Jack Milner
A potent entry of 28 runners has been received for the R650,000 Betway Chris Gerber Dingaans and they are headed up by dual Grade 1 winning filly Quid Pro Quo.
They Grade 2 race for three-year-olds over 1600m will be run on Saturday 30 November on the Turffontein Standside track and is one of the key supporting feature races for the R6-million Betway Summer Cup.
Four fillies are included among the entries and other than Equus Champion Two-Year-old filly Quid Pro Quo the other three are VJ’s Angel, Fatal Flaw and Olivia’s Way.
Barend Botes-trained Quid Pro Quo won the Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville and the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville, as well as the Grade 2 Golden Slipper over 1400m at the same venue.
However, she has not been seen in action since her Thekwini win on 28 July.
VJ’s Angel, trained by Tony Peter, triumphed in the Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes over 1600m at Greyville, and then showed her wellbeing with a facile win against older fillies and mares, giving weight and a 3.75-length beating.
Brett Crawford-trained Fatal Flaw finished second behind Quid Pro Quo in both Greville wins but certainly impressed the Turffontein crowd on Charity Mile Day when winning the Grade 3 HSH Princess Charlene Starling Stakes over 1400m in a canter.
However, she has landed No 28 draw while Quid Pro Quo drew No 3 and VJ’s Angel No 15.
Of course, they will all get a 2.5kg sex allowance from the colts who are probably headed up by two unbeaten Mike de Kock runners – Heather’s Boy and Greaterix.
Both have big reputations and there were a number of tongues wagging when Greaterix proved he would see out 1600m at the delayed Turffontein meeting last Monday.
He has also drawn in gate No 1 but Heather’s Boy drew No 19.
Alec Laird has entered SA Nursery winner Fire Attack, who had an excellent warm-up in the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m, as well as Parisian Walkway.
Another runner who had a promising run in the Graham Beck Stakes was Sean Tarry-trained Legend Of Arthur.
The Lancaster Bomber colt flew up late to go down just 0.60 lengths to Moonlight Trader in that race but has landed No 26 draw in the Dingaans.
Another entry of interest is KwaZulu-Natal-based Cats Pajamas. Frank Robinson’s charge won the Grade 2 Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m at Greyville but has yet to prove he will see out 1600m. He will not be helped by his No 22 draw.
Supplementary entries close at 9am on Monday with declarations by 11am on Wednesday.
Entries for the R650,000 Betway Chris Gerber Dingaans (Grade 2) over 1600m
13 ARTIST'S MODEL (M F De Kock) 60.0
26 BACCHUS (F P Habib) 60.0
22 CATS PAJAMAS (F Robinson) 60.0
11 CHESTNUT BOMBER (J J van Vuuren) 60.0
6 DANCE KING (W C Marwing) 60.0
5 DIWALI ROCKET (L Karriem) 60.0
4 FIRE ATTACK (A G Laird) 60.0
1 GREATERIX (M F De Kock) 60.0
14 GREY JET (W C Marwing) 60.0
19 HEATHER'S BOY (M F De Kock) 60.0
27 LEGEND OF ARTHUR (S G Tarry) 60.0
9 MOONLIGHT TRADER (P F Matchett) 60.0
25 MUSICAL SCORE (M N Houdalakis) 60.0
10 PARISIAN WALKWAY (A G Laird) 60.0
8 SKITTLES SKIES (P P Labuschagne) 60.0
12 THE CANE TRAIN (R Klaasen) 60.0
24 THE SPECIALIST (S G Tarry) 60.0
18 TRUTH (C Dawson) 60.0
17 WAHEED (M F De Kock) 60.0
7 WILD AT WAR (C Dawson) 60.0
23 WOLF MOUNTAIN (M F De Kock) 60.0
2 ZANTHAR (M/A Azzie) 60.0
16 ZIP CODE (D Nieuwenhuizen) 60.0
28 FATAL FLAW (B Crawford) 57.5
20 OLIVIA'S WAY (R R Magner) 57.5
3 QUID PRO QUO (B D Botes) 57.5
15 VJ'S ANGEL (A P Peter) 57.5