Louis is still The King
positioned to strike and appeared to be cruising at the 300m. However, he could only plug on gamely and although he put 1,25 lengths between himself and the rest of the field, the impression given was that he might prefer an easier mile. French Navy finished third ahead of the winner’s fancied female stablemate Siren’s Call and Illuminati was fifth.
Gavin van Zyl had a strong hand in the Gr 3 Fillies Mile and in the end it was the most fancied of his quintet, the Mauritzfontein-owned and bed Horse Chestnut filly Banbury, that was given a superbly judged ride by Piere Strydom to catch the Tote favourite Smart Call late and win by 1,25 lengths. The fancied Ataab was a further two lengths back in third.
The Gr 2 Stonach Group Racing Merchants over 1 160m was won by the Highlands Farms Stud-bred three-year-old Trippi colt Trip To Heaven, who is trained by Sean Tarry and was ridden by birthday boy S’manga Khumalo. The classy 2/1 favourite crept closer from some way off the pace before showing a fantastic turn of foot and winning by 1,5 lengths from One Man’s Dream and the winner’s stablemate Blazing Al.
The Gr 2 Ipi Tombe Challenge over 1 600m saw the Woodruff-trained Arcetri Pink proving her liking for course and distance and bursting out of the pack to win comfortably under Gavin Lerena at odds of 6/1. She is an Australian-bred by Rock Of Gibraltar and won the Gr Gauteng Guineas over course and distance last season.
The topweight Classic illusion ran on well to just pip the favourite Carry On Alice for second. The latter is a top class three-year-old and didn’t have an ideal preparation as her seasonal reappearance was just nine days earlier and she should bounce back from this defeat.
The Ormond Ferraris-trained three-year-old Toreador filly Lazer Star remained unbeaten when showing pace throughout to win the Gr 3 Hardware Magnolia Handicap easily over 1 160m under Weichong Marwing from Winter Star and Pej. The Tawny Syndicate bred horse is owned by Marwing’s wife Anneline and started 4/1 favourite.
The Dominic Zaki-trained five-year-old Highlands Farm Stud-bred Dynasty gelding Shimmering Gem showed amazing guts and staying power to win the Gr 3 Racing Association Handicap over 3 200m by a comfortable margin under Khumalo.