Eric Sands’ gallant 6yo Rainbow Bridge joined the rarified ranks of dual Met winners Pocket Power and Politician when he stormed up down the wide outside of the Kenilworth track in the famous Rattray silks – worn by 2004 victor Yard Arm – under newly qualified jockey Luke Ferraris, to win the R1 million Gr1 Cape Town Met.
Luke Ferraris and Eric Sands enjoy the moment (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
A winner of the race in 2019 under Anton Marcus when running in the silks of the late Chris Gerber, Rainbow Bridge has been a model of top league consistency and seemed to relish the absence of the crowds as racing on Cape Town’s biggest day went ahead in sunny, almost windless conditions, behind closed doors.
Avontuur-sponsored Luke Ferraris, who only months ago came out of his time as SA Champion Apprentice, rode a cracker at his third start on the smashing gelding.
After marginally frustrating seconds on Rainbow Bridge in both the Green Point Stakes and the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, Ferraris got the hang of things and rose to the big occasion, producing a peach of a ride from lengths off the Cirillo gallop into the home straight.
Rainbow Bridge storms home under an elated Luke Ferraris (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
And it wasn’t as if there was no pressure on the young man’s shoulders – trainer Eric Sands, who has been through his frustrations with trying to find the perfect jockey fit for the Ideal World gelding, told how he had sent Ferraris a message on Friday evening, telling him he believed he ‘had the right man on top’.
Ferraris said afterwards that ‘it doesn’t get better than the Met’ and it all felt surreal.
Off a muddling, but not always pedestrian gallop, Gauteng challenger Running Brave conceded the charge to Cirillo coming for home, and Gavin Lerena had the son of Pomodoro in front and galloping comfortably.
Inside the final 300m Richard Fourie launched his own plan and sprung Belgarion into a lead down the inside – and the son of Dynasty looked to have done enough.
Team Sands lead in their star as Luke Ferraris hugs his mount (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
But Ferraris had other plans and Rainbow Bridge grew wings as he flew down the wide outside to win by a deceptive margin of 1,75 lengths in a time of 123,51 secs.
Candice Bass-Robinson’s 100-1 outsider Sovereign Spirit threw something of a question mark on reality, when running the race of his life in the conditions to find third 3,25 lengths further back.
The dual July winner Do It Again is battling to find his feet and was well beaten in fourth.
The rest didn’t really feature, with many folk’s lurker and Premier Trophy surprise runner-up African Night Sky, also failed to deliver.
The Met win was Ferraris’s second feature success on the day after Ambionix won the Listed Summer Juvenile Stakes earlier.
Originally a R300 000 National Yearling Sale buy, Rainbow Bridge was bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein and is a 6yo gelded son of Ideal World (Kingmambo) – himself a son of champion racemare Banks Hill, a full-sister to champion sire Dansili as well as the Gr1 sires Cacique and Champs Elysees.
Rainbow Bridge, whose younger Philanthropist half-brother Golden Ducat failed to spark and finished out of the money, is out of the seven-time winner and multiple SA Champion broodmare Halfway To Heaven (Jet Master.
Rainbow Bridge has won 9 races with 11 places from 21 starts for stakes for stakes of R7 593 125.
