Goosen can add to his tally
IT took Louis Goosen a little time to set up his Ashburton stables after deciding to move from his Vaal yard, home for close on two decades, but not long to fathom the Ashburton training tracks. But he did heed advice in that regard. “Duncan (Howells) was a great help.
His father and my father rode and trained together in PE and we grew up together. He was free with his advice and I appreciate that.”
It was obviously good advice from KZN’s Champion Trainer as Goosen saddled a treble on the Greyville poly on Sunday.
“Should that have been four?” he pondered watching some smart work on the short track at Ashburton on Wednesday.
Goosen can add to that tally on the Greyville poly tonight where Bonnie Dawn and Haddington look the pick of his five runners on the evening.
Haddington comes back to half the distance of his last start when possibly finding the 2 400m a touch out of his compass, but has excellent form over shorter and in spite of a coffin draw, he does stay further than a mile and Gunter Wrogemann, also riding as wave in KZN, is unlikely to hesitate in taking the strapping son of Ideal World to the front.
Master Shogun
An aid in Haddington’s quest for a third win is that a number of the opposition are returning from a lay-off and likely to be short of a gallop, so his biggest threats likely to be Master Shogun and Sweet Refrain.
Bonnie Dawn can kick off the evening for Goosen when she steps out in the First Group Handicap where she shoulders top weight but takes a drop in class from her last Pinnacle Stakes event when four lengths off the smart Sommerlied.
The filly shows lots of speed and more importantly appears to have taken to the synthetic surface.
She was not far off Grade 1 winning Guiness on her poly debut and more recently ran Gee Wizz to a head giving the runnerup 6kg. That was a showing good enough to see her home against some seasoned but aging opposition.
Tarry
Champion trainer Sean Tarry has been ominously quiet in the first couple of month of the new season and the opposition can expect a tsunami of runners when the Highveld spring season kicks off starting at Turffontein tomorrow.
But Tarry has a more than able lieutenant on Deshone Steyn who runs his KZN satellite yard and the filly Kahula can go one better in the Steelbank Merchants Handicap.
It is a difficult Fillies and Mares Handicap where Kahula returns from a break but she is consistent and her pedigree suggests that the poly track will suit.
With Anton Marcus in the saddle, she had a lot in her favour. Top weight Leisure Trip has been a model of consistency since arriving from the Highveld but without success. He poly form is smart and with apprentice Serino Moodley given her 2.5kg relief she looks a threat to Kahula.
As does Fullfillyourdreams. Robbie Hill’s filly caused a major upset when landing the Bloodstock South Africa Million at Scottsville, beating winners and in the process shedding her maiden.
The field this evening is possibly a touch weaker but she does have to contend with a difficult draw which could prove her Achilles heel.