Trainer Tara Laing was in fine form at Fairview on Good Friday.
Her three successes on the programme included her fourth win in five runnings of the R150 000 Listed East Cape Sprint Cup, courtesy of a determined ride by Callan Murray on the 7yo Exelero.
Callan Murray rides a top race to get Exelero home from Greg Cheyne on the game Juan Two Three (Pic – Pauline Herman Photography)
Tara won this feature with Vauclair (2014), Sir Duke (2015) and Normanz last year. With four of the eleven starters on Friday, she must have rated her chances of lifting the trophy again.
And she found jockey Callan Murray in exactly the right frame of mind. The young Avontuur-sponsored rider had seen the Listed East Cape Guineas trophy whipped out of his hands in the last stride of the first feature of the afternoon a half hour earlier.
Callan Murray – top ride
Murray had Exelero tracking early leader Captain Alfredo and made his move early as he grabbed a length on his opposition at the 500m.
It was a move that was to win him the race as Greg Cheyne had to switch Juan Two Three out for a run. The latter cruised up and looked to go past Exelero. But Murray was not letting this one slip and he played Greg Cheyne a dummy as he found a final surge to win by a head in a time of 69,54 secs.
The mare Easy Street stayed on well for third, a further two lengths back.
Bred by Lammerskraal Stud, Exelero is a son of Western Winter (Gone West ) out of the four-time winner Landaulet (Badger Land). He was purchased for R1 million off the 2012 Cape Ready To Run Sale held at Durbanville.
This was extraordinarily Exelero’s first stakes success – his record showing 7 wins with 13 places from 36 starts for stakes of R825 550.
