Buzz about the sophomore crop
LAST season’s crop of three-year-old colts and geldings never rose above the generally low regard they were held in, but the signs point to there being an improvement in that category this season.
One of the first encouraging signs was that the one-two in the Grade 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe, Forest Indigo and Kochka, also fought out the Grade 1 Premier’s Champions Stakes, proving there was nothing lucky about their runs in the former race.
Willow Magic, the Grade 1 SA Nursery winner, also franked the Golden Horseshoe form, where he finished fourth, by finishing third in the Premier’s.
Forest Indigo is by the exciting new sire Judpot and has the solid look of a horse that will train on. Kochka is a tall, lengthy horse and the Alyson Wright yard are going to take a more cautious route and wait for next year’s Champions Season, where he should make his presence felt. Willow Magic is full of class but had no luck with the draws in either the Golden Horseshoe or the Premier’s.
Heart Of A Lion underlines the potential of this crop. The colt by Seul Amour had a string of victories on the Highveld, including thrashing a good field of older horses in a handicap at Turffontein over 1600m on July day, when running off a merit rating of 97. However, he could only managed fifth in the Premier’s. The latter run could prove to be an excellent effort.
Captain Of Al
The Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion winner Captain Of Al almost stole the Golden Horseshoe over 1400m. He might be stretched by a mile, but could be a big player in the Grade 1 sprints this season.
His unbeaten stablemate in the Dennis Drier yard, Captain On The Run, who has won two sprints, also looks very promising. However, it would be no surprise if Drier’s best three-year-old colt turn out to be the still unexposed Master Of My Fate. Tony Rivalland’s Diamond King and Dennis Bosch’s Jet On Fire also look to be KZN horses that have the X-factor.
The Vaughan Marshall-trained Exelero also has a big reputation and might start proving it this season. Other Cape horses to watch will be Zambezi Torrent and Cape Cutter who looks exciting prospects.
Red Ray’s reputation was emphasised when trainer Joey Ramsden referred to him after one of his wins as “probably better than Variety Club”, so his reappearance is keenly anticipated. Heldeberg Blue is another among the Cape horses that have caught the eye.
De Kock will have a strong hand in the three-year-old male division, despite some of his best having left for overseas. Umgiyo ran well for fourth in the Premier’s and looks a natural for the Dingaans. Gone Baby Gone was unplaced in the Premier’s but looks to have plenty of scope. Capricorn Ridge and Duly Ordained haven’t been tried at the highest level yet, but look to be very promising.
The Sean Tarry-trained Mercado could be a horse to watch for the Highveld season and Tarry will be among the trainers who have classy unraced three-year-olds still waiting in the wings.
However, just looking at the horses mentioned this crop gives much hope.