Trainer Comments from No Worries to Run For It to weekend features

Journo David Thiselton/tipster


Gavin van Zyl and owner Brian Burnard made an about turn Monday and supplemented No Worries for the Vodacom Durban July.



This was after saying on the evening of his superb short-head second in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 on Saturday that he would be put away for the rest of the season.



Van Zyl said, “I discussed it with Brian and he said ‘it’s only one more race’. Initially we were happy to postpone his campaign, as he was a bit uptight on Saturday, but he pulled up well and ran too good a race to ignore. It’s also Brian’s dream to win the July.”



No Worries relished a change in tactic on Saturday.



Both of his wins have been from the front, but with first time blinkers on in the KRA Guineas he led and kicked well in the straight before fading late.



So, it was decided to drop him out on Saturday with the blinkers still on.



It worked a treat as he produced a powerful finish from the back of the field and failed by a short-head to catch Vercingetorix, who is now the ruling July favourite.



Jockey Brandon Lerena was very impressed with the three-year-old Summerhill-bred Kahal gelding.



Meanwhile, the Van Zyl-trained pair Big City Angel and Bulsara bounced off the track when putting up good work on the sand at Summerveld on Monday and both look in fine shape ahead of Saturday’s Grade 3 Cup Trial over 1800m at Clairwood.



Both will be using the race to try and qualify for the July, for which they are currently quoted at 125-1 and 250-1 respectively.



They have drawn very well in barrier two and six respectively.



Big City Angel, a lightly raced five-year-old Bezrin gelding, has won four of his last six starts, but is merit rated only 91.



He has given the impression that he can progress beyond that mark and as a horse that packs a strong, sustained finish will love the Clairwood 1800m.



Bulsara is an evergreen six-year-old gelding by Silvano and ran a cracker in the July two years ago when finishing fifth despite weighing in almost 2kg overweight.



Van Zyl also has three horses contesting the two-year-old features on the day.



Princess Mohave runs in the Listed Rising Sun Printers Devon Air Stakes over 1450m for two-year-old fillies.



She is by Mount Nelson, who was one of the leading first season sires in Europe last year, and in fact she was his first winner in the Southern Hemisphere.



Van Zyl is very bullish indeed about this filly, who won impressively on debut at Greyville over 1400m on May 17, and he said, “Wow, she is a very nice horse. She will be a big runner on Saturday.”



She is drawn eight in the sixteen horse field.



He also runs Angie, a two-year-old King Of Kings filly in this race, but she will be up against it, having taken six runs to win her Maiden.



His two-year-old Stronghold colt Buffalo Bill will be running in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes over 1450m on Saturday.



Van Zyl said he had been doing “very well.”



However, he has a tough draw of nine and looks to be up against a strong field.

Tiny Beach Beauty will take on the mighty Variety Club in the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Clairwood on Saturday and one certainty is that she won’t succumb without a fight.



“She never puts a foot wrong,” said Dennis Drier’s assistant trainer Stuart Ferrie about the five-year-old Dynasty mare’s preparation for the race.



Beach Beauty has a heart that is almost as big as her small frame that stands at just over 15 hands.



She also has a ton of ability and demonstrated in her facile weight for age Grade 2 Drill Hall victory over 1400m at Greyville last time that she can mix it with the boys and that she is probably at her best at distances around a mile.



Beach Beauty has only raced over 1600m three times in her career, winning the Grade 2 KRA Fillies Guineas, then being an unlucky second when left way out of her ground in the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province and then winning a fillies and mares Conditions Plate over 1600m at Clairwood by a wide margin, despite giving away lumps of weight to the rest of the field.



She has a devastating turn of foot, especially over this sort of trip.



She is drawn widest of all in Saturday’s race, but the field has cut up to eight runners no doubt due to Variety Club’s lofty reputation.



The yard have a newly acquired mare, Pacific Dynasty, in the Listed Queen Palm Handicap over 2500m.



Like Beach Beauty she is small and is by Dynasty.



She was far from disgraced last time out when finishing just 4,15 lengths back in the Grade 2 Betting World 1900.



Ferrie said, “She ran well last time and got badly squeezed. She’s well and is a nice little filly.”



The furthest she has raced in her career was when a 1,5 length third for Wallace Tolmay in her penultimate start in the weight for age Grade 2 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes for fillies and mares over 2000m at Turffontein.



However, she is a half-sister to Pacific Warrior, a Dominion Royale gelding that won the Grade 2 Gold Bowl over 3200m at Turffontein, so has a chance of staying Saturday’s trip.



In other yard news the Grade 1 SA Classic winner Bambina Stripes, has been bought by Avontuur Stud, but remains with Drier in training.



Without Malice, a useful Jet Master mare has joined the yard having been bought by Avontuur out of the George Scott yard.

The Justin Snaith yard are confident that Run For It will get into the final field for the Vodacom Durban July and have therefore elected to bypass the Grade 3 Cup Trial at Clairwood on Saturday and run him in a forthcoming Allowance Plate over 1600m.



Jonathan Snaith said, “He currently carries 56,5kg, but if he wins the Cup Trial he will incur a two to four point penalty.”



Run For It was 26th on the last Vodacom Durban July log, which is due to be released on Tuesday.



However, the Snaith’s have analysed the log and felt there would be a number of changes.



Jonathan also reckoned that considering Run For It’s Grade 1 record he should get in.



Looking at the horses above Run For It on the log, Beach Beauty has been taken out of the July already, Jackson is doubtful and there will be question marks about some of the unplaced horses in Saturday’s Grade 1 Daily News, that include Love Struck, Tellina and Wild One.



Furthermore, Cherry On The Top’s disappointing fourth place in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 on Saturday, in which she started at odds of 11-20, has cast a shadow over her Champions Season.



Thunder Dance was also in the top twenty and her target rests between the July and the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes on the same day.



How she fares in Sunday’s Grade 3 Jubilee Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein on Saturday will likely be the deciding factor.



However, there is the danger that the winners of races like the Cup Trial and Jubilee this weekend could leap frog Run For It on the log, while the runner up in the Daily News, No Worries, has been supplemented for the July and will surely make the final field.



Furthermore, Saturday’s Grade 1 Woolavington winner Do You Remember will also be given a place in the final field.



It appears to be a risky move by the Snaith yard.

Sean Tarry reckoned that the best of last year’s Vodacom Durban July winner Pomodoro had not been seen yet and added that he currently had him and all of his July entries just where he wanted them.



Pomodoro runs in the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m at Clairwood on Saturday, where he will take on the practically invincible miler, Variety Club.



Tarry said about Pomodoro’s Cape Sizzling Summer season campaign, “Besides being a bit unlucky in his races, he could never get into a rhythm down there because of the continually chopping and changing training surfaces, so I don’t think we got his best performances in Cape Town.”



The four-year-old Jet Master colt had to reside in quarantine conditions at Kenilworth after travelling from Johannesburg to run in the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and he was later moved to Milnerton to complete his preparation for the J&B Met.



Pomodoro was given a break after the Met and had only been working for eight weeks before his comeback run at Greyville on May 22, in which he finished a 1,5 length second to Variety Club, at level weights over 1400m, although it was also a comeback run for the latter.



“That was a good effort,” said Tarry. “There will have been two-and-a-half weeks since that run by Saturday, so he’s got to have come on, but I don’t think he’ll be at his peak.”



Tarry reckoned a line could be drawn through Whiteline Fever’s run in the President’s Champion’s Challenge over 2000m and he wasn’t happy with him being beaten in the Grade 1 Horse Chestnut over a mile either.



This four-year-old Right Approach gelding also runs in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge.



Tarry said, “He saw daylight too early in the Champions Challenge. Over that trip he needs to be covered up until the final furlong to be effective. I also thought he was produced too early in the Horse Chestnut.”



He was happy with Whiteline Fever’s well-being, but added that, like Pomodoro, this outing would form part of the preparation for the big one.



Pomodoro and Whiteline Fever both put up good pace work on the sand yesterday (Tuesday) on their own.



However, the workout that really caught the eye was that of Tarry’s Grade 3 Cup Trial contender General Sherman.



He looks to be rearing to go for Saturday’s 1800m handicap event, in which he will need a big run to get into the July.



General Sherman, a progressive four-year-old gelding by Strike Smartly, won the Listed Drum Star Handicap in his first try over 1800m in facile fashion, using his good turn of foot to telling effect.



Tarry said, “He was also flying from the back in the Betting World 1900 (where he had to overcome a wide draw at Greyville on a night the false rail was set narrowly) and the form of that race has been impeccable. He’s fit and well and is working very well. I should imagine he would just about have to win it to get into the July.”



Tarry’s dual Grade 1 winning five-year-old mare Happy Archer also put in some good work ahead of her engagement in Saturday’s Grade 2 weight for age Tibouchina Stakes for fillies and mares over 1450m.



He said about the Australian-bred by Dubawi, “She’s doing well. She ran a good race in the Drill Hall and was unlucky last time.”

Tarry also runs his two-year-old Listed Ruffian Stakes-winning filly, For The Lads, in the Listed Rising Sun Printers Devon Air Stakes over 1450m.



He said, “She’s had a nice prep and must have a shout. She’s looking for this trip or even a mile.”



Tarry’s Champion Challenge winner Heavy Metal runs in the Grade 3 Jubilee Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein on Sunday, also as part of his July preparation.



He said, “They have him on 111 and I believe there is more than 1kg between him and Pomodoro (who is the highest merit rated July entry on 113). But he certainly quickens up well and hasn’t done too much wrong. I took him down as a one-time winner to face Variety Club in the Cape Guineas (Cape Premier Yearling Sale), so I’ve always thought a lot of him. His Champions Challenge win wasn’t a surprise considering the way the race unfolded. I thought E-Jet and Whiteline Fever had more in their favour before the race. But when Whiteline runs like that you can draw a line through it and E-Jet also had daylight in front of him most the way.”



Tarry has elected not to run either E-Jet or Gold Onyx again before the July as he is “very happy” with both of their preparations.



He believes they should both be in the final field.



He reckoned it did not make sense that Shogunnar was so high up on the Vodacom Durban July log compared to Knock On Wood and E-Jet, considering their Champion’s Challenge runs.



He said if the horses around Gold Onyx in the Betting World 1900, where he finished third, were considered the log might be reassessed.

Vaughan Marshall runs J&B Met runner-up Hill Fifty Four in the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m at Clairwood on Saturday, where he will be up against the mighty Variety Club among other top class sorts.



The four-year-old Captain Al gelding ran a cracker in his KZN debut, when running on strongly from the back of the field to finish third in the Grade 2 Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m on May 4, and is currently 20-1 for the Vodacom Durban July.



Marshall said, “He’s done very well here, I’m very pleased with him. This will be a preparation run for the July. We will leave enough for him to still have a hard gallop at the July gallops.”



Hill Fifty Four always relaxes very well in the running and will love the Vodacom Durbab July 2200m trip, although it’s not going to be easy off a merit rating of 112, considering that at this stage he will be receiving only 0,5kg from last year’s winner Pomodoro.



Marshall’s other feature runner on the day, Excelero, makes his debut in the Listed Looklocal Gatecrasher Stakes for two-year-olds over 1450m and this is a horse that is being talked about all over Durban.



“He is a nice horse,” said Marshall of the Western Winter colt, who is sure to attract a flood of betting money if the rumours are to be believed.



MJ Byleveld made his comeback from injury at Kenilworth yesterday (Tuesday) and will ride both of Marshall’s feature runners at Clairwood on Saturday

Master Plan, who was unlucky not to finish second in this year’s L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate, takes on the Equus Horse Of The Year Variety Club over the same distance in Saturday’s Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Clairwood.



Alec Laird elected to run the 110 merit-rated horse, who is not the soundest sort, in the weight-for-age Gold Challenge rather than in the Grade 3 Cup Trial over 1800, a handicap where he would have had to carry top-weight.



Julia Pringle, Laird’s Summerveld assistant trainer, said it would be “a prep run” for the horse, before agreeing that he would have to run a good race to ensure his place in the Vodacom Durban July.



He had a fine Champions Season last year, winning the Grade 2 Betting World Derby over 2400m at Clairwood and the Grade 1 Champions Cup over 1800m at Greyville.



He possesses a good turn of foot and can sustain a finishing effort.



He was fancied strongly in this year’s J&B Met, but unfortunately pulled a shoe when jumping awkwardly and was never in the race.



This will be his second run for the Laird yard, having finished 5,6 lengths back in the Grade 1 President’s Champions Challenge over 2000m at Turffontein, where he carried top-weight.



Pringle said, “He’s a nice horse and is working very well, but he does have his problems that we have to work with.”



He certainly ran a great race when squeezed out in the Queen’s Plate, which was his final preparation for the J&B Met, so can’t be written off for a place on Saturday.



Kevin Shea will be aboard.



The yard also runs Judpot colt Forest Indigo in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes for two-year-olds over 1450m.



He disappointed last time out after winning on debut.



Pringle said, “He is doing well. He will do well to run a place in that field. He’s a big horse, who is definitely improving and will make a nice three-year-old.”



Shea also rides this horse.



They run Dan’s Approval in the KZN Winter Challenge final over 1200m.



Pringle said about the four-year-old Miesque’s Approval gelding, “He’s doing alright, although this trip is a bit sharp.”



Brandon Lerena, who won on him over this trip at Greyville in his penultimate start, is back aboard.



Their three-year-old Black Minnaloushe gelding Pyrotechnics travelled well throughout when holding on by a whisker over 1600m at Scottsville last time out and now runs in the KZN Winter Challenge 1600m final.



Pringle said, “He always tries hard, but needs a good pace, otherwise he pulls.”



Kevin Shea has a fine pair of hands so should get the best out of this horse.

Thanks again David and GC (tu)

Variety Club is in fine shape ahead of Saturday’s Rising Sun Gold Challenge at Clairwood, where he will be odds-on to defend his crown and cement his place as one of the best milers in South African history.



Lorenzo Karriem, Joey Ramsden’s assistant trainer, said, “He’s a very honest horse and puts in everything you ask of him. His work at home can’t be faulted and Anton (Marcus) has been very happy with him. He wasn’t 100 % for his last start and came out of it beautifully.”



Variety Club did some easy pace work at Clairwood yesterday (Tuesday).



The yard have three other feature runners on the day.



The two-year-old fillies, Icy Winter Air, who was third in the Grade 2 SA Fillies Nursery, and Chanel Five, who won her third start over 1400m, run in the Listed Rising Sun Printers Devon Air Stakes over 1450m.



Karriem said, “There’s not much between them and both put up nice gallops. Icy Winter Air travelled well from Johannesburg, has been here for a while and we are very happy with her.”



Marcus is aboard the Royal Air Force filly Chanel Five, who is owned by Markus Jooste, whom he is contracted to ride for, and the Western Winter filly Icy Winter Air will be ridden by Kevin Shea.



The yard also has the three-year-old Fort Wood filly Rachel Leigh in the Listed Queen Palm Handicap over 2500m.



She has a tough task as she is 4kg under sufferance.



However, Karriem said, “It’s her first run here, but I don’t think she’ll need it. Her work at home has been very good, so will see how she shapes up.”

Thanks Bob for the articles. (tu)

You can't beat GC for feedback (tu)

The Tony Rivalland-trained Territorial Waters has come into his own as a four-year-old this season and takes his place in the Grade 3 Cup Trial over 1800m at Clairwood on Saturday, where he will be 0,5kg under sufferance.



The Australian-bred gelding by leading sire Fastnet Rock took a strong hold in his last start in the Listed Sledgehammer Handicap over 1800m at Scottsville and opened up a big lead before tiring late to be beaten 1,6 lengths into fifth by Tribal Dance, from whom he was receiving 7,5kg.



Terry Fripp, Rivalland’s assistant trainer, said, “His blood count wasn’t right for that race. He is more than likely to go for The Thukela (Listed handicap over 1600m) on (Vodacom Durban) July day.”



In his previous start Territorial Waters had received 3kg from Jet Explorer over 1600m and thrashed him by 3,25 lengths.



The latter likely needed that start, but went on to win the Grade 2 Betting World 1900 and is now prominent in the Vodacom Durban July betting at 10-1.



Territorial Waters looked very effective over a mile that day, but did win easily over 1800m in his previous start.



He will need to be settled on Saturday though, so Donovan Dillon, who takes over in the irons, will not have an easy task from draw eleven.

Mike Miller has had fine success with two-year-olds over the last few seasons and has another good one this season in the Judpot colt, Colour Of Courage, who contests the Listed Looklocal Gatecrasher stakes over 1450m at the Rising Sun Gold Challenge Racing Carnival Raceday at Clairwood this Saturday.



The yard also has two livewires, Glorious Moment and Ravishing Gem, in the Listed Rising Sun Printers Devon Air Stakes over the same distance.



Colour Of Courage won on debut over 1300m at Greyville, producing a strong finish to beat the hard-knocking Translator, and he followed up by winning the Grade 2 Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m at Scottsville.



The latter event, even by Miller’s own admission, usually attracts a weak field by Grade 2 standards.



However, he had the field spread out behind him like the washing and two horses that were well beaten, Velvet Verona and Peter Culture, have since come out and won their maidens.



Miller said, “He’s a very nice horse and has been doing very nicely. There was too long between the Umkhomazi and the KZN Breeders Juvenile Million on (Vodacom Durban) July day, so we’re giving him a run. It’s a prep but he is still good enough to win.”



Colour Of Courage has to give the rest of the field at least 2kg as the only two-time winner in the field and is drawn seven with regular pilot Sean Veale aboard.



He doesn’t face an easy task as it looks like a good field.



Devon Air contenders Glorious Moment and Ravishing Gem are by Count Du Bois and Ravishing respectively.



They finished 1,5 lengths in third and 2,4 lengths in fifth behind the classy My Sanctuary in the Grade 2 Debutante over 1200m at Scottsville, although they both received 2kg.



Miller said, “There’s not a lot in it. But Glorious Moment is probably the stable elect. Ravishing Gem will get better the further she goes.”



Glorious Moment is drawn in pole position with Alec Forbes up, while Ravishing Gem is drawn in 16 with Veale aboard.



This is also a strong field and Mohave Princess looks the one to beat.