Rainbow Bridge easy to cross
IT’S over 20 years since the Flobayou glory days, and more than a decade since he lost several of his best horses in a freak poisoning accident, but it now looks as if Eric Sands has finally found the good one to put his name back in lights. Rainbow Bridge, winner of his only previous start and backed from 16-1 to 8-1, went from last to first inside two furlongs when upped to Grade 3 company for the Highlands Stud Winter Guineas at Kenilworth on Saturday and won pulling up after barely seeing his rider’s whip.
Richard Fourie enthused about Chris Gerber’s Ideal World gelding as if he had found the Pick Six – and in a way he had: “It’s not every day that you get to ride champions and not often you are on one as good as this. He is a top horse - and Mr Sands deserves it.”
Special was the word the trainer used, and possibly too special to go from here to the Winter Classic.
“I will see how he pulls up and also chat to the owner. But I’m not going to rush him just for that.”
Too Phat To Fly
The Glen Kotzen-trained Too Phat To Fly, winner of the Sweet Chestnut Stakes under Fourie, is to stay In Cape Town for next month’s Stormsvlei Mile but Joey Ramsden will send runner-up Rose In Bloom to Scottsville for the SA Fillies Sprint.
Ramsden is mulling over his options for fourth-placed Made In Hollywood and said: “She had career-threatening surgery and a year away.
“They took her off her feet early but this was a good effort from a horse who I think is very good.”
Anthony Andrews was believed to have broken a bone in his foot when Happy Girl panicked in the pens for the Canford Cliffs Maiden Juvenile Fillies won by Bernard Fayd’Herbe on the Ramsden-trained Sans Regrets. But x-rays revealed only soft tissue damage. Andrews said yesterday: “The horse reared and then fell to the right onto the steel bar that divided my stall from the next one, and my foot was caught under the bar. “Luckily I was able to get out quickly. The foot feels a lot better today but I expect I will be off for at least a week.”
Belinda Haytread,44 and of Pocket Power fame, rode her first work riders race winner and what she calculates was her fifth or sixth in all when scoring on Love Of My Life despite the filly hanging badly. She rode her first winner when she was 16 and played an important part in her godfather Mike Bass’s operation. She now does the same for Candice Bass-Robinson who said: “Belinda is an absolute gem and frankly I couldn’t do without her.” SOMMERLIED put her Cape Town trials and other tribulations behind her when finding her best form to deny Neptune’s Rain and last year’s winner, The Secret Is Out, in the Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes at Scottsville yesterday.
“We took her to Cape Town,” surmised Dennis Drier. “But I don’t think she really enjoyed the Cape.” “She’s got her issues and she got her problems, but we seem to manage them,” said many times KZN’s Champion trainer.
“But I have said it many times, if you don’t have the horses it doesn’t matter how good you are. “It’s like farting against thunder.” “She’s got a lot of class,” confirmed Sean Veale. “But Duncan’s horse also ran a good race.”
The Duncan Howells-trained Neptune’s Rain finished up the outside in what looked to be the more testing going and was closing the winner down quickly.
The Secret Is Out
The Secret Is Out and favourite Magical Wonderland were not too far in arears and this quartet are likely to meet again in the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint towards the end of next month.
Inverroche booked her place in the Gr1 Allan Robertson with a convincing win in the Strelitzia Stakes.
“The Allan Robertson is her next mission,” confirmed Victor Tojiera, Brian Burnard’s racing manager. “Then we will see how good she is.” Brave words or hopeful? “The hardest part was convincing Keagan (de Melo) that he was on the right one,” said Mark Dixon, suggesting that Tojiera’s words were brave rather than hopeful.
“She got left in her first run and won in impressive style, winning going away.
“We used the barrier trial as a grass gallop and she was spot on today,” said Dixon.
Ominously, Canyoukeepasecret was pushing hard at the death and Vaughan Marshall will have similar plans for the full sister of his former Allan Robertson winners, All Is Secret and The Secret Is Out.
“He’s laid back and has everything going for him – this is a proper horse,” were ominous words from Dennis Bosch for Gr1 Tsogo Gold Medallion hopefuls after Cue The Music played a winning tune in the Gr3 Godolphin Barb Stakes.
Tracking pacemaker Van Halen for most of the race, when Anton Marcus asked for an effort, Cue The Music quickened up smartly to win going away.
Des Gonzolves, racing manager for out-of-country Mario Ferreira, dedicated the win to Anthony Delpech, recovering form a possibly career ending fall, who had done much of the groundwork on the colt.
But Marcus was quick to fill in. “A couple of months ago I rode him and I made the fatal mistake of telling Dennis that I liked him. “That was the last I saw of him but he’s a smart horse.” Van Halen ran a cracking race for Tobie Spies, who recently took over the reins from his son Corne while he sorts out a few personal problems, while Traces and Goliath Heron fought it out for the shallow end of the purse.
Peter Muscutt does a sterling job as Brett Crawford’s assistant at his Summerveld satellite yard and he saddled the first three home in the In Full Flight Handicap.
Bold Respect
Bold Respect, in spite of taking the scenic way home under stable rider Corne Orffer, showed pace throughout and kept on gamely to hold stable companion Sunset Eyes and Black Cat back.
The win could have weighty consequences should Crawford decide on the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Sprint, but Bold Respect won well enough on an unfamiliar course to suggest that he will have his supporters come May 26.