2025 BETWAY SUMMER CUP - WHAT THE SECTIONALS SAY

It’s Betway Summer Cup day at Turffontein on Saturday and TPD analyst Adam Mills has looked through some of the key data to find the best angle into this year’s race.

Atticus Finch seemed like the most obvious place to start for this year’s running of the Betway Summer Cup at Turffontein. He was a 3 length winner in the Charity Mile 4-weeks ago and there’s no obvious reason to think that he won’t run to a very similar level on Saturday. He gave 12 lbs and a 3-length beating to the G2 winner Callmegetrix last time as he stretched out in the home straight. At a peak average stride length of 25.32 ft, he had the longest stride amongst the first 5 horses to cross the line and once asked to go and win his race, he found readily to run the fastest final 2 furlong splits in 12.69 and 13.80s, which was 0.8s faster than the runner-up. That coincided with the fact that he had the longest stride in the field over the final 2 furlongs with a run-out speed of 29.84 mph. Since the blinkers were applied 2 starts ago he has really turned a corner and having won this race 12 months ago, everything would point to another big run from Alec Laird’s 6-year-old son of Master of My Fate.

So where are the dangers to the reigning champion? Well, the most obvious danger is the Tony Peter trained The Equator. He has won his last 2 starts, including a 2 length win in a Graduation Plate over the mile here in late October. A top speed of 40.20 mph would suggest that he will be competitive in the early stages here, a fact confirmed by the fact that he ran the fastest furlong split for 5 of the opening 6 furlongs last time. From stall 3, there is a fair chance that he will go forward under Gavin Lerena, but the way he finished his race last time would raise a slight doubt over his stamina at this trip and there’s no doubt that this is a significant step up in grade. King Pelles is another obvious danger and the fact that he won a Durban Gold Vase and a World Pool Gold Cup at Greyville in June and July should not be missed. His recent run behind On My Honour at Greyville should have put him spot on for this, even if the fact that he is yet to run at Turffontein is against him, though he will first need to reverse the form from that latest run.

This race is a mix between horses with proven form and those that are looking to take a step up into this company. Having already won 5 races, The Ultimate King is certainly going the right way and after a relatively comfortable success here 3-weeks ago, he at least looks well worth a try at this level. Tony Peter’s charge recorded the best late speed figure (37.93 mph) in the field over 9 furlongs last time as he galloped on to win by a length from Field Marshal. He was the fastest horse in the penultimate furlong (11.26s) to get himself to the front and on what was his first try in graded company, he asserted nicely in the closing stages as he averaged the highest stride frequency figures in the field 2.29 per second. That turn-of-foot could prove to be very useful from stall 1 and I would expect him to at least be in a relatively prominent position under Muni Yeni.

Whilst I can see the case for some of the younger horses, I think it is very hard to get away from last year’s winner Atticus Finch. The way he rallied in the closing stages last time after initially looking slightly outpaced can only offer hope that there is more improvement to come going back up to this trip and the way he hit the line would only confirm that opinion. Drawn in stall 2 should be fine, especially if the likes of The Ultimate King (1) or The Equator (3) break on terms and give him a decent pace to aim at. His long stride will be ideally suited by a truly run race and if the gaps come in the straight, I expect him to have the ability to lengthen and use his stamina to go through them.

The global database of sectional times, stride data and performance metrics is available through Total Performance Data.