Scottsville 23/5/15

Love a quickie





Fantastic high-speed racing is on the cards for racegoers at the Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday in the four Grade 1 sprint races that form the Jackpot at the Tsogo Sun Sprint Racemeeting.

The fastest horses in the country will compete over 1 200m in the R1-million, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint, the R600 000, Grade 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint, the R600 000, Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and the R600 000, Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship.

The final fields have been announced and one of the most exciting runners at the meeting is the three-year-old Australian-bred filly Alboran Sea from the Mike de Kock stable that is bidding to complete a Grade 1 hat-trick by winning the City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint. She has won the Cape Flying Championship and the Computaform Sprint – both races against all-comers – in her last two starts and she is likely to take a lot of beating on Saturday.

She is, however, likely to be strongly challenged by the Captain Al filly Carry On Alice from the Sean Tarry stable that finished less than a length second to her in the Turffontein race and won the Man O’ War Sprint in her previous outing.

Varikate and Jet Belle, first and second in the Poinsettia Stakes, are also in the field along with last year’s Mercury Sprint winner, Fly By Night.

Captain Of All from the Dennis Drier stable heads the field in the Tsogo Sun Sprint having finished third in the Computaform Sprint and second in the Cape Flying Championship with Gulf Storm and Moofeed, first and second in the In Full Flight Handicap, set to renew their private battle.

The Allan Robertson Championship for two-year-old fillies will be a hotly contested race with the likes of Entisaar, Miracle Rising, Royal Pleasure and Speedy Suzy in a fierce battle for top honours. Royal Pleasure from the Glen Kotzen stable is unbeaten in three starts having beaten Miracle Rising by less than a length in the Strelitzia Stakes while Entisaar and Speedy Suzie go head-to-head for the third time with each having prevailed in one of their two previous encounters in the Ruffian Stakes and Pretty Poly Stakes.

Seventh Plain from the Dennis Drier stable could be the one to beat in the Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion for two-year-olds having won two of his three starts including the Godolphin Barb Stakes where he beat the Alistair Gordon-trained Argonaut colt Beat The Retreat. They will be matching strides again on Saturday along with Mr Roy that was third in the Godolphin Barb Stakes and Prospect Strike, Donny G and Muwaary that have won their only starts and could each be something special.


By Richard McMillan

Looks to be a cracking card.

Gold Medallion field only 10 runners?
Interesting to see that Mike De Kock has entered both his fillies in the Allan Robertson, should make for a great race with the likes of Shaama, Entisaar, Royal Pleasure, Princess Royal and Swift Sarah.

Seventh Plain Best Bet on the card

I'm interested to see how Prospect strike Muwaary fare after such impressive first runs.

Plum wrote: Looks to be a cracking card.

Gold Medallion field only 10 runners?
Interesting to see that Mike De Kock has entered both his fillies in the Allan Robertson, should make for a great race with the likes of Shaama, Entisaar, Royal Pleasure, Princess Royal and Swift Sarah.

Agree, reckon he should have put the weaker of Shaama or Entisaar in the other race unless he thinks Muwaary is better the both.

Flyfirstclass drew 6 which is great in the Tsogo Sun Sprint.

Seems a few of the more likely winners drew mid to wide in the Tsogo sun sprint. Willow magic with good drawer and weight caught my eye if running anywhere near best.


Does anyone have stats on the drawer bias up the straight at Scottsville for the last few months?
Last year I backed Red Ray only to be told he couldn't win from his draw. The consensus after the race was that it probably was the draw that cost him the race but does it seem to be as straightforward as last year with the track bias?

Craig Eudey wrote: Flyfirstclass drew 6 which is great in the Tsogo Sun Sprint.

All the best Craig

One of the most interestingly bred horses at Saturday’s Scottsville Racecourse Festival Of Speed racemeeting will be the Dominic Zaki-trained Prospect Strike, who displayed his class on debut when waltzing in by 12,75 lengths over 1200m on the Vaal turf. He recorded a fast time that day and could be a big threat in Saturday’s Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville.

Zaki said, “His preparation has gone smoothly and he is as fit as a fiddle. I am very happy with him, he is top class.”

The bay gelding was bred by the Tawny Syndicate and is owned by two of this syndicate’s members, Larry Nestadt and Greg Blank, in partnership with Knut Haug.

Nestadt and Blank found his Mr Prospector dam, Prospect Fever, in Australia and brought her back to South Africa. Their reasoning was not only that Mr Prospector mares were hard to come by but that she would also likely be an excellent mating for their Danehill stallion Toreador. This was partly due to the famous Northern Dancer-Mr Prospector nick. Toreador is from the Northern Dancer sire line and Prospect Fever herself has the Mr Prospector-Northern Dancer cross close up in her pedigree. Furthermore, Prospect Fever had already produced the Gr 3-winning Danehill colt Way West, who became known as a speed influential sire at Summerhill Stud. Way West won an Australian Gr 3 over 1100m as a two-year-old in 2004, beating the now sort after sire Oratorio, so it is not surprising that his three parts brother Prospect Strike is also packed with precocious speed. Prospect Strike is in fact the third Toreador foal that Prospect Fever has produced and this emphasises the vagaries of breeding as the other pair, Abstract and Portrait, have not amounted to much, having won just three minor races between them, all over 1200m.

Toreador’s only Gr 1 winner to date was the Dennis Drier-trained Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion winner Link Man. This speedy grey was also bred by the Tawny Syndicate and part-owned by Nestadt and Blank.

Nestadt has also part-owned two other Medallion winners. The first was the National Emblem colt Rip Curl, whom he owned in partnership with the late chairman of Turffontein, Collie Fram, as well as with MD Moritz. Scottsville’s reputation as a graveyard of champions was displayed that day as the Nestadt-owned Palace Line started odds on favourite and could only manage fourth place, his only defeat in seven outings in South Africa. Palace Line later exacted revenge on Rip Curl in the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes. Nestadt’s other Medallion winner was also by National Emblem, the Mike de Kock-trained 2005 victor Carnadore, whom he owned in partnership with Barry Irwin’s Team Valor syndicate.

Prospect Strike has an unfavourable high draw, by trends, but there is only a small field of ten runners so it shouldn’t be too much of a disadvantage. Craig Zackey keeps the ride.

Nestadt and Blank will be hoping Prospect Strike earns them another Gold Medallion victory, especially as this would help Toreador find his way back into the limelight.

By David Thiselton

Madame Dubois is an interesting runner in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship to be run over 1200m at Scottsville Racecourse on Saturday, added to the fact that Robbie Sage has booked Piere Strydom for the ride.

Sage said about her three-length win over 1000m at the Vaal on debut, “I don’t work horses very hard before their first runs unless they are doing everything themselves and sometimes they come out and surprise you. She is very well in herself but this will be her first time at the track so how she will handle it is an unknown.” However, on the downside she has landed a high draw which by trends is unfavourable.

She started at 20/1 on debut and what made the win even more impressive was that she jumped from a high draw on the Vaal’s inside turf track, where the low draws are invariably more favourable. She also recorded a time 0,45 seconds quicker than the facile winner of the next race, Just Africa, a Paul Peter-trained Just As Well colt who is one of only ten horses standing their ground in Saturday’s Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion. Furthermore, Madame Dubois’s form has been franked as the runner-up Faberge Style won by 10,25 lengths next time out over 1000m on the Vaal sand and third-placed Aldiara also came out and won next time out over 1200m on the turf.

Sage said a lot would depend on how she travelled, adding that this was always an unknown quantity with young horses. He was still waiting for the final field to be published before planning the journey, but said Friday was the likely date of travel.

Owner Colin Bird will have a double interest on the day as Jet Belle, a top class filly he owns in partnership with Drakenstein Stud, runs in the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint. Jet Belle was originally trained by Sage and is still trained by him when campaigning on the Highveld but she is otherwise conditioned by Glen Kotzen.

Madame Dubois is by Count Dubois, who is 14th on the season’s national sires log despite having significantly less runners than all of the horses above him. Madame Du Bois’s fourth dam was the champion sprinter of Argentina, but her first dam, Miss Jet Set, who was also trained by Sage, won from 1400-1600m. Sage will therefore see how she runs on Saturday before planning a possible tilt at the Gr 1 Golden Slipper over 1400m at Greyville on Vodacom Durban July day.

By David Thiselton

Turffontein-based trainer David Nieuwenhuizen has the lowest rated horse in probably the strongest event at Saturday’s Festival Of Speed meeting at Scottsville, but there are some positives that could see his rags-to-riches Malhub filly Virgo’s Babe earn a cheque in the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint over 1200m.

Nieuwenhuizen said that the speedy Michael Leaf-owned four-year-old had needed her last two runs badly and had come on a lot from them. Furthermore, she was caught in the worst going down the middle when finishing a 7,85 length fifth last time out in the Gr 2 Camellia Stakes over 1160m at Turffontein. She had some good horses behind her that day including City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint contender Sarve and the crack three-year-old sprinter Lazer Star.

Virgo’s Babe has landed a plum draw of one on Saturday, which by trends is on the favourable side of the Scottsville straight. Niewenhuizen said that the other positive was that she is a filly who is helped by the rail. He believed Muzi Yeni would give her a confident ride and he just hoped that she wouldn’t be squeezed out on the rail.

Virgo’s Babe was from a 2010 crop of just three foals produced by the out of favour stallion Malhub. She turns in, an apparent trait of Malhub’s progeny, and went through the ring unsold before originally being leased for just R10,000.

She has caused a massive big race upset before as she won the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery for Nieuwenhuizen by five lengths at odds of 28/1.

She was bought by popular owner Michael Leaf after she had finished downfield in last year’s Gr 1 Computaform Sprint and this decision immediately paid dividends as she won her next two races, including one at Greyville in one of only two runs she has had in KZN.

Nieuwenhuizen has done a fine job of keeping the filly sound, considering her less than perfect legs, and in 23 runs she has had five wins and nine places for earnings of R751,575.
By David Thiselton

The Gavin van Zyl-trained pair of Redcarpet Captain and Isca worked together on the Summerveld beach sand track yesterday morning ahead of Saturday's Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville and the former had the beating of the latter throughout.

Jockey Warren Kennedy, who was aboard Isca, returned to confirm that his mount was being held by Redcarpet Captain throughout the 800m workout.

Redcarpet Captain ran below par last time out in the Gr 1 SA Nursery over 1160m and Van Zyl explained that he had been incubating a low grade infection two weeks before the race.

He was fine on the week of the race but the work he had missed took its toll and the form of his fourth place finish in the Nursery was some nine lengths inferior on paper to his win in the Gr 3 Protea Stakes over 1100m if a line through Nursery winner Arabian Beat is taken literally.

Van Zyl said the athletic bay Captain Al colt had done well since arriving at Summerveld about three weeks ago and the yard are hoping to see him back to his best.

He has landed a plum draw of one and will be a big runner in a small but classy field of ten.

Isca was drawn on the wrong side in the Nursery but Van Zyl said the inferior going was not enough to explain his 11,5 length defeat. "It was not his run," he said. The strong grey colt's sire Var has an enviable record at this Festival Of Speed meeting and he will also have the bonus of Piere Strydom aboard. His draw of six could be seen as even more advantageous than a number one draw as he will not be in danger of becoming boxed in on the inside rail by the horses moving across seeking the supposedly better going. Therefore he will not have to be used up early to hold his position. If he can reproduce his easy debut win over 1000m he could have a chance. However, he will have to go some to beat his stable companion.
By David Thiselton