Silver ‘coins’ it in first start
NICKEL Coin won the Grand National. Silver Coin will never be asked to do that but he could well run in some of the top races in South Africa and Joey Ramsden is already thinking in terms of the Langerman.
R6 million is a hell of a lot to pay for a horse but you could see why when this one strode impressively round the Kenilworth parade ring shortly after noon yesterday with his powerful bay, almost black, frame marked only by a broad white blaze stretching down his face to his nostrils. Punters had seized on him during the morning, backing him from 33-10 to evens before he eased to 5-4.
“There was money for him alright but not a fortune,” said on-course bookmaker Bertie Dobbie.
“But there wasn’t much for anything else bar the second favourite, Victorius Captain.”
The Silvano colt certainly moved like a dream going to post but he wasn’t as quick out of the gates as Victorious Captain on whom MJ Byleveld set out to gallop the opposition into the ground – and he was soon six lengths clear.
“MJ certainly got a good lead and for a minute I didn’t think any of us were going to get to him,” said Silver Coin’s by now anxious rider Donovan Dillon. “I had to ask my horse a bit sooner than I wanted and he just lengthened.” He certainly turned it on in the closing stages, making up three lengths in the final 300m to get up almost on the line to score by just under half a length from What A Winner who pipped the tiring Victorious Captain on the post.
“He was a beautiful horse at the sales but price tags never bother me,” said Joey Ramsden wearing a rather more relaxed expression than he had done ten minutes earlier.
“I wasn’t expecting fireworks but this is a smashing horse and it was a good effort. It would have been easy for him to throw in the towel first time but he didn’t and I loved the way he pegged them back. I thought this was a run full of merit.”
But when asked about plans the often-outspoken Milnerton trainer wanted to know why the authorities scratched the two winners’ races this coming Saturday and replaced them with maidens – and he was in no mood to be appeased by any notenough-runners explanation.
“It’s pathetic,” he declared. “We put the effort in and there is nowhere for our horses to go. We can’t get manipulated like this. They should run the races and teach them (those that scratched or didn’t enter) a lesson. They would put them in next time.”
But, brought back to Silver Coin, Ramsden mentioned his love of dominating the Langerman – and the June 24 feature looks like being on the shopping list.