Milnerton master trainer Vaughan Marshall threw the classic cat amongst the pigeons for the umpteenth season, when he saddled the top three home – and fifth place – from his quartet of runners in Saturday’s Gr3 Cape Classic.
In the process, he picked up his third trophy in the last four runnings of the early sophomore pointer.
The late withdrawal at the start of the fancied Brett Crawford galloper Invincabelle was an ominous sign of a potential looming dark cloud for Pick 6 punters, in what always looked to be a wide open race.
And after a keen start, Luyola Mxothwa bounced Seeking The Stars (16-1) into a dominant lead.
The Vercingetorix colt kept going powerfully all the way up the winter straight to hold the late challenge of his stablemate Linebacker (6-1) to win by an impressive 1,25 lengths in a time of 85,05 secs.
Seeking The Stars stays on under Luyola Mxothwa to win a top race (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The more fancied of the Marshall attack, and another son of Vercingetorix, Rascallion (5-2) plodded late into third, but a well beaten further 2,25 lengths back.
The favourite Speed Machine (15-10) was run off his feet and had to be content with a weak fourth, as much as 5,50 lengths adrift.
Marshall’s long-shot Look For Hounds (44-1) was just 0,75 lengths short of giving the top yard the quartet, when he came on late for fifth.
It was a result that was a feather in the cap for the NHRA handicappers with the four best weighted filling the quartet. Not easy with the winner the most experienced galloper in the field with four runs under the belt.
The winner, who races for Ricky Sewgoolam, is a really handsome and athletic Klawervlei Stud-bred Vercingetorix colt and cost R1 million on the 2019 Cape Yearling Sale.
The winner’s sire Vercingetorix is heir apparent to the Silvano honours board at Maine Chance and is our leading freshman sire by number of wins, percentage of winners to runners, and average earnings per runner.
Seeking The Stars is from the three-time winning Count Dubois mare Schism, who won up to 2200m.
Winning trainer Vaughan Marshall and his partner Jenny (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
A 1200m maiden winner, and rested since seven weeks since that fourth career start, Seeking The Stars has now won two races with two places from five starts for stakes of R107 000.
Justin Snaith quipped in his pre race comments that this was a quality race and we could see the Cape Guineas winner emerge. He got it spot on – warning that Marshall’s Rascallion, along with his stablemate, looked his biggest dangers.
