Jack Milner
Jack Milner
The sun shone brightly, the crowds packed in, the TAB pools were great, and it was like old times at Turffontein.
Unfortunately for punters, some of the results did not match the jolly atmosphere. Specifically, the outcome of the Betway Summer Cup was a bit of a train smash.
The race was won by 100-1 shot Mocha Blend, a four-year-old filly trained by Frank Robinson and ridden by Tristan Godden who beat another filly, Olivia’s Way (40-1) by 0.50 lengths, The Ultimate King (8-1) was a further 1.50 lengths back with Busstopinhounslow (100-1) in fourth.
With that result, it came as no surprise the Quartet paid R355,690.
“It doesn’t feel real, it still doesn’t feel real,” said a delighted Godden after claiming his first Grade 1 victory.
“I know a lot of people didn’t like her, but I did. People asked me what I was backing in the Summer Cup and I said I’m backing myself. You’ve got to come into races like this thinking you’ve got a chance.
“Realistically I thought she would run in the first four, but at the back of the Quartet.”
That was a similar notion expressed by Robinson. “I was quietly confident she would run into a place because I rate her. I knew 2000m is what she wanted and I think the conditions were ideal for her.”
Mocha Blend, a daughter of Ideal World, is owned by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein and Mary Slack was on course to cheer home the winner.
Second favourite The Equator (7-2) was fifth, beaten 4.90 lengths. Commenting on the result, assistant trainer Paul Peter said jockey Gavin Lerena explained that his mount was just a touch slow out of the gates and with all the horses drawn on his outside cutting in, The Equator ended up a few lengths than he wanted to be.
He added that in the straight, he moved up too early and got blocked on the rail for a while by stablemate The Ultimate King.
While he may not have won, the Tony Peter-trained horse still managed to beat all the horses other pundits were tipping to beat him.
Ironically, Muzi Yeni, who rode The Ultimate King, expressed a similar view. He did not expect his horse to quicken as quickly as he did and hit the front far earlier than intended and that could well have cost him the race.
The stipendiary stewards have also called for an enquiry into the incident which saw two horses come down some 300m from home. On My Honour, ridden by Serino Moodley, and Solar Sail with Jarryd Penny up were the two horses concerned and on the positive side both horses survived the incident although Penny has a fractured rib which caused a cut on his liver whole Moodley has a fractured spine but he is unlikely to need surgery.
What is interesting about the race is five of the first eight past the post went off at 100-1.
In fairness there had been buckets of rain on the Highveld over the past few days and the going as on the soft side, which might not have suited many of the runners, and a number of trainers have had problems working their runners.
The Grade 2 Jackpot City Dingaans produced an outstanding finish with Candice Dawson-trained Trust, who was backed in to go off as the 2-1 favourite, fighting out a tight finish with Jan Van Goyen who originally topped the betting boards.
The runner-up, trained by Mike and Mathew de Kock, had not run since winning the Grade 1 Premiers Champions Stakes at HWB Greyville in July so it was an outstanding effort.
He will be off to Cape town to contest the Grade 1 Cape Guineas in a fortnight and could prove hard to beat.
The winner is not going to the Cape but both these horses are top class and should be followed.
BETWAY SUMMER CUP FULL RESULT
Res St Sc# Horse Age Sex Draw Mass Length Time MR A B T M H-KG O-Bet S-Bet Trainer Jockey
1 19 MOCHA BLEND 4 F 13 54.0 0.00 127.32 105 A 0 33/1 100/1 Frank Robinson T Godden
2 14 OLIVIA'S WAY 4 F 9 54.0 0.50 127.41 112 A 0 25/1 40/1 Roy Magner A Fortune
3 15 THE ULTIMATE KING 4 G 1 54.0 2.00 127.68 111 A 0 14/1 8/1 Tony Peter M Yeni
4 13 BUSSTOPINHOUNSLOW 4 G 7 54.0 2.80 127.82 112 A T 0 66/1 100/1 Grant Maroun R A Venniker
5 F 5 THE EQUATOR (IRE) 5 H 3 55.0 4.90 128.20 117 A B 0 9/4 7/2 Tony Peter G Lerena
6 16 WILD INTENT 4 G 15 54.0 5.40 128.28 110 A 0 40/1 100/1 Lucky Houdalakis M V'Rensburg
7 17 ANFIELDS ROCKET 6 G 17 54.0 6.65 128.51 109 A 0 50/1 100/1 Grant Maroun S Veale
8 6 LEGEND OF ARTHUR 4 C 20 54.5 7.05 128.58 117 A H T 0 20/1 100/1 Sean Tarry M K Katjedi
9 4 SON OF RAJ 6 G 4 55.5 8.15 128.78 118 A B 0 66/1 80/1 Tony Peter K Matsunyane
10 11 SPUMANTE DOLCE 4 F 10 54.0 12.25 129.51 116 A T 0 25/1 40/1 Mike / Mathew de K C Murray
11 9 MY BEST SHOT 4 G 12 54.0 14.25 129.86 116 A 0 20/1 33/1 Alan Greeff R Fourie
12 3 KING PELLES 5 G 11 57.5 16.25 130.22 122 A B 0 5/1 5/2 Gareth van Zyl S Khumalo
13 2 ROYAL VICTORY 6 G 14 59.0 16.75 130.31 125 A 0 20/1 50/1 Nathan Kotzen C Little
14 7 MADISON VALLEY 5 G 18 54.5 24.50 131.70 116 A B 0 25/2 11/2 Frank Robinson C Zackey
15 20 NAVAJO NATION 5 G 6 54.0 27.50 132.23 104 A B 0 33/1 100/1 W O Marwing/W H Ma K J Lihaba
16 8 OTTO LUYKEN 6 G 8 54.5 34.00 133.39 116 A B T 0 14/1 14/1 James Crawford J P v'd Merwe
17 12 PARISIAN WALKWAY 4 G 16 54.0 99.99 0.00 115 A 0 33/1 66/1 Alec Laird P Mxoli
18 1 ATTICUS FINCH 6 G 2 60.0 99.99 0.00 127 A B T 0 5/1 10/1 Alec Laird C Habib
19 10 ON MY HONOUR 4 G 5 54.0 99.99 0.00 116 A 0 20/1 33/1 Glen Kotzen S Moodley
20 18 SOLAR SAIL 4 G 19 54.0 99.99 0.00 109 A 0 50/1 100/1 Mark Khan J Penny