As the sun sets on the final local meeting of the 2013/14 season, trainer Alan Greeff celebrated his eighth PE champion trainer title in 19 years and he certainly has come a long way since his first Gr1 win. That was achieved when the 12 to 1 Cereus won the R500 000 Gr1 Gold Cup in 2001.
Cereus was the last PE horse to win the Gold Cup and trainer Tara Laing carries the flag this year with another longshot in the Silvano gelding, Crown Of Gold.
Favourite for the 2001 running was the David Ferraris-trained Global Legend, winner of the Gold Bowl over a similar distance on Champions Day at Turffontein in April of that year. The betting public, made him the 4-1 favourite for the Gold Cup.
Alan Greeff leads in Cereus with Stuart Randolph up
Next best at 5-1 were Gold Vase winner Reef Road and Durban July third Double Reef, the top weight with 58kg, who was attempting this ultra-distance for the first time in his career.
Late money came for Lonsdale Stirrup Cup winner Full Press, who had run second in the Gold Vase – he was backed down all the way from 20-1 to 7-1.
Jeff Lloyd on Sequoia quickly took the initiative into the home straight and the son of Fort Wood was on his way to adding the Gold Cup to the previous season’s Gold Vase victory.
On the outside, Stuart Randolph and Cereus were quick to challenge and the pair swept past a gallant Sequoia in the shadow of the post, to register a surprise longhead win.
Then still a trainee pilot, Stuart Randolph proudly holds the magnificent trophy
Reef Road and Double Reef both made up a fair amount of ground in the latter stages, but were never going to threaten the front pair, eventually finishing third and fourth respectively.
The day proved a memorable one for the then young trainer Alan Greeff, who had shipped three horses from his Port Elizabeth base.
He started off by taking top honours in the Grade 2 Golden Slipper with Veronica Foulkes’ homebred filly Tatler. She turned the tables on Bridal Paths, after having finished third in the Thekwini on July day.
Knockout, his second runner, finished a creditable fourth in the Gr2 Golden Horseshoe, won by Weston Blaze. The third runner was Cereus, who would give his trainer his first ever Grade 1 win. What a day !
There was never any doubts over Cereus’ stamina, the colt having won both the Eastern Province Derby and Derby Trial as a three-year-old, and that season boasting a victory in the 3600m Eastern Province Gold Cup, the longest race on the South African racing calendar.
In his run prior to the Gold Cup, Cereus had finished a promising third, beaten just over 1,5 lengths by Reef Road in the Gold Vase.
Cereus was a homebred for London-based owner. the Honourable Alec Foster, who sadly was not present on the day. The colt was conceived and raised at Summerhill Stud in the KZN Midlands, and it was appropriate that, in the absence of his owner, Mick Goss, the proud master of Summerhill, received the magnificent Gold Cup.
Cereus was an entire son of the Blushing Groom horse Desert Team, out of Magnetic Fields, a daughter of internationally renowned broodmare sire Northfields. This was his seventh career victory and the R312,500 first stake almost doubled his career earnings to over R635,000.
He was to win another two races in total and also tried the Gold Cup again in 2003 and 2004, without striking it lucky.
He retired a month after his final Gold Cup tilt in 2004.
Well done to Alan Greeff on a cavalier training performance this season again.
