Trip To Heaven But No Trip To Cape Town
The Gr2 Diadem Stakes looked to be one of the sprint races of the year, but lost some lustre when Trip To Heaven was a forced scratching
30th December 2014
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The Gr2 Diadem Stakes looked to be one of the sprint races of the year, but lost some lustre when Trip To Heaven was a forced scratching
To win the Guineas on such an awesome day and with such a special horse in Act Of War – well, life does not get much better than this. It certainly cheered up my Christmas. He really is a wonderful horse
The year saw no dominant champion emerge in the Northern Hemisphere, but a number of runners put up memorable performances both locally and overseas
Guineas winners include the legends Hawaii, Politician, Colorado King and Empress Club – to name a few. Sarah Whitelaw lists her personal selection of Guineas highlights over the past two decades
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. Dawn Smorenburg found that a bad fall brought unexpected benefits and along with equally talented daughter Lauren, is taking the jewelery world by storm
Kildeer’s descendants have enjoyed huge success over the past 100 years or so, and this powerful female line looks stronger than ever in the 21st century.
I read this morning that Anton Marcus has ruled himself out of riding Act of War in the Guineas. My first phone call will be to racing manager, Derek Brugman, for his opinion and some form of cunning plan. Derek is never, ever short of one and usually one step ahead of the rest of us. I don’t see too many problems ahead
Pippa and the Avontuur team always ensure a top class outing, so thank you for a thoroughly engrossing day’s racing. Pippa for president ! Or better yet, head of marketing.
Our local yards have been hard hit by the difficult economic climate which has resulted in drastically reduced strings. In addition the firm going has understandably made some trainers think twice about acceptances. Hopefully this situation will improve when the long awaited rains finally arrive
This could be the fastest mile ever run at Kenilworth, particularly if there is no head wind! For once, there does look to be an awful lot of pace in the race. However, every time I say that they go an absolute crawl and I end up with egg on my face.
Runners in the Fillies Guineas are by sires whose progeny include three previous winners of the race, and a staggering total of over 470 stakes winners. Safe to say, the winner of the 2014 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas will have considerable value as a broodmare!
Snaith star runs in a a capacity nationally representative field for the 129th renewal of the R5 million Hollywoodbets Gr1 Durban July!
Patience rewarded for the blue and white powerhouse while Team Valor’s Quid Pro Quo is on her way to Jerome Reynier in France
In perfect weather conditions, an enthusiastic record crowd – probably larger than that seen at many local racemeetings – turned out to enjoy coffee and pastries and watch their big race fancies going through their paces
