MEDIA RELEASE – 9 JUNE 2008
Justin Snaith's Russian Sage saved the day for many participants of the Charity Turf Challenge when he won the Gr.1 Daily News 2000 on Saturday. The three-year-old Jallad colt was a favourite selection of many of the entrants in the fourth leg of the inaugural Charity Turf Challenge.
Two of the five Graded races run on Saturday were won by horses that had only made their debuts after the list of 100 qualifiers’ had been published, so points were hard to come by on the day. The Gary Player bred and part-owner of, Winterinthewoods, won the Gr.2 The Debutante, and Wendywood, was the scintillating winner of the Woolavington 2000 for the formidable owner/trainer team of Chris van Niekerk and Sean Tarry.
In the former race, Consensual, garnered some points for competitors with her third placing while popular choices, Happy Spirit and Front House, filled the runner-up and third placed berths in the Gr.1 Woolavington 2000.
Forest Path's followers would have been all smiles when seeing him get to the winning post marginally ahead of Mount Hood, earning 10 points for his efforts in the Gr.2 Umkhomazi Stakes.
Bill Of Rights might have been something of a surprise winner of the Gr.3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup but he secured points for those that were shrewd enough to select him at the beginning of the competition. Mike Bass’ inmate looks set to have a crack at the Canon Gold Cup on the final day of the Challenge and on this performance might just have a winning chance.
Russian Sage put last week’s co-leader, Mark Aboud, in front and is now 5 points clear of the second placed Ashley Parker and “Tejalisa”. They will be looking to gain further momentum this coming Saturday when Challenge heavyweight selections Pocket Power, Dancer’s Daughter and Imbongi line up for the Gr.1 Gold Challenge to be run at Gold Circle’s Clairwood Racecourse. The Gr.2 Tibouchina Stakes and the Gr.3 Cup Trial make up the supporting races.
The Charity Turf Challenge has formed part of the promotion of the Racing South Africa Thoroughbred Expo 2008 to be held at Greyville Racecourse from 31 July to 2 August. The winner of the grand prize worth R50 000 will be decided after the running of the Canon Gold Cup on Saturday, 2 August.
The leader board after the fourth leg of the Charity Turf Challenge is:
M Aboud 115
A H Parker 110
'Tejalisa' 110
'African Lion' 107
N Andrews 105
A Bon 105
J Strydom 105
M Aboud 100
L Benson 100
A Bon 100
O Brits 100
'Honey' 100
B Steele 100
'White Knights' 100
'African Lion' 97
S M Koster 97
T Padayachee 97
'Banner Boy' 95
'Banner Boy' 95
'Roley' 95
For more information contact Chad Cooke on 082 9039818
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