Ramsden sends up Professor

GLEN Kotzen scored the first blow for Western Cape trainers at the Vaal last Saturday when Silvan Star easily won a Pinnacle Stakes over 1 450m on the Classic track.

With Richard Fourie in the irons she had the race won a long way out and second-placed Gimme Six, trained by another Cape Town-based conditioner, Justin Snaith, was flattered to be only 0,90 lengths back at the finish.

On Saturday at Turffontein the card is headed up by two Grade 2 races carrying prize money of R400 000 – the Senor Santa Stakes over 1 160m and the Colorado King Stakes over 2 000m.

In the Senor Santa Stakes there is another Cape raider in the field, Professor Brian, from the Joey Ramsden stable. Fourie has stayed in Joburg and will take the ride on the five-year-old Australian-bred son of Encosta De Lago. He has won six of his 19 starts and with just 52kg on his back needs to be respected.

Champagne Haze was a very easy winner over 1 000m last time and will be better over this sort of trip while Will Pays, Green Pepper and Sir David Baird should run well.

Only 10 horses are carded to go to post for the Colorado King Stakes and Fort Ember from the Paul Peter stable is the best handicapped runner.

She ran well last time when a one-length second behind Orchid Island and must go into the mix along with Coral Fever, Abashiri, French Navy and Glider Pilot who will have Fourie up.

Also run on the day are the Grade 2 Sycamore Sprint for fillies and mares over 1160m, as well as the Listed Derby Trial and Oaks Trial, both run over 2 000m.

In addition, the $10-million Dubai World Cup to be run at Meydan racecourse in Dubai, will form Race 11 on the Turffontein card which will add to the thrill of the day. Final field for the R400 000 Senor Santa Stakes (Grade 2) over 1 160m. 1 - 20 CHAMPAGNE HAZE (G M Alexander) C Maujean 60.0 - 115 2 - 3 WILL PAYS (M/A Azzie) C Zackey 60.0 - 114 3 - 8 AFRICA RISING (S G Tarry) L Hewitson 56.0 - 107 4 - 15 GRADUATION DAY (J A Soma) C Murray 56.0 - 107 5 - 13 TALKTOTHESTARS (F C De Beer) D Schwarz 56.0 107 6 - 10 ROMI’S BOY (A G Laird) M Yeni 56.0 - 106 7 - 14 MATADOR MAN (S G Tarry) R Danielson 56.0 - 105 8 - 18 GREEN PEPPER (J J van Vuuren) G Lerena 55.5 - 109 9 - 1 PURE BLONDE (A G Laird) R Simons 54.0 - 102 10 - 19 ROCKY VALLEY (C Dawson) G Wrogemann 54.0 - 101 11 - 9 JUST AS I SAID (M N Houdalakis) K Zechner 54.0 - 97 12 - 11 SAFE HARBOUR (S G Tarry) C Orffer 53.5 - 107 13 - 7 WRECKING BALL (G J Maroun) W Kennedy 53.5 105 14 - 4 WONDERWALL (S G Tarry) S Khumalo 52.0 - 103 15 - 17 SIR DAVID BAIRD (M F De Kock) R Munger 52.0 - 101 16 - 6 PROFESSOR BRIAN (J Ramsden) R Fourie 52.0 - 98 17 - 5 TANDAVA (G Terzi) J Penny 52.0 - 96 18 - 12 ZOUAVES (G V Woodruff) M V’Rensburg 52.0 - 96 19 - 2 ARABIAN BEAT (P A Peter) K de Melo 52.0 - 94 20 - 16 GOLDEN MAN (G J Maroun) A Arries 52.0 - 88 Same Trainer: (3,7,12,14) (6,9) (13,20)