Flashback – three cornered duel as One Cool Dude (pink cap) beats Serissa and Futura
The former Duncan Howells trained 2014 Gr3 Cup Trial winner One Cool Dude boasts a victory over superstar Futura and showed that he has lost none of his zest for racing when scoring a smooth win in Saturday’s Champ de Mars feature, the Air France Le Trophée Du Bicentenaire du MTC.
The victory in the Draper’s Mile by the son of Strike Smartly put the seal on a sensational four-timer on the day for KZN jockey Brandon Lerena and trainer Ricky Maingard.
Cruising in fifth position, One Cool Dude produced a superb finish, chasing down Gr1 SA Classic winner Love Struck (Sherman Brown) and gaining the verdict in the 1500m event by a very close margin.
Brandon Lerena – outstanding riding on the island
The 2012 winner Ice Axe (Dinesh Sooful) was a game third, with Albert Mooney (Derreck David) 4th.
Lerena also won on Justin Snaith’s 2014 Gr3 Politician Stakes winner Blaze Of Noon, former Paddy Kruyer trained sprinter Kimberly Al and a former Weiho Marwing charge in Chinese Gold (coincidentally, like the feature winner, a son of the ill-fated Strike Smartly.)
A capable and very underrated rider, Lerena rode for Alain Perdrau during the early part of the 2011 season and has done well for Maingard this term as one of the best SA riders on the island.
