On Saturday, 26 May, Scottsville Racecourse was the venue for the first of the bonus races in the 2012 competition. Finding the winner of the Gr.1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint was worth 20 points plus the additional 5 bonus points. Majority of racing fans had their hopes pinned on What A Winter (Western Winter) and all of Antious (Pure Prize), Castlethorpe (Not A Single Doubt), Deliver The Power (Toreador), Link Man (Toreador) and Depardieu (Dupont) were popular choices amongst racing fans. However, the aforementioned were disappointing and it was last season’s Equus Champion Juvenile and winner of the Gr.1 Gold Medallion, Delago Deluxe (Encosta De Lago), that scored the maximum points for Markus and Ingrid Jooste and trainer Charles Laird. Second placed Snowdon (Western Winter) scored 14 points whereas third placed Shades Of Indigo (Indigo Magic) was not in the competition list.
In the Gr.1 South African Fillies Sprint, Princess Victoria (Victory Moon) was all the rage and started as competition and SAFTote favourite, but put in a below par run to finish unplaced. Hopefully, she can bounce back for her followers and holds entries for a number of big races including the Gr.1 Garden Province Stakes on Vodacom Durban July Day, Saturday 7 July.
The Fillies Sprint was won by the imposing daughter of Jet Master, Ebony Flyer. Coming off a 6 months absence it was a fantastic achievement for trainer Justin Snaith who mentioned in the post-race interview that the filly’s next mission could be the Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge on Saturday, 9 June at Clairwood Racecourse. Ebony Flyer scored 20 points, second placed Welwitschia (Oasis Dream) scored 14 points and She’s A Stunner (Toreador) was third, scoring 10 points.
The next major point scoring race meeting in the competition will feature the Gr.1 Daily News 2000, Gr.1 Woolavington 2000 and the Gr.3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup worth a total of 105 points at Greyville Racecourse on Saturday, 2 June (day/night).
Provisional leader board – 28 May (subject to verification during final audit):
|
The entire Leader Board can now be viewed on the Charity Turf Challenge home page.
The leading horses by points of the competition thus far are:
2012 CHARITY TURF CHALLENGE by LEADING HORSES (28 May) |
|
|
NAME of HORSE |
POINTS |
|
25 |
|
20 |
|
15 |
|
14 |
| SNOWDON |
14 |
| TALES OF BRAVERY |
14 |
| VARIETY CLUB |
14 |
| BEACH BEAUTY |
14 |
|
10 |
|
9 |
| REASON TO BELIEVE |
9 |
| TRIBAL DANCE |
9 |
| MASTER PLAN |
9 |
|
6 |
| FELIX THE CAT |
6 |
| GOLDEN CHATEAU |
6 |
|
5 |
The third spot prize draw took place on Saturday, 26 May (Scottsville) on Tellytrack before the start of Race 9. This is a computer generated, random draw from all entrants and not dependent on points earned. The two winners of a R500 telephone betting deposits (each) kindly sponsored by TAB GOLD “The Intelligent Bet” are:
- P Moodley 4
- Roy Jackson
CONGRATULATIONS to both winners! The next spot prize draw will be on Saturday, 2 June at Greyville Racecourse.
As and when Charity Turf Challenge horses earn points, we will update the Racing South Africa website and email data-base: www.racingsouthafrica.co.za
