Tilbury Fort crowns Tarry’s six-winner Summer Cup day
Charter Jet set for take off
What are the chances? An unplanned encounter with Mark Currie, part owner of the 2018 G-Bets Summer Cup winner Tilbury Fort, at trainer Mike de Kock’s lunch on Friday afternoon, resulted in us sitting at his table, and he candidly stated: “I think my horse has a massive chance. He could win, I just fear he might not stay but he has great chance.”
Well, stay he did and perhaps I should have listened, but that’s a story for another day!
The day without a shadow of a doubt belonged to trainer Sean Tarry. He was seen in the winner’s enclosure six times, winning half the races on the card and back-to-back Summer Cups in the process, having saddled Liege (Raymond Danielson) to an emphatic victory last year. “Funny enough I thought it was a tough day. I would have been very happy to have two winners on the day,” admitted the conditioner on Tellytrack. “I knew I’d be very, very competitive in the big race.
As they start winning, you get more confident – you just know it’s your day. “I’m just very, very thankful to my team.”
Following an extremely unlucky narrow defeat at the hands of Coral Fever in the Charity Mile, Tilbury Fort, a smashing son of Horse Chestnut was well-fancied to win, trading at 15-2. He was in 12th place passing the 400m marker, 4.45 lengths behind the Mike de Kock-trained 3-1 favourite Cascapedia, who ran her heart out, and looked the likely winner at 250m under an animated Gavin Lerena, who was trying to fend off a gallant Dawn Assault, but apprentice jockey Lyle Hewitson had other ideas. Flashing up extremely late to win by an extending 0.60 lengths. The youngster even had the time to salute!
“I can’t say when I knew I had it,” said an elated Hewitson. “I had my head down and I was going for it. He (Tilbury Fort) shifted in late from the stick, he straightened up, I looked to the other side and only then did I realise I’d won this Group 1.
“It’s all a dream come true. This is 100% the best day of my horseracing life,” he said. “Yes, I’ve won two other Group 1s but I think that a horse that you’ve actually done so much work on at home, to be able to pull off a Grade 1 on is huge.”
St John Grey’s 30-1 outsider Dawn Assault looked a million dollars in the parade ring and wasn’t disgraced in second place – there’s a massive win awaiting this son of Call To Combat. Next best were Cascapedia and top-weighted Coral Fever remained the model off consistency, finishing fourth, a commendable 1.20 lengths behind Tarry’s charge and that Quartet paid a cool R14 559.
Geoff Woodruff-trained Schippers (Lerena) made an absolute of mockery of rivals in the Grade 3 Magnolia Handicap, winning by a runaway four lengths. Back her wherever she runs next!
Although aided by the light 51kg, a mammoth 7kg less than runner-up and two year older Al Danza, there was a lot to like about Nafaayes’ 2.80-length triumph in the Grade 2 Ipi Tombe Challenge.
This three-time winner from five starts looks an above-average specimen worth following in upcoming features. BiPot players can banker trainer Bill Human’s hat-trick hopeful Charter Jet with confidence when she lines up in Race 2, a FM Handicap over 1400m at Flamingo Park today.
She is in exceptional form having registered a five-length triumph in her penultimate start, and following that up with an even better 9.75-length victory in her latest appearance.
A loss is highly unlikely today.