Golden Horse Casino Sprint Raceday

SA Fillies Sprint


1 GIBRALTAR BLUE 60.0 111 (111) 1 A A Marcus Mike de Kock

2 VAL DE RA 60.0 111 (111) 3 A A Forbes Dennis Drier

3 MISS TURBULENCE 60.0 105 (105) 7 A S Veale Weiho Marwing

4 HEADSTRONG 60.0 104 (104) 4 A A Delpech Mike de Kock

5 GIVE ME FIVE 60.0 103 (103) 6 A S Khumalo Sean Tarry

6 MARY LOU 60.0 103 (103) 11 B A R Simons Paul Matchett

7 CHARMING LADY 60.0 99 ( 99) 8 A S Randolph Dennis Drier

8 ROSES FOR LIZZY 60.0 98 ( 98) 15 A M Yeni Duncan Howells

9 STATE BLUE 60.0 98 ( 98) 5 A F Coetzee Justin Snaith

10 MANA MOU 60.0 96 ( 96) 9 A A Fortune Sean Tarry

11 APPLE PRINCESS 60.0 93 ( 93) 10 A T G Lerena St John Gray

12 AUTUMN GOLD 60.0 92 ( 92) 12 B A K Teetan Sean Tarry

13 COVENANT 58.5 107 (104) 14 A K Neisius Mike Bass

14 ROMANTIC MOON 58.5 103 (100) 13 A *J P v'd Merwe Duncan Howells

15 FAIR ROSALIND 58.5 98 ( 95) 2 B A M Mienie Paul Matchett

Couplings: (1,4) (2,7) (5,10,12) (6,15) (8,14)

Allan Robertson Championship

1 AMANEE 58.0 0 ( 0) 14 A A Delpech Mike de Kock

2 ASPEN ANGLE 58.0 0 ( 0) 12 A T A Marcus Charles Laird

3 COMTESSE DUBOIS 58.0 0 ( 0) 9 A B Fayd'Herbe Neil Bruss

4 EXTRA ZERO 58.0 0 ( 0) 10 A S Khumalo Sean Tarry

5 EXTRAORDINAIRE 58.0 0 ( 0) 16 B A M Mienie Paul Matchett

6 HIDDEN BEAUTY 58.0 0 ( 0) 15 A F Coetzee Paul Matchett

7 INDIGO PRINCESS 58.0 0 ( 0) 13 A I Sturgeon James Goodman

8 LADY VAR 58.0 0 ( 0) 8 A K Neisius Darryl Hodgson

9 LAVISH GAL 58.0 0 ( 0) 6 A S Randolph Jeff Freedman

10 MOON SPUN 58.0 0 ( 0) 17 A A Forbes Alyson Wright

11 PRINCESS VICTORIA 58.0 0 ( 0) 1 A A Fortune Glen Kotzen

12 SHE'S A STUNNER 58.0 0 ( 0) 2 A C Orffer Deon Visser

13 SHEZTHECLUBQUEEN 58.0 0 ( 0) 11 A *J P v'd Merwe Terry Lowe

14 SUPALICIOUS 58.0 0 ( 0) 7 A K Teetan Paul Lafferty

15 TRINITY HOUSE 58.0 0 ( 0) 3 A G Hatt Joey Ramsden

16 UP FRONT 58.0 0 ( 0) 4 A G Lerena Barend Botes

Reserve Runners

7 HOT GIRL 58.0 0 ( 0) 5 A Reserve 1 Paul Matchett

Couplings: (5,6,17)

Medallion


1 CARLITO BRIGANTE 58.0 0 ( 0) 9 A B Fayd'Herbe Paul Peter

2 DELAGO DELUXE 58.0 0 ( 0) 2 A A Marcus Charles Laird

3 FIGHTING WARRIOR 58.0 0 ( 0) 6 A C Orffer Ivan Moore

4 HARD ROCK 58.0 0 ( 0) 8 A A Forbes Deon Visser

5 JUNGLE RULER 58.0 0 ( 0) 7 A G Hatt Joey Ramsden

6 LIQUID MOTION 58.0 0 ( 0) 10 A S Randolph Deon Visser

7 MIDNIGHT SERENADE 58.0 0 ( 0) 3 A F Naude Dianne Stenger

8 SOWETO SLEW 58.0 0 ( 0) 5 A F Coetzee Justin Snaith

9 STORM BRINGER 58.0 0 ( 0) 4 A K Teetan Pat Lunn

10 TENNESSEE STRATEGY 58.0 0 ( 0) 1 A T A Delpech Charles Laird

Golden Horse Casino Sprint

1 RABATTACHE 60.0 111 (111) 4 A I Sturgeon Glen Puller

2 WHAT A WINTER 59.5 113 (110) 11 A K Neisius Mike Bass

3 GOOD THING 59.5 110 (110) 17 A S Brown Wendy Whitehead

4 ARABIAN MIST 58.5 108 (108) 9 B A D David Gary Alexander

5 RUSHING WIND 58.5 108 (108) 16 B A A Domeyer Mike Bass

6 SHEA SHEA 58.0 110 (107) 5 A A Delpech Geoff Woodruff

7 SPLASH GOLD 57.5 109 (106) 13 A A Fortune Dean Kannemeyer

8 BUSH PIRATE 57.5 106 (106) 10 B A G Hatt Joey Ramsden

9 GAULTIER 57.5 106 (106) 8 A S Randolph Mike Bass

10 AUGUST RUSH 57.0 105 (105) 7 A B Fayd'Herbe Neil Bruss

11 KAVANAGH 56.0 106 (103) 15 B A K Shea Mike de Kock

12 WINKING JACK 56.0 103 (103) 14 B A G Lerena Lance Wiid

13 DANCE WITH AL 55.5 102 (102) 12 A F Coetzee Justin Snaith

14 TWO TONE 55.0 101 (101) 1 A *J P v'd Merwe Mike Azzie

15 ELUSIVE RIVER 54.0 102 ( 99) 6 A A Marcus Charles Laird

16 POLAR MOON 53.5 98 ( 98) 3 B A T M V'Rensburg Sean Tarry

Val de Ra and What a Winter double.....

where is magico?

hotline must agree (tu)

Magico has been scratched before final declaration will be running in the upcoming dash for cash sprint

Have we forgotten Gibraltar Blue already? She beat Val De Ra in this race last year when barely a three-year-old (although Captain's Gal in turn beat them both) and I reckon we could have a real race on here considering it's 1200m and not 1000m. Covenant is hardly to be written off, either.

atc place -
covenant
hidden beauty
delago delux
what a winter

GC PRESS RELEASE

Crack filly Val De Ra has only tasted defeat once in a career spanning nine starts and she will be looking to put the record straight when she lines up in the R450 000 SA Fillies Sprint to be run over 1200 m at Scottsville on Saturday, May 28.



The only blot on Val De Ra’s record came in this race last year when she failed to match strides with Captain’s Gal and Gibraltar Blue, finishing a creditable third.



She is unbeaten since and most recently slammed the males when making all the running to win the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint on Champions day at Turffontein.



Trainer Dennis Drier has placed his charge perfectly and Val De Ra meets this field on favourable WFA terms. However, the line-up is packed with talent including Gibraltar Blue, recent facile winner Headstrong, also from the Mike de Kock yard and Klawervlei Majorca Stakes winner Covenant.



Supporting features on the day are the R500 000 Tsogo Sun Maverick Medallion and the R500 000 Allan Robertson Championship.

TsogoSun

Both have attracted smart fields with the Medallion headed by the unbeaten Charles Laird-trained Delago Delux.



The Australian-bred colt is a duel feature winner having landed the Protea Stakes and more recently having to work a lot harder to get home ahead of Midnight Serenade in the Nursery at Turffontein.



Midnight Serenade from the Diane Stenger yard is again in opposition along with Hard Rock, narrow winner of the Godolphin Barb Stakes at Clairwood where he edged out the highly rated Justin Snaith-trained Soweto Slew.



Local hopeful Storm Bringer also brings solid form into the race after his close-up second to Silver Age in the Umkhomazi Stakes run over the course and distance and has the benefit of a win over what can prove a tricky course for those taking it on for the first time.

Allan Robertson.jpg

The R500 000 Allan Robertson has attracted a maximum field with most eyes likely to be on the Western Cape-based pair of Princess Victoria and Trinity House.



Princess Victoria made a smart KZN debut, winning comfortably enough at Clairwood recently with her only defeat coming at the hands of Trinity House on debut.



The Joey Ramsden-trained daughter of Captain Al is unbeaten in four starts but had to work a lot hard than expected at her most recent outing to touch off Lady Var in the Cape Fillies Nursery.

Looking forward to this card,love the sprinters...

Covenant to cause a wee shock

Lady Var - No race

by David Thiselton

Val De Ra looked a picture of health on Monday in the lead up to the SA Fillies Sprint at Scottsville Racecourse on Saturday, the race in which she tasted her only ever defeat last year.

In her last start the Dennis Drier-trained four-year-old Var filly used her blistering early speed to put the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint to bed inside the first three furlongs at the country’s quickest sprint course, the Turffontein 1000m, although she couldn’t have done it without having a degree of stamina to stay on to the line against the country’s best sprinters that included the brilliant What A Winter.



It will be interesting to see what tactics are employed by the Drier yard on Saturday over the 1200m at Scottsville, one of the toughest courses to ride, as it features an initial downhill followed by a tough climb to the finish in the final 400m.



She has won over 1300m before, as a two-year-old, but one of her opponents on Saturday, the Mike de Kock-trained Gibraltar Blue, beat her last year in the SA Fillies Sprint by 1,25 lengths when receiving a 1kg Northern Hemisphere-bred allowance.



Gibraltar Blue has consequently been priced up as 14-10 favourite although Val De Ra has already shortened into 15-10 from 16-10, while the Mike Bass-trained superstar three-year-old filly Covenant is the only other horse in single figures at 7-1.



Anton Marcus was at Summerveld on Monday to give Gibraltar Blue a full grass gallop, while Val De Ra just did a light canter on the beach track.



Nathan Kotzen, assistant to de Kock, said that the yard were “very happy” with Gibraltar Blue and that she had done “very good work.”



Ironically what might help Val De Ra beat Gibraltar Blue is her new feed, which is one of the mixes De Kock formulated for a feed company according to his knowledge and experience.

Drier revealed that since his horses have used de Kock’s special mix they have not “lightened up” after their races and have been able to keep their condition a lot better.



Another strength of Val De Ra’s is her outstanding racing temperament and as Drier’s assistant Stuart Ferrie said yesterday she puts it in when she works, but when she rests she really rests.



Gibraltar Blue hasn’t run since finishing a 0,75 length third to Covenant in the Grade 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m on J&B Met day on January 29.



She didn’t appear to go down too well that day, but apparently this is always the case with her as she has to be kept on a tight rein due to her willingness to get on with it.



One of de Kock’s biggest wins at Scottsville came when he won the Grade 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint with Kildonan in 2007 after the horse had returned from a six month layoff, so Gibraltar Blue’s layoff shouldn’t be much of a concern to this highly professional yard.



This race has all the hallmarks of a great, not-to-be-missed contest, as there are also one or two others that could pick up the pieces if the top three “cut each others throats.”