrived in the winner’s enclosure, choosing instead to broadcast some minor contest from the faraway wilds of Yorkshire. Not only was this a great disservice to the winning connections, it did nothing to entice potential sponsors to become involved in racing. If the sport’s own dedicated channel cannot give the sponsors of the Gold Cup two minutes of post-race air time, then what can be expected from anybody else. Racing receives virtually no coverage outside of maybe J& B Met and Vodacom Durban July days on “mainstream” TV channels, and if race sponsors cannot even count on Tellytrack for some half-decent exposure then we can’t be very surprised if potential backers turn away from the sport.
It was a shoddy show, and just for good measure a considerable part of the Gold Cup was televised with an out-of-focus camera. That may not be Tellytrack’s fault as they can only broadcast what they receive from the racecourse, but given that channel 232 is operated by the same two companies that host every race meeting in South Africa that is no real excuse. Tellytrack has evolved into a virtual casino, promoting the opportunity of placing a bet every few minutes above all else, and is much the poorer for it. They are doubtless only following orders from above, but a little bit of flexibility in situations like this would go a long way. A second dedicated channel would certainly help to ease what has fundamentally become an over-cluttered schedule, but that seemingly remains a pipedream for now.
Well, at least the weather played ball. Despite dire predictions of heavy rain, conditions remained pleasant until a few showers developed later in the day, with nothing like the ferocity which had been anticipated.
Mokaro is a newly turned 6yo son of the otherwise wholly unspectacular Gone West horse Manaloj, whose record as a stallion was so poor that he is no longer active as a sire of thoroughbreds. The Gold Cup winner is the first foal of Fort Wood mare Matumi, who won two races over 1800m. Unfortunately for Mrs Oppenheimer, Matumi was sold for R20 000 when Mokaro was a weanling, as part of the annual Mauritzfontein Stud reduction. The dam of Noblewood has also subsequently been sold off, but none of that will have stopped Mrs O from basking in the glory of an overdue first Gold Cup triumph. Mokaro has now won 6 times from 27 starts, earning R1 332 900.

Greyville, SA, August 1, R1.2m, 3200m, turf, good, 3.22.18 (CR 3.18.00).
MOKARO (SAF), 56.5, ch g 6, Manaloj - Matumi (SAF) by Fort Wood. O & B: Mrs B D Oppenheimer; T: S H Page; jockey R Fourie (750.000)
Noblewood (SAF), 52.5, b g 5, Fort Wood - Lucinda (SAF) by Dancing Champ
Bill Of Rights (SAF), 57.5, b g 6, Saumarez (GB) - Fine Series (SAF) by Fine Edge (GB)
Margins: 1¼, nk, ¾
Also ran: Santa (SAF) 56.0, Senor Versace (SAF) 57.5, Sudden Storm (SAF) 54.5, Bouquet-Garni (SAF) 55.0, Mr. Esplendid (ARG) 53.0, Thundering Jet (SAF) 56.5, Meteor Shower (IRE) 56.0, Equal Image (ARG) 58.0, Diamond Quest (SAF) 55.5, Al Pasha (SAF) 53.0, Steady Chat (SAF) 55.5, Arctic Fleece (SAF) 55.5, Swarming (SAF) 52.5, Casey's Son (SAF) 55.5, Western Walk (SAF) 53.5, Just Like Al (SAF) 55.5, Polzeath (GB) 52.5