Gomez keeps riding winners, follow him!
Alnasl to shed her maiden tag
The first twilight meeting of the Highveld season was a tremendous success at Turffontein on Saturday evening, when racing made a return to the Standside track. Unfortunately, not a single favourite was victorious on the nine-race card – to put it into perspective – the Race 6 (Casual Wear) and 7 (True Words) double paid a jaw dropping R463 and the Pick 6 a spine tingling R1.66 million!
If there was ever a man of the match award in horse racing, Saturday’s would without a shadow of a doubt go to new kid on the block, Carlos Herrera Gomez, who scored a valuable double aboard 9-1 shot Gunston in Race 5 and 13-1 long-shot Casual Wear in Race 6, both for trainer Paul Peter. Interestingly, the jockey-trainer combination have teamed up 18 times for an impressive six wins and just as many places.
National jockeys’ log leader Muzi Yeni produced a masterfully ride aboard four-year-old Gambado, who gutsily overcame a poor draw to deny a number of 2018 G-BETS Summer Cup nominees of a victory – fending off two highly-rated joint 26-10 favourites – The Rising Legend by 0.40 lengths and Orpheus 0.60 lengths.
Most impressive about this gelding’s triumph is the fact he shouldered 2kg more than the runner-up. Unfortunately jockey S’manga Khumalo felt something go amiss with the Sean Tarry-trained Silver God, and as result, pulled the four-year-old Summer Cup hopeful out of the contest.
If there is one runner I advise you follow, it’s three-year-old speedster Three Stars, who despite returning from a lengthy six-month stint off the racetrack, showed absolutely no signs of ring-rustiness, skipping 0.40 lengths clear of Palace Chapel – a massive blow to Pick 6 players considering she was trading at 22-1 a win.
She is clearly no slouch and, Saturday’s performance only confirms she is way better than her penultimate effort, when finishing one-from-last in the Grade 2 SA Fillies Nursery, suggests. Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Clouds Unfold made light work of a competitive field in the Grade 2 Fillies Championship at Kenilworth to beat lukewarm 57-20 favourite Temple Grafin by an extending 1.25 lengths, and registered a third consecutive triumph in the process.
Clouds Unfold is now a four-time winner from five appearances and looks a lively contender in the upcoming Cape Fillies Guineas.
It’s very hard to review this past weekend’s racing without touching on wonder-mare Winx, who made history and a mockery of rivals, which included globetrotter Benbatl at Moonee Valley on Saturday – winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cox Plate in front of a capacity crowd of 40 000. This triumph not only marked a 29th-straight victory for trainer Chris Waller’s charge, but also extended her record of Group 1 wins to a mind-boggling 22.
Alnasl jumps out of the page at Flamingo Park today, and if takes well to the sand she will have no trouble outclassing her rivals in Race 1, a FM Maiden Plate over 1300m. Formerly with trainer Mike de Kock, she was backed up to 5-8 favourite in a work riders contest last time out but ran a shocker, beaten 9.30 lengths into ninth by Flaming Hot.
Her case today is strengthened by the fact that form line has produced a winner. I think her penultimate effort when runner-up behind Tia is a better reflection of her ability.
She is weighted to win, has Yeni in the irons and the pair will be aided by a plum No 1 draw.
The only chink in this filly’s armour is the 170-day layoff she returns from, so may suffer from ring-rust.