Betway Summer Cup runners warm up in Victory Moon

Jack Milner

The Grade 3 Victory Moon Stakes over 1800m this Saturday is not only a key warm-up race for the Betway Summer Cup, it’s also the last chance for several would-be Cup runners to secure a berth in the R2.5-million Grade 1 race over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday 26 November.

A number of Cup hopefuls used last week’s Allied Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile for their final preparations and there are a host of key Cup contenders in the field for the Victory Moon.

Topping the list is this year’s Durban July heroine Sparkling Water, who will be looking to win the Victory Moon for the second successive year. This is the ideal race for the Mike de Kock-trained runner because although she carries a 2kg penalty for her Grade 1 triumph in the Durban July, it is more than offset by a 2.5kg sex allowance.

She will be reunited with jockey S’manga Khumalo in Saturday’s contest, in which she will start out wide from No 14 draw. But she will not be out to prove anything on Saturday because she is No 3 on the Betway Summer Cup log so her place in the final field is not under threat.

De Kock is also giving SA Derby winner Aragosta his warm-up in this race and it will be his first outing since finishing unplaced in the Gold Cup. He has only once run a bad race at Turffontein and there were excuses for that performance. He will be ridden by Julius Mariba but is drawn No 16.

Trainer Corne Spies firmly believes William Robertson, winner of the Grade 2 Topbet Joburg Spring Challenge, will see out the 2000m distance of the Betway Summer Cup if ridden more patiently and this view will be tested on Saturday.

The Rafeef gelding is nicely drawn at No 2 but has top weight of 61kg.

Others high on the log who will be in action on Saturday are Astrix (8), Nebraas (12) and Second Base (13), but those lower down such as Perfect Witness (16) and Zeus (17) will need to run well in order to hold off challenges from those looking in.

The most important of that bunch are Zillzaal, Outofthedarkness and Super Silvano but they would virtually need to win the Victory Moon Stakes to be considered for the final field for the Cup.