Val de Ra in Class Of Her Own

Any doubts that Val De Ra would not prove as effective over 1200m as she is over the minimum distance were swiftly allayed when she made all the running to win the SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville on Saturday.  Now aged four, Val De Ra had suffered her only defeat from nine previous starts when finishing third in the corresponding race twelve months earlier and came here itching to set the record straight.

Opposing Val De Ra was Gibraltar Blue, who had finished 1.25 lengths in front of Dennis Drier’s flying machine when beaten a neck by Captain’s Gal in the Fillies Sprint of 2010.  Punters could not decide which of the two to make favourite and they went off as 18/10 joint market leaders even though Gibraltar Blue was starting for the first time in four months.  Val De Ra, on the other hand, had posted a memorable win against male rivals in the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m four weeks earlier.  Covenant had her supporters and went off as the 9/2 third favourite in a field of 15 for this WFA event, with some interest also shown in Give Me Five and Gibraltar Blue’s stable companion Headstrong.

Val De Ra only really knows one way of doing things and was up with the action from the word go, although Gibraltar Blue also showed loads of speed and matched her market rival in the early stages.  Mana Mou had no shortage of pace and was right up with the leaders as Fair Rosalind showed considerable initial toe as well.  Val De Ra and Gibraltar Blue were still racing almost alongside on the inside of the course heading to the last 300m, but Gibraltar Blue was starting to come under pressure and weakened out of contention from the 200m mark.  That left Val De Ra alone on the lead and going great guns.  Headstrong emerged from the pack late in the piece and was running on strongly, but she could not get to the low-flying Val De Ra and failed by three-quarters of a length to reel in the frontrunner.  Covenant was running on to finish 1.75 lengths away in third, with State Blue lacking a strong kick after appearing to travel well for much of the race and finishing another head away in fourth.  Gibraltar Blue was eventually beaten 4.10 lengths into sixth place and it is not hard to see this as the performance of a horse who may well have needed a run.  It was also her fourth defeat from as many tries at Gr 1 level, a record her connections would desperately love the well-bred daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar to set straight before she retires to her owners’ Klawervlei Stud.

Val De Ra suffered a life-threatening illness which kept her out of racing between June 2010 and April of this year, but the four-year-old has come back better than ever and may well be in line for another try against male company in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint at Clairwood in July.  There isn’t much else for her to aim at this winter as sprinting is surely her forte even if she is very clearly not “just” a 1000m merchant.  Whatever the future holds, Val De Ra has achieved a splendid Gr 1 double in the space of just less than a month and has more than lived up to the expectations of her fans and her connections alike.  One has to spare a thought for her regular partner Alec Forbes, who had to sit this race out after injuring his shoulder in a spill at Greyville eight days earlier, and in his enforced absence it was Stuart Randolph who was entrusted with the task of steering her home.  It could not have been fun watching on TV for Forbes, who had ridden Val De Ra in all of her five most recent appearances, but that is obviously the nature of the racing game.

Val De Ra is from the first crop of champion European sprinter Var, a son of Forest Wildcat whose biggest success came in the Gr 1 Prix de l’Abbaye over 1000m at Longchamp.  She is the third foal, third winner, and second Stakes winner produced from Elliodor mare Minelli, who won four races over 1200/1600m.  Val De Ra competes in the colours of her breeders Avontuur Estate after she failed to reach her R300 000 reserve when offered at the 2008 National Yearling Sale.  With nine wins and one place to her credit, she has earned stakes of R1 346 053 and could prove to be thoroughly competitive if she competes on the international stage in times to come. by Matthew Lips

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