Cape Town Met winning jockey Luke Ferraris maintained his dream start to 2021 when the 19 year old recently qualified rider rode a cracker to keep Mike de Kock’s Malmoos at his task to win the R525 000 World Sports Betting Gr2 Gauteng Guineas at Turffontein on Saturday.
Ferraris, who piloted Rainbow Bridge to victory in the Gr1 Cape Town Met last month, displayed maturity beyond his years and fine judgement again as he attacked early up the home straight and kept the relentless Malmoos going to thwart a game late bid by the Dingaans/Tony Ruffel victor Catch Twentytwo.
Luke Ferraris drives Malmoos down the rail as Catch Twentytwo (Gavin Lerena) threatens late (Pic – JC Photos)
The Avontuur-sponsored jockey has an innate quiet confidence about him with the ability in the saddle to match, and he rode a beautifully judged race on the son of Captain Al, to round off his fifth win from 6 starts on the Varsfontein-bred colt.
De Kock went into the race with a two-pronged attack of Mount Pleasant and the winner, and while he may have been left to rue his decision to run Mount Pleasant – who finished a 19 length last – in the mile contest after some debate in the build-up, he would have been thrilled that Malmoos was able to lift a week where Shadwell dropped a clanger on international racing. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s operation announced on Friday that they were undertaking a review of their Southern Hemisphere operations and would be departing Australia.
But back to Malmoos.
He won his first four on the trot, including the Concorde Cup at Kenilworth. His subsequent Cape Guineas effort is still mostly unexplained, but it’s not the first time that the travel bogey has got to the Gauteng raiders.
Freshened up and back from an eight week break on Saturday, we saw the Malmoos of old – the one Mike de Kock labelled ‘the real deal’.
He powered home at 5-2 to hold off the consistent Catch Twentytwo by a quarter length in a time of 97,36 secs.
Copper Mountain (10-1) looked dangerous late, and was not disgraced 1,15 lengths further away in third.
Bred on the same Captain Al/Fort Wood cross as Gr1 stars Captain America and William Longsword (a current Klawervlei sire), Malmoos is by Captain Al (Al Mufti) out of the Spook Express Handicap winner Justthewayyouare, a half-sister to Varsfontein’s boom sire Master Of My Fate.
The second top lot at R4,4 million sold off the 2019 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale, Malmoos has earned R587 100 at his four wins from five starts.
A full brother to the dual Group-winning stayer Captain Splendid, the next leg of the World Sports Betting Triple Crown should be well within his compass. That is the R750 000 WSB Gr1 SA Classic to be run over 1800m at the same venue on Saturday 6 March.
The third leg is the R750 000 WSB Gr1 SA Derby run over 2450m at Turffontein on Saturday 3 April.
A bonus of R2 million will be paid to the connections of the horse that wins all three legs.
