Variety Club king of the milers
HE Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1 600m heads the bill on one of the Champions Season’s most important days at Clairwood on Saturday as many of the Vodacom Durban July entries will be using the Grade 3 Cup Trial over 1 800m as a stepping stone into the big race, while there are three KZN Winter Series Chapter Challenge finals and two Listed Juvenile events.
Variety Club, a three-yearold colt by Var, looks to be a world class miler and is going to be very hard to beat in the Gold Challenge, but his four rivals are all classy sorts and he won’t be able to afford an off day.
There have been some disparaging remarks about the size of the field, but small Group 1 fields are the norm overseas and make for very exciting races as it usually means that horses that shouldn’t be in the race won’t be getting in the way.
TVariety Club
Variety Club, as a triple Guineas winner and L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and Investec Cape Derby runner up, has earned his 116 merit rating
This will likely be his last run of the season and he should be at his peak, having needed his run when winning the Winter Guineas before putting in arguably his most impressive career performance in the KRA Guineas, comfortably beating the subsequent Daily News winner and hot Vodacom Durban July favourite Jackson.
Tales Of Bravery proved when finishing just a length behind Variety Club in the Queen’s Plate that a mile is probably his best trip.
He relaxed superbly in the running in the Drill Hall over 1 400m last time and passed the field pretty effortlessly to win going away by 1,75 lengths.
However, the last time he had to race on rain softened ground in a Grade 1 weight for age mile, in the Horse Chestnut at Turffontein, he didn’t feature, so the weather forecast could be a concern.
Castlethorpe is the lowest rated horse in the field but won two sprints in impres- sive fashion in his first runs after gelding before running well in the Golden Horse where he had a tough draw.
He has always had class and a mile is the trip that has struck as being most suitable.
He put in a fine performance in this race last year as a three-year-old in testing going, especially considering he was probably sent for home too soon, so if the gelding has raised his game and the ground turns out to be the same as a last year he could finish in the first three.
The highest rated horse in the weight for age field is What A Winter on 117, the impressive winner of the Grade 1 Cape Flying Championships last year as a three-year-old.
There is a doubt that he gets a true run mile as he finished unplaced in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas as a three-year-old when finding no extra late having won the Grade 2 Selangor before that in his only other start over a mile.
However, he was drawn wide in the Cape Guineas and is now not only drawn well in three but is also a year-and-a-half older, so he’s an interesting contender.
He was reportedly hit by a clod in the Grade 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint, when fading away under topweight.
His superb action is probably best suited to fast ground and the weather forecast suggests the ground could have some cut, but he has done well in soft ground before.
Pierre Jourdan is a Grade 2 winner over this trip too, but this outing is being viewed as a race that will bring him to his peak for the July.
The selection is Variety Club to beat Tales Of Bravery with Castlethorpe and What A Winter next best.
The Cup Trial is as competitive an affair as ever.
Astro News’ disappointing Betting World run can be ignored as he was moving up well before suddenly shortening his stride and three days later an abscess popped out of his foot.
His can sustain a finish so the long Clairwood straight should suit him.
Bulsara ran on well from a handy position in the slow run Betting World 1900 and has proven before that his resolute finish is suited to Clairwood.
This is his third run after a rest and he has been working well.
Silver Flyer
Silver Flyer was reluctant to work at home before gelding, so it will be interesting to see whether gelding releases the tremendous potential he has always threatened.
Those three are selected in that order.
Welwitschia has a tremendous turn of foot and has won hard held over the Turffontein 1 450m before, so she could be the winner of the Grade 2 Tibouchina over the same trip.
Frequent Flyer ran a cracker over this course and distance last time when still needing it and should be involved in the finish.
Princess Victoria is a fourtime Grade 1 winner and her below par last start might have been due to her not enjoying the testing going or simply that she found herself on the wrong side of the track, but her many fans will be hoping she can bounce back.