Bezanova will be tested
DEEP in the heart of the beautiful KwaZulu-Natal Midlands lie the breeding grounds of some of the most magnificent animals on earth, the thoroughbred racehorses that grace the racing tracks throughout South Africa.
Of course, it is not the biggest breeding area in the country - that honour belongs to the Western Cape - but from the farms in KwaZulu-Natal over many decades have emerged some of the greatest equine athletes South Africa has seen.
The Midlands is the base for the KZN Breeders Club, the organisation that together with Gold Circle stages the KZN Breeders Raceday at Greyville on Sunday where every single runner on the day is registered as KZN-bred and the main event is the KZN Breeders Million Mile. The eight supporting races each carry stakes of R200 000 making the total pot R2.6-million.
This is the only race meeting of its kind in the country and was instituted by the breeders as a gesture of thanks to the owners and trainers that support them, particularly at the annual Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale that takes place next Thursday and Friday. The Club also stages a R1-million race for juveniles on Vodacom Durban July Day for graduates from this sale.
So Sunday’s meeting is special and the races all appear to be very competitive including the main event where it could develop into a very close and exciting finish between three top division specimens - last year's winner No Worries, November Handicap winner Bezanova and last year's Lonsdale Stirrup Cup winner, Wild One.
No Worries
No Worries from the Gavin van Zyl stable was bred at Summerhill Stud and in his penultimate race ran third behind Wylie Hall in the President’s Champions Challenge at Turffontein which shows he is right up there with the top horses in the country. He has won three times over the distance and has run well at Greyville.
Bezanova is from the Alec Laird stable and was bred at Clifton Stud. He too is a three-time winner and when he won the November Handicap he beat No Worries by a neck receiving 2.5kg from the Van Zyl runner. He ran a cracker of a race in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge finishing less than a length third to Legislate and that sort of ability puts him in Sunday’s race with a big chance.
He will be fitted with blinkers for the first time on Sunday and while he will race at level weights with No Worries, he has Anton Marcus in the irons and that is worth a length or two in any situation.
Wild One is the son of Mogok bred at Scott Bros Highdown Stud and he will be saddled by Mike de Kock whose runners are in fine form at the moment. He is a gutsy stayer that has finished in the money in his last seven starts including victory in the Lonsdale Stirrup Cup last season.
He has had one race since being narrowly beaten in the eLAN Property Group Gold Cup last year and that was in the Cup Trial earlier this month where he came from last at the 400m mark being nine lengths off the pace to finish second by 1.25 lengths to Vodacom Durban July runner Punta Arenas. He covered the final 400m in 22.9 secs which was something special and as he is drawn wide at 12, he is likely to come from off the pace again and that finishing speed could carry him into the winner's enclosure.
Although this trio look the main contenders, one has to respect the Summerhill-bred Kahal gelding Solar Star. He races from the Dean Kannemeyer stable that has been in devastating form over the past couple of months and won his two local starts after arriving from the Cape. In the Betting World 1900, he hit the rail and shifted out and that could account for his below par run.
Of the others, Way Of Light and Run Rhino Run could challenge for a share of the stake.