Dual Gr1 winner Edict Of Nantes gave notice of his L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and Sun Met intentions with a fluent return to action at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Piere Strydom steers Edict Of Nantes up the outside to hold off Greg Cheyne on Sail South and Corne Orffer aboard Captain America (Pic- Chase Liebenberg Photography)
The R120 000 Pinnacle Stakes over the Kenilworth winter course 1400m was given unofficial national feature billing with three Gr1 winners and a Cape Winter Triple Crown star in the line-up and the race turned into a celebration for Philippi trainer Brett Crawford, who saddled the quartet.
With Anton Marcus busy serving a suspension and likely to side with dual SA Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle in the Cape Summer Season, the co-opted Piere Strydom – a very capable replacement – struck up an instant affinity with the Investec Cape Derby and Daily News 2000 winner.
Caught wide in no-man’s land all the way around from his wide draw, Edict Of Nantes showed his class over a trip short of his best after a 19 week break to beat Gr1 Champions Cup winner Sail South by a half length in a time of 85,19 secs.
Edict Of Nantes is led in after his great return win (Pic- Chase Liebenberg Photography)
The evergreen Champions Cup runner-up Captain America, now a 7yo, stayed on nicely for third ahead of outgunned pacemaker Black Cat Back, who rounded off the Crawford quartet.
African Night Sky stayed on nicely four fifth, with former record-breaking yearling Horizon well beaten.
The Klawervlei Farm Sale graduate, a son of Zafonic stallion Count Dubois, has now won 6 races with 6 places from his 14 starts for stakes in the region of R2 650 000. He is out of the four-time winning Jet Master mare Pagan Dance.
Another son of Count Dubois in Sean Tarry’s Social Order played himself into Summer Cup contention with an eyecatching second in the recent Charity Mile.
Edict Of Nantes could be yet another candidate for the Klawervlei stallion barn.
