Sniper Shot hits the mark
Athrilling and nail-biting finish to the R400 000, Gr2 Post Merchants at Greyville on Friday evening paid a fitting tribute to one of the country’s longest-running thoroughbred clashes where the winner deserved his R250 000 prize.
The Paul Lafferty-trained Judpot gelding Sniper Shot got up to beat favourite Black Cat Back from the Brett Crawford yard on the line, with his superior staying ability defying the 4.5kg turn-around in the weights between the two talented speedsters relative to their previous meeting in the Fever Handicap over 1 400m at Scottsville in February.
Black Cat Back
Black Cat Back, carrying the flag for the Crawford yard after the scratching of Sunset Eyes, did what he did best and that was getting out in front and setting a cracking pace with jockey Warren Kennedy believing that he could hold off any late challenge before the 1 200m tape was crossed.
At Scottsville, in the 1 400m Fever Handicap, Black Cat Back had also made the running but was caught by Sniper Shot and beaten 1,75 lengths.
On Friday, being 4.25 kg better off with Sniper Shot and 200m less to travel, the odds appeared firmly in the favour of the Black Minnaloushe gelding but it was not to be and trainer and part owner Lafferty paid tribute to the performance of his charge saying he was “a really good horse.”
Jockey Keagan De Melo rode a copybook race on Sniper Shot, firing the booster rockets at the right time in the home straight.
De Melo commented that the race panned out well pace-wise and he was “glad to win a nice little big race” for the owners.
Lafferty expressed concern about the controversial landfill dump near Summerveld that had been re-opened with fumes from the dump blowing across his yard and affecting his horses and his staff.
Disappointment of the race was the poor run by former Vodacom Durban July winner Legislate that was having his first proper race in two years.
He had won a barrier trial event last month and at one stage on Friday evening had been backed to favourite on the tote.
Sadly, he never featured in the race and finished well back.