Trainer Dean Kannemeyer dominated the Greyville Quickfire racemeeting on Friday evening with a superb hat-trick of winners to get the new season into full stride.
The Dean Kannemeyer Racing string purposely goes off the boil in August and September as they go about their housekeeping routine that includes the compulsory AHS vaccinations and ease off to give their charges a well-deserved break.
Miss Minver storms home under Anthony Delpech
After a terrific first season last term operating out of his permanent satellite base at Summerveld, Kannemeyer showed what a valuable boost his presence is to the local training ranks and the force he is going to be again as he scored a 100% win strike-rate on Friday evening.
The novel Quickfire concept of twenty minute intervals between races certainly keeps everybody on their toes.
While spread shoes emerged in numbers (why – just coincidence we wonder?) to derail the tight schedule, it is refreshing to see how quickly the tote really can go all clear when officials are focussed on delivery.
The first of the Kannemeyer hat-trick arrived in the third, when the Dynasty filly Miss Minver scored her second success in five starts.
The R500 000 National Yearling Sale buy races in the David Abery silks and appears to relish the polytrack as she never gave her backers a moments worry.
Eric Ngwane is proving an apprentice with a bright future and he did the honours to get the progressive Western Winter gelding Soldier’s Code home in the sixth.
Coincidentally, Ngwane had ridden Soldier’s Code to win over the same course and distance at a similar meeting in mid July.
Eric Ngwane rides a confident race to steer Soldier’s Code to victory
The Lammerskraal bred Soldier’s Code cost all of R1,1 million at Nationals, but is maturing and should go on and win his races.
The Mambo In Seattle colt Mr O’Neill rounded off the evening to shed his maiden in the last – and give the classy Anthony Delpech his best chance to showcase his skills.
First time in blinkers, the 3yo fought Delpech as he was trying to settle him. At the 700m, Delpech changed course and took Mr O’Neill around the field to hit the front at the 600m.
Into the straight, Mr O’Neill drifted in under a hard ride as they came to get him.
Anthony Delpech produced the ride of the night to get Mr O’Neill in a position to win
Things looked marginal at the 300m for a moment, but it was clear that Delpech’s ‘gamble’ – or aggravation – had paid dividends.
Etienne van der Westhuizen (Kid Colt) in the payout queue after Mr O’Neill’s great win
The Moutonshoek product is owned by a variety of Kannemeyer supporters – including retired Judge Warren Eisele and Etienne van der Westhuizen – from the Kid Colt picture comics of the 1970’s, for our mature readers.
Assistant Barbara Badenhorst, who is doing such a great job, saddled all three DKR winners in Dean’s absence at the CTS Lanzerac Sale which starts on Saturday evening.
An eyecatching winner on the night was the Trippi debutante African Sunbird, who behaved as green as the grass in the canter down, but came back a different horse in the hands of Anton Marcus.
Drakenstein’s first runner for Charles Laird proved that she could be one to watch.
She is out of that excellent ten-time winning stakes performer Sangria Girl. The daughter of Wolfhound raced under the Greg Ennion banner in her track days and won from 1200m to 2800m.
There was plenty of support for the winner – despite Laird’s ‘no comment’ on the first-timer report.
