Abashiri shines at gallops

DURBAN - Triple Crown winner Abashiri from the Mike Azzie stable was one the runners who impressed at the Vodacom Durban July gallops at Greyville yesterday.

Retired jockey Kevin Shea described his action and stride as “breath-taking” while trainer and former jockey Garth Puller believed his big action may not be in his favour on the tight Greyville track. He felt the colt would be hard-pressed to beat the other three-year-olds in the race at the weights and both agree that under the 59.5kg he had a tough task.

Another runner to impress the panel was five-year-old Solid Speed from the Dean Kannemeyer stable. Shea and Puller emphasised Solid Speed had had a perfect preparation and had moved well in the gallop. At level weights with the three-year-olds he should have their measure.

Kannemeyer was pleased with the gallops of his two runners – Solid Speed and three-year-old colt Mambo Mime. They worked together and both finished strongly.

The two runners from the Joey Ramsden stable, The Conglomerate and St Tropez, were both ridden by Anton Marcus and were given a strong gallop from the 1400m mark. Of the runners working on the turf St Tropez set the fastest 400 to finish time of the day in 21,92sec.

Puller commented that Ramsden had said to him that The Conglomerate was “flying” at home but both he and Shea said he had a tough task from his outside draw. However, Piere Strydom was in the irons and they felt the 30-1 about him were big odds for a Strydom runner.

Mike Bass-trained Marinaresco made his first appearance in KwaZulu-Natal under Grant van Niekerk. The panel were impressed with the horse and his work but felt he was a feisty individual and had a tough task from his wide draw.

The four runners from the Justin Snaith stable all looked in top condition and both Black Arthur and filly Bela-Bela impressed in their gallops. The team believed the filly had a tough task getting only 1kg from the colts and believed she would likely race up handy from her inside draw and hold her position.

It’s My Turn impressed as an individual but from a wide draw the panel believed he had it all to do. However, he has had a good preparation and had that “come on” look about him and Puller believed he could be right there at the finish.

Both Shea and Puller felt Dynamic would find it difficult to beat his stable companions. French Navy from the Sean Tarry stable worked with stable companion Samurai Blade and both went a good gallop with French Navy finishing slightly stronger over the final 100m.

Shea and Puller saw French Navy as a serious contender and felt he could start favourite. Duncan Howells runs Ten Gun Salute and Saratoga Dancer and both worked on their own and produced good gallops. –