‘End’ does it with ease
GIVEN all the rain midweek that interrupted training regimes and the lowly handicaps on offer it was always going to be rough going for punters at Greyville yesterday and so it proved.
Winners were difficult to find but Parade’s End looked to be the best proposition on the card and so that proved.
Second in two competitive maidens before yesterday, Parade’s End made short work of her opposition, leading all the way under stable rider Gareth Wright.
“I let her do her own thing and use her action,” he explained.
“She got to the front easily and from there on it was easy.”
For the balance of the card’s favourites it was not so easy.
Sharp Seattle was given a good chance by Gavin van Zyl but veteran Burra Boy (8-1) brought his A-game to the poly and won with daylight to spare at the start of the Pick 6. Blake and Cathy Richards have had a lot of fun with some relatively cheap buys and with Mark Dixon at the helm they have had good success.
Burra Boy
This was Burra Boy’s third win from 35 outings but had finished in the money on 14 occasions – 15 after yesterday - so has more than paid his way with earnings of over R270k.
Just when it looked as if Sharp Seattle would run him out of it, Brandon Lerena changed gear and Burra Boy pulled clear to win going away.
Home-bred by Gold Circle director Babu Nunan, Burfi (19-1) has been consistent without setting the track alight but his mare put her best foot forward to land the Track & Ball Gaming handicap.
She kept digging down to hold the luckless favourite Zinzara with Online staying on for the shallow end of the purse.
Kom Naidoo pulled off a quick double in the sixth as Serino Moodley kept pumping away relentlessly on Northern Storm (16-1) to eventually ware down leader Zadora who has improved raced in a tongue-tie.
Charles Laird has been a little quiet in recent months but the veteran is starting to step them out and was rewarded with Dance On Air (5-1) under Keagan de Melo getting the better of recent winner Mr Roy and Mumsy’s Jet after stable companion Monte Christo set a searching early pace.
Starting for home too early on the poly since being track very often results in an empty tank come the final 50m – not always but more often than one would expect on a quick surface and so it proved in the card opener.
Green Fairy
De Melo pinched what looked to be a winning lead at the top of the straight as he sent Green Fairy for home early, but was run down on the line by the consistent Coral Queen. “Warren (Kennedy) said we should try her over 2000m,” surmised Gavin van Zyl.
“He’s stable jockey so it helps to listen to them.”
Kennedy confirmed. “Keagan (de Melo) skipped but his horse came back at me and my horse stayed to the line.”
A percentage of the Pick 6 won and the PA paying close to R1 000 told of a difficult day for backers. THE NEW DURBANVILLE surface has stood up to use so well that the country course’s season has been extended by a week to give Kenilworth some much-needed extra time to recover.
Duty manager Teresa Esplin said: “Following an inspection of Kenilworth a decision has been made to continue racing at Durbanville for an additional two meetings (21 and 25 October). Racing will resume at Kenilworth on 28 October.”
The 21 October meeting includes the 2 400m Woolavington Handicap in which last year’s runner-up Francia will bid to go one better.
The 28 October restart features two of the most important Guineas preliminaries. The Choice Carriers, formerly Odessa and now renamed the Western Cape Fillies Championship, has been won by the subsequent Cape Fillies Guineas winner four times in the last seven seasons.
Magical Wonderland
The unbeaten Magical Wonderland looks like having a reasonable draw (nine) whereas the two set to give her weight have drawn wide.
The Dennis Drier-trained Thekwini winner Lady In Black is 25 out of 30 and Sean Tarry’s Golden Slipper scorer Desert Rhythm is drawn 20.
Joey Ramsden, who has won three of the last four runnings of the Cape Classic, accounts for six of the 34 entries for the 1 400m Grade 3 including Ancestry (drawn ten), a close second in both the Golden Horseshoe and the Premiers Champion. Sean Tarry has also nominated six horses but Glen Kotzen’s Premiers Champion winner Eyes Wide Open has drawn badly at 33.
Anthony Delpech makes a rare visit to Durbanville on Wednesday when the reigning champion has five rides for Dean Kannemeyer including Last Winter, the stable’s main hope for big race glory this season.
Improve the pace
The Cape Town stipes are to make more use of the seldom-employed Rule 62.2.7 in a bid to improve the pace at which races are run, particularly those at Kenilworth.
The Rule does not mention anything about pace but states: “The rider shall ensure that he does not cause interference, bunching, intimidation and/or constitute a source of interference or danger.”
However Brandon May received a caution under it after slowing early on, riding fourth-placed Libra in a mile handicap at Durbanville on the day of the Matchem.
Senior stipe Ernie Rodrigues said: “Brandon had gone to the front but he wanted cover so he slowed the pace and that caused those behind to bunch up and lose position.
“We don’t want the Cape crawl and so the Rule will be used more in future. We do talk to jockeys about it but the Rule is difficult to prove and the video evidence has to show it.”
False pace
The false pace at which many races at Kenilworth are run makes life difficult for punters because the form does not stand up as a result, most noticeably in maidens.
On the other hand coping with the prevailing South-Easter plays an important part in deciding riding tactics.
No jockey wants to be riding into the teeth of a strong wind without getting cover from other horses. As a result nobody wants to make the running - whatever the Rules say.