Puerto Manzano does it again

Puerto Manzano pulled off a Grade 1 double when he won the World Sports Betting Premier's Champions Challenge over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday.

Victory in this R2-million race backed up his triumph last November in the Betway Summer Cup, also over 2000m at Turffontein.

But it was a hard-fought success as it took the judge to separate the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained runner from one of his former inmates, Second Base, who is now trained by Robyn Klaasen.

Just another 0.90 lengths back came Rain In Holland with Billy Bowlegs, who went off favourite at 28-10, just 0.15 lengths further back in fourth.

Puerto Manzano went off at 6-1 and gave jockey Keagan de Melo yet another Grade 1 victory this season.

A race earlier KwaZulu-Natal raider Isivunguvungu gave jockey Richard Fourie his third successive winner of the day as he romped to a two-length victory in the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear ComputaForm Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein on Saturday. 

The four-year-old son of What A Winter was always up with the pace and once he got to the front there was no stopping him, crossing the line in a quick 56.11 seconds.

In doing so, he gave Peter Muscutt his first Grade 1 winner as a trainer.

William Robertson, ridden by Piere Strydom, ran on well to get up for second, touching off 9-4 favourite Princess Calla by a short head.

Late money saw Billy Bowlegs top the boards for the WSB Premier's Champions Challenge while Puerto Manzano drifted out from 4-1 to 6-1. 

We once had a university lecturer who when asked to go slower would respond, "If I go any slower I will stop". That comment could aptly describe the pedestrian pace of the race as they crawled along in the opening stages. That saw MK's Pride go off to the front from Rain In Holland who pulled hard in the early stages.  

Aragosta sat third ahead of Puerto Manzano on the rail with Billy Bowlegs and Second Base behind that. With 300m to go MK's Pride held a narrow lead from Rain In Holland with Puerto Manzano creeping through on the inside while Second Base and Billy Bowlegs started to run at them towards the outside.

With the naked eye it appeared as if Second Base, who was paying over R50 for a win on TAB, may have pulled off the upset but the photofinish revealed Puerto Manzano had got the verdict, much to the relief of most punters.   

"I can't thank the horse enough," said De Melo. "He pulled it out of the fire when he needed to. 

"We went at a crawl, so for him to quicken up that way is a true testament to his ability." 

Just to demonstrate how slowly the race was run, the time was 127.13 seconds. Two races later, the Grade 2 WSB Gerald Rosenberg Stakes for fillies and mares over the same distance, run after an hour's delay due to soaking rain, was completed in 125.13 seconds.

The Jonsson Workwear ComputaForm Sprint proved a triumph for trainer Peter Muscutt as he claimed his first Grade 1 victory since taking out his own licence. "It's quite an auspicious moment, a long time in coming but he (Isivunguvungu) won well today.

 "He's taken a long time to grow up. He was a bit of a tearaway as a youngster but as he's gone long, he's settled much better in himself." 

The World Sports Betting Championships Finale proved a real triumph for horseracing on the Highveld. 

“The World Sports Betting Championships are a celebration of the champions of horseracing and the sheer joy and thrill of the sport. A huge thank you to Warren Tannous and the World Sports Betting team for working tirelessly with us at 4Racing to make this season a huge success. I'm thrilled with the results on what was a fantastic WSB Championships Finale and we look forward to taking the WSB Championships season to even greater heights,” said Fundi Sithebe, CEO of 4Racing.

The live 4Racing TV broadcast of the WSB Championships Finale saw the implementation of three new features, jockey interviews at the start, the addition of augmented reality imagery to display the real-time live jockey line up in their racing silks and the launch of the new Stars initiative with their QR codes.

The 4Racing TV Broadcast team continues to strive for technological improvements and industry firsts to enhance the horseracing viewing experience.

The excitement continued off the track as adrenaline met entertainment with a stellar line-up of artists, including Lee Cole, Marco da Costa, Ebb & Mayo, and Austin Cassim.