Classic Day entries

The respective winners of the Gauteng Guineas and Gauteng Fillies Guineas are among the entries for the Grade 1 SA Classic and SA Fillies Classic to be run over 1800m at Turffontein on Saturday 31 March.
Guineas winner Golden Chateau will be hoping to take another step towards capturing the SASCOC Triple Crown while Fillies Guineas champion Go Indigo will be looking to emulate Igugu and become only the second filly to win the SA Triple Tiara.

There is a R2-million bonus for any horse who can win the Triple Crown – the Guineas, SA Classic and SA Derby – while a R1-million bonus will be paid out to a Triple Tiara champion – Fillies Guineas, SA Fillies Classic and SA Oaks.

The R2-million SA Classic and R1-million SA Fillies Classic are among the eight Graded races to be run on the Turffontein standside track on 31 March. Also on the card will be the Grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m, the Caradoc Gold Cup over 2850m, Man O’ War Sprint, Protea Stakes and Pretty Polly Stakes – all over 1100m – and the Jacaranda Handicap over 1800m. These last five events are all Grade 3 races.
Golden Chateau started at 100-1 to win the Guineas but Mike de Kock’s runner is unlikely to be anywhere close to that sort of price here. He is one of seven runners from the yard to be entered. The others are Silver Flyer, Royal Ridge, Borodino, Frontino Gold, Governor General, and Mushreq.
One of the main attractions of this race will be Grade 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate champion Gimmethegreenlight, trained by Justin Snaith. The unfortunate news for the yard is that he has landed a No 19 draw of the 21 runners. However, he has been stabled with Geoff Woodruff at Randjesfontein and the news emanating from the yard is that his work has been pretty encouraging.

Slumdogmillionaire finished a one-length third in the Guineas in only his third visit to a racecourse. Gavin van Zyl’s runner looks to be top class and over this extra 200m he will have hoards of supporters.
Sean Tarry has five entries in Pomodoro, Whiteline Fever, E-Jet, Heavy Metal and Baracah while Mike Azzie will be looking for a better effort from Potala Palace.

Go Indigo will face a real test when she tries 1800m for the first time but at least she will not have to jump from a  wide draw in the SA Fillies Classic. She is currently at No 10 of the 21 runners and is sure to come in further.

Zimbabwean runner Control Freak went through a learning curve in the Fillies Guineas where she suffered her first defeat when finishing fourth, beaten 1.25 lengths. She has a decent draw of No 6 and one will see a better performance from her here.

The Horse Chestnut Stakes looks competitive but will be headed up by Sansui Summer Cup winner Dancewiththedevil and Pierre Jourdan.  However, J&B Met fourth-placed Run For It and De Kock’s Kavanagh, Welwitschia, Solo Traveller and Galileo’s Destiny will ensure a most competitive race.

Supplementary entries close at 11am on Monday 19 March. Final declarations close at 11am on Thursday 22 March.