Best I’ve ever sat on, says JP

Jack Milner

We are just a few days away from Champions Day at Turffontein and a look at the early betting indicates there are a lot of hot favourites on the card.

Almond Sea, Pistol Pete and Gimme A Nother are deep in the red to keep their unbeaten records intact but it is on the latter that most pundits will be focusing. She does seem special and the Mike de Kock-trained daughter of Gimmethegreenlight is fully expected to justify her odds of almost 1-5.

Almond Sea and Pistol Pete, both trained by Tony Peter, are quoted at 1-4 and 3-10 respectively to win the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Nursery and TAB SA Nursery, both over 1160m.

In addition, Silver Sanctuary, also from the De Kock yard, has been priced up at 6-10 to win the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks over 2450m.

Unfortunately for the daughter of Silvano, she has found one too good in her last three races, touched off in the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas by Beach Bomb and then defeated by stablemate Gimme A Nother in the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas and again in the Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic over 1800m.      

So, without Beach Bomb and Gimme A Nother – the latter is running in the Grade 1 TAB Empress Club Stakes – in the Oaks field, it gives Silver Sanctuary the ideal opportunity to claim a feature race victory.

The question on many people’s lips, though, is: how good is Gimme A Nother compared to the other three-year-olds, especially the fillies?

One person who has the necessary insight to answer that poser is jockey JP van der Merwe. He has ridden all of them – Gimme A Nother, Beach Bomb, Silver Sanctuary, Double Grand Slam and even Snow Pilot, who he rode to victory in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas.

I asked him the question after he had ridden Gimme A Nother to victory in the SA Fillies Classic.

“It’s difficult to compare,” he responded. “This filly (Gimme A Nother) has just been in Joburg while Beach Bomb is running in Cape Town

“But the form line is there. Silver Sanctuary just got touched off by Beach Bomb, but has been well beaten by Gimme A Nother.

“I don’t have to put them on a pedestal, they are all good.”

And then came the coup de grace!

“But I think this filly is probably one of the best I have ever sat on.

“I actually thought she was a specialist miler but after the Classic I will go any distance with her. She’s such good quality, it doesn’t matter.”

Gimme A Nother had been a little “naughty” when going down to the start but Van der Merwe said that with the use of the lead pony in the SA Classic, she was very well behaved.

So, there we have it.

Hopefully on Saturday, we can relish in a seventh victory from this super filly.

Champions Day – betting on Graded races

Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Nursery

1-4 Almond Sea

7-1 Little Ballerina

14-1 Mountain High

20-1 and upwards others

TAB SA Nursery

3-10 Pistol Pete

5-1 Proceed

13-1 Fire Attack

15-1 Dantonfromsandton

16-1 Mount Pinatubo

25-1 and upwards others

TAB Hawaii Stakes

13-10 Sandringham Summit

2-1 Lucky Lad

9-1 Unzen

12-1 Texas Red

14-1 At My Command, White Pearl

20-1 and upwards others

Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks

6-10 Silver Sanctuary

5-1 Let’s Go Now

6-1 Frances Ethel

10-1 Beating Wings

14-1 My Soul Mate

25-1 and upwards others

TAB Empress Club Stakes

22-100 Gimme A Nother

7-1 Mrs Geriatrix

8-1 Bavarian Beauty

16-1 Humdinger

25-1 and upwards others

Jonsson Workwear Computaform Sprint

28-10 Dyce

11-2 Golden Sickle

6-1 William Robertson

14-1 Mover And Shaker, Rulership

18-1 Iphiko

20-1 and upwards others

TAB SA Derby

5-2 Purple Pitcher

7-2 Marauding Horde

5-1 Pure Predator

13-2 Hotarubi

12-1 Mondial

14-1 Presley, George Handel, Twenty Drachma’s

25-1 and upwards others

World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge

11-2 Cousin Casey

6-1 Dave The King, Royal Victory

7-1 Puerto Manzano, Winchester Mansion

9-1 Without Question

10-1 Son Of Raj

14-1 Zeus

15-1 Litigation

18-1 Street Art

20-1 and upwards others