Beckedorf has a wide draw to overcome but has Group race form to recommend him
What do they say about money talks and the rest walks? A richly endowed restricted sale graduate race closes a top-class day of Group racing at Greyville on Saturday. The KZN Yearling Sale Million is run under the lights over 1300m and it is interesting to see strategic decisions being made in some cases to aim for the bigger carrot in overall weaker company.
It probably makes good business ‘cents’ opting for the prime boodle rather than aiming for the stars and bumping the rockets in the black type Golden Horseshoe or the Golden Slipper earlier in the afternoon!
This non black-type R1 million race is restricted to all qualifying graduates of the 2013 KZN Yearling Sale as determined by the KZN Breeders Club and the related conditions of the Sale.
A capacity field of 14 representing all of our racing centres has been carded and it will be a first time for most of them under the lights.
Sean Cormack will have a plan to beat the draw
Wide Draw
Our top-rated choice is Dennis Drier’s A P Answer gelding Beckedorf, who has pulled an awful wide draw but is the only runner from the top five finishers in the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Medallion to take his place here.
Beckedorf ran very handily there at Scottsville before finishing a 3,75 lengths fourth behind his stablemate Guiness, who takes his place in the Gr1 Golden Horseshoe, together with Harry’s Son(3rd place) and Anjaal (fifth place).
Sean Tarry’s outstanding filly Carry On Alice, who ran second to Guiness and 3,50 lengths in front of Beckedorf, lines up in the Golden Slipper.
Up To Scratch?
How good is Beckedorf? Well he has earned every time he has come racing.
The Clifton Stud bred gelding cost a bargain R70 000 at sale was runner-up at his first two starts to the well-performed Punk Rocker before shedding his maiden at the third time of asking in runaway style. Regular pilot Sean Cormack conceded when winning on him that he may have erred, but certainly made good at his third start.
He had his fourth run in the Tsogo Sun Medallion and it was a very reasonable Gr1 effort by all accounts. His dam won to 1400m, and he could enjoy his first try this far and around the turn. While he was slow away at his first start, he has shown plenty of gate speed since and will hopefully overcome that obstacle.
Vaughan Marshall saddles a good coupling here
Marshall’s Men
Vaughan Marshall is one of our best trainers of youngsters and he saddled ast year’s winner Ace Antonius for Ken Truter. Marshall sends out a serious coupling of Al Capitano and the probable stable elect, Man From Milan.
The latter, a handsome son of Highlands stallion Antonius Pius, won easily on debut over the 1000m at Kenilworth and showed some good improvement at his third KZN start when staying on for third behind the Dubai-bound Forries Waltz in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes last month. He may have been hampered in the finish there and will enjoy jumping from a 1 draw here.
The Marshall-Byleveld combo could pull of the double.
His stablemmate Al Capitano was well beaten in a Cape feature last time by the subsequently disappointing Langerman favourite Kingvoldt. He has drawn very wide here and looks likely to battle.
KZN Challenge
Duncan Howells saddles the Mambo In Seattle filly Same Jurisdiction who won her second start last time over the Clairwood 1200m beating Polar Trip.
Alyson Wright’s Black Minnaloushe filly Flash Mcqueen won on debut and Anthony Delpech rides her again. She is difficult to assess.
Glen Kotzen’s Waterford Stud-bred Garden Treasure is a speedy filly who beat the highly rated Balkan at her fourth start and is a very fast daughter of Rebel King.
Balkan subsequently turned the tables on her in emphatic style and her last two outings have been disappointing.
Justin Snaith and Richard Fourie will be happy with the Jay Peg filly Widgit’s great draw at 2.
She won second time out at Clairwood but then was slammed 11 lengths by Balkan next time. She is out of a Woodman mare and will appreciate the extra ground.
Gauteng Challenge
The Gauteng challenge is a powerful one.
The David Niewenhuizen- trained Way West filly Green Crest comes out second in our ratings and the R20 000 bargain buy has won 3 of her 7 starts for career earnings of R227 375.
She tried 1400m for the first time at her last start and beat Pennington Sands and Mike De Kock’s promising filly Bang Sue going away. Green Crest gave the runner-up 6kgs and the De Kock horse 2kgs, so it was a top-class effort.
Gavin Lerena rides her again.
Tyrone Zackey and Grant Van Niekerk have had some happy memories in their limited attempts at features (think back to Smanjemanje in the 2012 July as one example) and the pair team up with the Mogok colt, Front Rank.
The Scott Bro’s bred 2yo won his maiden at Turffontein at his third try two weeks ago and while nastily drawn at 13, looks a sort with plenty of scope, who certainly goes a mile as evidenced by his runner-up effort on debut.
Anton Marcus rides Lock Him Up
Supermania
Sean Tarry has engaged Anton Marcus for the Fort Beluga colt, Lock Him Up.
Bruce Le Roux bred the smart debut winner whose dam won up to 1900m. Lock Him Up faded out in the Tsogo Sun Medallion and is technically held by Beckedorf on that run.
Leon Erasmus and Sherman Brown went down narrowly in this event last year with the speedy Jimi Choo. They come to Durban with the Breedon Stud-bred maiden Viking Castle, who probably needs to show a bit more.
The Highlands bred Moonlight Venice is a lovely grey daughter of Windrush and carries the Mike Azzie flag.
She won at second time out on the turf and then ran on well on the sand 1450m next time for a third behind Massachusetts. She is well drawn at 5 and with Weichong Marwing in the irons may prove the value in the race.
Big Bay Bombs
Gavin Smith travels from PE with the coupling of Shine Like A Star and Princess Selena.
Shine Like A Star has won twice from 7 starts but has been unplaced at his last two outings.
Princess Selena has her third run after winning on debut. She ran very disappointingly in the Listed Lady’s Slipper Stakes at Fairview last time and needs to make major improvement.
Beware
If Dennis Drier’s smart Beckedorf overcomes his wide draw, he will go close to winning this.
If he runs into traffic issues or has to be used up to gain a advantageous position, then Man From Milan and Green Crest could prove best of the rest.
But beware. Most are lightly raced and unproven with out-of-province form the kicker.
