Reports reaching our offices that dual Gr1 winner Edict Of Nantes has passed all veterinary and statutory requirements and will be exported to join the powerful Tony Millard yard in Hong Kong have not yet been confirmed.
Edict Of Nantes – uncertainty prevails
The Sporting Post made contact with Tony Millard late into the Hong Kong evening on Monday but the line was very indistinct.
A call to Edict Of Nantes’ trainer Brett Crawford confirmed that the Count Dubois colt had been vetted, but we were referred to Mayfair Speculators Racing Manager, Derek Brugman. Our message was not returned at time of writing.
Derek Brugman – no word
The now long rumoured sale of Edict Of Nantes to Hong Kong, if true, must make the classy 4yo a doubtful starter for the Sun Met in view of the Hong Kong import restrictions governing race exposure. This uncertainty caused an immediate drift in the betting.
While rumour and speculation is fun, it makes betting very uncertain.
Ante-post rules are no real excuse for not playing open cards and no punter wants to chase better odds – but do their money in cold blood, when there is no real intention of running a horse. On the flipside, we accept that these are pressured times for those involved with the underlying transaction.
It may be something to consider in future, that while early betting fuels the intrigue, that the racing authority should do more to get intentions from colour holders and trainers – particularly where material uncertainty prevails . There can’t be an onus on bookmakers to be calling trainers to find out their intentions, surely?
On a more decisive note, Dean Kannemeyer’s Last Winter exploded as a big race contender this weekend, and that in defeat.
.Last Winter – a wow performance last Saturday
Previously undefeated in 4 from 4, he needed to show he was more than a top division horse. The evergreen Milton escaped as he can and Last Winter alone kept on quickening to miss by a photo into the head wind. Showing prowess at Kenilworth over 1800m, Last Winter suddenly has real prospects in the Met where conditions are the hardest ever – but he could still have unplumbed depths.
Hat Puntano ran the Turffontein mile carrying top weight but is still well in with a merit rating of 116. He wasn’t disgraced by the half length beating, but there were no Met contenders and the opposition and the weights will get far more tougher in Cape Town.
Read what Mike Azzie told us earlier today
A few other Met hopefuls showed – but for Black Arthur, Horizon and Krambambuli things will just get tougher. Deo Juvente also ran no sort of race.
The stipes reported after the Gr2 Premier Trophy:
DEO JUVENTE (C Murray) returned fatigued and was making an abnormal respiratory noise; BLACK ARTHUR (P Strydom) returned coughing; and HORIZON (A Domeyer) returned having cast the left hind shoe.
