Speed Queen – Val De Ra

Val De Ra wins Betting World Cape Flying Championship

“The race of the season” is an expression that is bandied about often enough to make you wonder just how many racing seasons there actually are in a year, but there was always going to be something a little bit out of the ordinary about the Betting World Cape Flying Championship.  Racing aficionados had looked forward to it for weeks, and only those who truly confuse quantity with quality would have cared a hoot that just six horses lined up for this 1000m dash down the Kenilworth straight on Saturday.

The WFA event featured a rematch between Val De Ra and What A Winter, who’d finished first and second respectively in their only previous clash in the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint at Turffontein last April.  If that wasn’t enough, the Flying Championship also marked the first ever appearance in a Cape Town race of J J The Jet Plane, the much travelled hero who was starting for the first time since scoring on the Dubai World Cup undercard last March.

What A Winter had impressed when landing the Gr 2 Diadem Stakes over 1200m in his latest appearance and went off as the even money favourite, with Val De Ra the 17/10 second choice and J J The Jet Plane third favourite at 28/10, from an ante-post call of 33/10.  You could have written your own ticket about the other trio – and then doubled it.  You know the competition is hot when Copper Parade – second in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint last July – could be allowed to start at odds of 110/1.

The race pretty much followed the script as most experts had visualized it, with Val De Ra immediately going off to make the running and What A Winter tracking her in second as Captain’s Secret also raced prominently.  J J The Jet Plane was next in line as Rabattache and Copper Parade almost immediately found themselves outpaced,

It was always going to be asking an awful lot of J J The Jet Plane to stage another victorious comeback in the circumstances, and it became obvious around 400m out that he was not going to play a serious role in the outcome.  Captain’s Secret was also dispatched easily, leaving the two market principals to knuckle down and provide the rousing finish we’d all been anticipating.  And they did.  What A Winter began to edge closer as he threw down the gauntlet over on the outside rail, but Val De Ra is one tough cookie.  She was not going to yield, and while it briefly looked as if the favourite might just get to her she found that little bit more under Alec Forbes to beat What A Winter by an official 0.40 lengths, although it looked slightly less to the naked eye.

Captain’s Secret finished 4.25 lengths further behind What A Winter in third, with J J The Jet Plane another length adrift in fourth and running nowhere near his best.  It would be unwise to suggest conclusively that J J is past his prime, but this early evidence suggests that the clock is ticking, and you’d expect no less from a seven-year-old who has had his injury problems to go with the almost countless miles he has flown on his adventures around the world.  Certainly, Lucky Houdalakis’ gelding is worth respecting in whatever races he contests over the next few months, but there has to be every realistic chance that the champ’s very best days are behind him.

In any case, there is no reason why the first two finishers could not prove to be top flight sprinters on the international stage, if they ever get the opportunity to show it.  “She said it all, she’s shown today that she is world class,” remarked Val De Ra’s mightily relieved trainer Dennis Drier afterwards, and the five-year-old mare would be a worthy entrant in a good sprint race anywhere.  Her form over the minimum distance in particular is exemplary, and she looks a good deal better than the 111 rating off which she won , given that What A Winter is rated 117 and probably just about deserves it.    He finished precisely the same distance in front of his stable companion Captain’s Secret as when they respectively finished first and second in the WFA Diadem Stakes five weeks earlier, and Captain’s Secret is rated 107.

Be that as it may, Val De Ra continues to do absolutely nothing wrong, and even a life-threatening disease earlier in her career has not prevented her from going unbeaten from six starts since May 2010.  Her jockey was probably even more relieved than her trainer after Saturday’s event, admitting that he’d though “oh no!” when he saw What A Winter looming up to his right.  However, Forbes then noted that Val De Ra was holding her rival at bay at the line, and would still have won had they gone on racing for another 30 metres or so.  “She’s never had to fight any horse off before,” he added, but she showed all the necessary guts to land the spoils after making all the running.  She is certainly special, and to again quote her jockey, “ I was like a five-year-old on Christmas morning and I arrived at races three hours early.”  We can see why even a seasoned pro like Alec Forbes would be so excited about riding a horse like this.

Val De Ra is from the first crop of European champion sprinter Var and was bred at Avontuur Stud, where the son of Forest Wildcat stands.  The five-year-old mare is the third foal and third winner of Elliodor mare Minelli, who won four races over 1200/1600m.  Still owned by Avontuur after failing to reach her R300 000 reserve at the 2008 National Yearling Sale, Val De Ra has won eleven times from just 13 starts and earned R1 846 053 in stakes.

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