There has been some debate about the expert panel’s preference for Do It Again over the Eric Sands star, Rainbow Bridge, in the Champion Middle Distance Horse category
A shrewd tactical move by Anton Marcus on the 3yo Soqrat almost proved the undoing of Sun Met winner Rainbow Bridge
Richard Fourie has been engaged to ride Sun Met winner Rainbow Bridge in the R1 million Gr1 Champions Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday 27 July
It’s been 31 long winters since Eric Sands saddled Champions Stakes winner Jungle Warrior
Sands said he would not want somebody on his horse who did not want to be there and a replacement was sought
“He was not cheap. This type of horse never is but the top-priced yearlings go for three, four and five million and you don’t know whether they can run whereas this horse has run eight times and won six.”
Sun Met winner Rainbow Bridge has been purchased by Mike Rattray for an undisclosed sum and will remain in training with Eric Sands
Halfway To Heaven does look a likely winner, given that her sons, Rainbow Bridge and Hawwaam have both won graded races this season, and both look likely to add further to her Broodmare Of The Year claims
Jockey Anton Marcus won his third Met and set a South African record for stakes earned on one afternoon when he produced a polished performance to get the Ideal World gelding Rainbow Bridge home
The allegation indicated that the Clerk Of Scales had apparently reported the matter to the Stipes who had then apparently made a decision to ‘keep it out of the public domain’
‘I called the owner and before I could even make the offer he excitedly told me that a certain South African bookmaker had just called 10 minutes earlier to make an offer of R5m’
It’s clear that eight incidents of crop excesses is unacceptable for a sport keen to maintain a good public image, and the time appears to have arrived for a review of the crop rules for work riders on the Highveld
