Past Master
Past Master made an eye-catching start to his KZN campaign last month and can keep up the good work by beating a high class field of milers on WFA terms in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m at Clairwood on Monday, writes Matthew Lips.
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Past Master
Past Master looked to be going nowhere fast when he was being niggled along amongst the backmarkers in the Gr 2 Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m at Greyville in May, but once into the straight he woke up with alacrity and finished strongly to collar Captain’s Secret in the dying strides. That was the first time he had raced on a right-handed track, and it marked his first appearance since winning the J & B Met three months earlier. The four-year-old should be ideally suited to the Clairwood mile, and Darryl Hodgson’s gelding is bound to have improved after not being completely wound up for the Drill Hall. The slow early pace may have played into his hands when he won the J & B Met, but Past Master is undoubtedly as class as he is versatile and the son of Jet Master is best in at the weights here on merit ratings.
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Big City Life
Big City Life won this race last year before disappearing off the scene for 46 weeks with a tendon problem. The 2009 Vodacom Durban July hero has started twice since his return, finishing five lengths behind Past Master in the Drill Hall and then staying on to finish a promising 3.75 lengths third behind Bravura in a set weights event over 1500m at Clairwood three weeks ago. He is going the right way and a return to his best form here is quite possible, but it may still be Bravura who will emerge as the biggest threat to Past Master.
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Bravura
Bravura spent most of 2010 on the sidelines with an injury after winning the Gr 1 Cape Derby of that year and was winning for the first time since his return when easily landing that Clairwood 1500m event in May. That in turn marked his first outing since he faded after racing handy and finished about 4.5 lengths seventh behind Past Master in the J & B Met, and it showed that Joey Ramsden’s four-year-old still has plenty to offer. Bravura is also entitled to have come on from his only KZN appearance of the year and a strict interpretation of that latest form gives him the beating of Big City Life again as they meet on identical weight terms.
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Dancewiththedevil
Dancewiththedevil was one of the starts of the recent Gauteng Feature season and came from well off the pace to win successive Gr 1 events over 1600m by hefty margins before failing to show the same sort of form in the Gr 1 Champions Challenge over 2000m. One can question whether the standard of most Gr1’s on the Highveld is quite on a par with those from other provinces these days, but Dancewiththedevil could not have been more impressive when she slammed Earl Of Surrey (a winner since) in the Horse Chestnut Stakes. She seems to act on any ground, and would be well suited to softer going. She possesses a fine turn of finishing speed and is very much one to reckon with even though she races around left-handed turns for the first time.
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Castlethorpe
Castlethorpe is one of two three-year-olds in the 13 strong line-up and remains unbeaten from three starts since he was gelded. He needed the assistance of the Stipes to keep that record intact as he was awarded victory on an objection after being beaten a head by frontrunner Ice Axe on his local debut in a 1600m handicap at Greyville late last month. Mike Bass’ gelding faces a great deal stronger than when he beat Lake Arthur by one length in the Gr 3 Winter Guineas at Kenilworth in April and it doesn’t say much for that form that the second and third were both unplaced next time out. Castlethorpe has a lot to prove, then, but he is probably a progressive younger sort who could still prove to be competitive at the highest level even though he was unplaced in both the Cape Guineas and Derby when still an entire.
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Kavanagh
The other three-year-old in the field is Kavanagh, who is starting to prove a little frustrating and who didn’t take to a drop to 1200m when fading to finish one from last in the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint a fortnight ago. He didn’t appear to quite go through with his effort when beaten 2.60 lengths into fourth in the Drill Hall Stakes, and he has almost invariably been found wanting in the closing stages whenever he has been tried over 1600m. He doubtless has loads of ability, but it is hard to recommend his chances even though he may have detested the very soft ground when beaten more than 21 lengths behind Dancewiththedevil in the Horse Chestnut Stakes. It might help that he races without the blinkers which he has worn in his last five starts, but Kavanagh remains easy to oppose.
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Earl Of Surrey
Earl Of Surrey is still in good form at the age of seven and ran on under a splendidly judged ride to just get the better of top class Pierre Jourdan in a set weights race over 1600m on the Turffontein inner track last month. The runner-up was racing for the first time in six months, though, and Earl Of Surrey proved little match for Dancewiththedevil on WFA terms when beaten 5.5 lengths in the Horse Chestnut Stakes. He has a money chance, but others do appeal as being more probable winners.
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Buy And Sell
Buy And Sell is a former Gr 1 winner at Clairwood and put up his best effort for some time when running on to finish three lengths sixth behind Earl Of Surrey last month. Much more will be required for him to be a serious threat on Saturday, though, and more of a challenge may come from Lion In Winter. This son of Western Winter was returning from a 16 week break when he finished 4.30 lengths fifth behind stable companion Bravura at Clairwood recently and is capable of better. He put up an excellent effort in the J & B Met when he came from virtually last on the turn to be beaten 3.25 lengths into fifth place. That was a very good performance in a race which wasn’t really run to suit those racing from well off the pace and a return to that kind of form would give Lion In Winter some sort of a chance here.
Blue Tiger
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Blue Tiger
Blue Tiger can be a very effective frontrunner and he was only collared very late by Big City Life in this event a year ago. His form these days is rather in-and-out and he has not won a race for well over 18 months, though. He faded after setting the pace when beaten about 4.5 lengths behind Bravura here in May and others do make considerably more appeal.. Stable companion Rushing Wind ran on well when little more than two lengths third behind Past Master in the Drill Hall and was done no favours by a high draw when subsequently unplaced in the Golden Horse Casino Sprint. He is very well suited to 1600m, but seems to fall some way short of what is requirede is to win on WFA terms at Gr 1 level.
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Captain’s Wild
Captain’s Wild has been in good form since he joined the De Kock stable and challenged gamely before finishing a neck second behind Happy Landing in the 2000m Champion Challenge at Turffontein last time out. Again one has to query whether that Gr 1 form is exactly on a par with what is on show in the Gold Challenge, however, and Captain’s Wild has a wide draw to overcome on top of it. He has won twice from three starts over 1600m and is still on the upgrade, but others appeal as being a little bit too strong for him here. Bulsara will need to improve considerably on his latest Gauteng form, which included a 13 lengths beating by Dancewiththedevil in the Horse Chestnut Stakes, and is surely up against it here.
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About the Pace
Blue Tiger looks to be the most probable pacesetter, and should ensure that the Gold Challenge is run at a decent clip. Failing that there promises to be no real pace on, but either scenario should suit Past Master, who stays a strongly run mile yet who was fast enough to easily win a Gr2 over 1200m earlier in the season. He is selected to keep his unbeaten KZN record intact, with Bravura, Big City Life, Dancewiththedevil, and Castlethorpe appealing as his most likely challengers.
