Mike De Kock and Sean Tarry
Super Saturday brings the curtain down next weekend on a superb season. The R1,25 million Gr1 Gold Cup heads a breathtaking feature bill on the twelve race Greyville day-night programme, where the champion trainer title should go all the way down to the wire.
While all of the major titles will be decided on the afternoon, it is the coveted champion trainer title that will probably attract the majority of the attention.
Mike De Kock and Sean Tarry are locked in a duel for what is little more than prestige and pride, with De Kock on R16 050 188 versus Tarry’s R15 852 200, as we go to print. The tight clash is reminiscent of the 2007/8 championship duel, when De Kock eventually beat Charles Laird by just R100 000 at the last meeting.
Mike De Kock is aiming for his eighth title here and after a dream season, Sean Tarry is a popular choice to topple the master. In sharp contrast, the brilliant Piere Strydom is a runaway winner of the SA Jockey Championship. Strydom is 58 winners ahead of Anton Marcus, whose assault was curtailed by a thumb injury.
Strydom has ridden 207 winners from 919 rides, with stakes earnings of over R18 million. Marcus’ 149 winners are from 498 rides, with stakes of just over R12 million. Muzi Yeni has been the busiest jockey with 1013 rides delivering 117 winners, for just over R6 million in stakes.
Yeni took his eye off the ball at a crucial stage, after being involved in an unsavoury incident at Greyville Racecourse, and faces a challenge to pick himself up off the canvas. In contrast, July winning hero S’manga Khumalo is riding the crest of a wave. He has ridden just 61 winners from 713 rides, but boasts stakes of over R9 million, courtesy of his three Gr1 winners.
The Gold Cup heads the Super Saturday programme, and it is indeed bizarre and a pity that this great event is without a sponsor. A race of tradition with an ability to capture the public imagination, the Gold Cup was first run in 1926, when it was won by Sun Lad who carried all of 46 kgs to victory. Sun Lad jumped at odds of 9-1 and was owned by leading owner-breeder Sir Abe Bailey, who appropriately bred and owned the great staying sire Son In Law.
The 1926 Gold Cup was one of just two wins for Sun Lad during the season, and he is unlikely to be regarded as one of the race’s better winners. The first Gold Cup was contested over the current distance of 3200m and was worth a total of 2000 pounds. The R750 000 Gr1 Champions Cup, won last year by the 2013 Mango 2200 (July consolation) winner Master Plan, is also on the programme.
The 2yo’s are well catered for with the Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes and the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes, both run for a stake of R600 000 over a mile, also on the bill. The Gr2 Gold Bracelet, the Listed Umngeni Handicap and the Listed Darley Arabian, make up the sumptuous feast for racing enthusiasts.
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