Jacques Strydom showed once again that he has few peers when it comes to prepping stayers and was rewarded with a top two finish in the R150 000 Listed Glenlair Trophy at a wet Fairview on Friday.
Mathew Thackeray keeps Desert Wisdom going to hold off Frikkie (Karl Zechner) in a good finish (Pic – Pauline Herman Photography)
The 3200m feature lost some sparkle with the scratching of the Joey Ramsden Cape raider Paddington, but remained a competitive affair with a host of former major centre stayers, including the 2016 Java Handicap winner The Elmo Effect in the mix.
Ryan Munger took Mangrove to the head of affairs from the jump and led Desert Wisdom and My World at a relatively sedate gallop for much of the journey.
Into the home run Mathew Thackeray kept Desert Wisdom balanced and relaxed down the centre as My World looked the danger.
At the 300m, Plano came rattling up the outside and hit the front looking a winner. But his burst was shortlived as Desert Wisdom stayed on well to hold off the late attentions of stablemate Frikkie by a half length.
The winner’s time was 209.02 secs with My World lacking a kick late (as he has often done) to be relegated to third.
Mathew Thackeray rode the winner (photo: Pauline Herman)
Originally trained by Candice Bass-Robinson in the Cape, the tough as teak Desert Wisdom was based with Sharon Kotzen previously.
Bred by Peter de Beyer, Desert Wisdom is a son of Querari (Oasis Dream) out of the six-time winner, Meaningfful (Kefaah).The latter was trained by Dennis Drier.
An R80 000 buy off the 2015 CTS Lanzerac Ready To Run Sale, Desert Wisdom has won 5 races with 6 places from 22 starts for stakes of R342 075.
A track inspection was held after the fourth race following a jockey protest at the unsafe conditions.
In a refreshing new approach, racing continued on the grass with the jockeys who chose to not continue riding being allowed to be stood down. A good decision!
