Drier can be ‘Captain Of All’
IT’S the biggest and most prestigious race meeting for sprinters in South African racing – and the toughest. At the Tsogo Sun Sprint Festival of Speed at Scottsville in Pietermaritzburg tomorrow, with four Grade 1 events – over 1 200m and stakes of close to R3-million on offer – you can bet your life there will be no quarter asked and none given and, looking at the fields, you can also bet that healthy dividends are on the cards.
This is one of the toughest big meeting cards I have ever seen and the leading event, the R1-million Tsogo Sun Sprint, is an absolute nightmare.
I could be reading things incorrectly, but with the effect of the draw where the inside of the track is considered the better going and the influence of the final climb to the finish being a definitely factor, the race really looks wide open.
Top weight, the four-year-old Captain Al colt Captain Of All from the Dennis Drier stable, is the horse to beat and is unbeaten over the distance and over the course and distance and has missed a placing only once in 10 starts with five winning runs including a win as a two-year-old in the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion. In short, he is a top-class sprinter. However, he has to carry top weight and is drawn towards the outside and there are some speedy sorts with better draws that could produce winning performances.
One of those is the Australian-bred colt Willow Magic from the Sean Tarry stable that has won from 1 000m to 1 600m showing that he has the speed and the stamina to overcome the effect of the testing finish to this race.
Also with plenty of speed and with a light weight tomorrow is the three-year-old Var colt Generalissimo from the Drier stable.
He clocked a good time under 60.5kg when winning his last race over 1 200m on the poly at Greyville and tomorrow he will have a mere 52kg on his back and should be flying.
But the list of potential winners is long and includes the likes of Gulf Storm, Chekilli, Kingvoldt, Moofeed, Brutal Force and Zambezi River.
Where punters may get a bit of relief is in the City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint where no doubt many will be looking to Mike de Kock’s star filly Alboran Sea to give them an exotic bet banker.
Having won the Cape Flying Championship and the Computaform Sprint, both races in open company, there is no doubt that she is the one to beat.
In soft going at Turffontein she clocked 22.1 secs over the final 400m overtaking top Tarry filly Carry On Alice that she meets again tomorrow.
The Rock Of Gibraltar filly will take a lot of beating with Jet Belle, Fly By Night and Jet Aglow also likely to be in the mix for the minor placings. The juvenile races are not easy at all, particularly the Allan Robertson Championship. There are so many exciting fillies in this race that it is almost impossible to equate the form.
Yes, there is some collateral form available but two-year-olds at this time of the year are developing so quickly that they can improve lengths from one race to the next.
The De Kock stable holds a strong hand with Entisaar and Shaama but tshe Glen Kotzen stable fields Royal Pleasure that is unbeaten in three starts and all three have been at Scottsville.
She could be the one to beat with the De Kock pair as major opposition.
But how good is Chestnuts ’ N Pearls, Madame Dubois, Swift Sarah and Vampirella that have each won their debut races and could be anything?
The same applies to the colts in the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion where Donny G, Muwaary and Prospect Strike made winning debus – Muwaary by nine lengths and Prospect Strike by nearly 13 lengths.
We know that the Seventh Rock colt Seventh Plain looks special and could be the horse to beat but Muwaary, Prospect Strike and Redcarpet Captain have to be included in all calculations.