Danie Toerien
With a combined total of R3-million in stakes up for grabs in the two Group 1 races Saturday at Turffontein on Champions Day, five-time champion trainer Sean Tarry should again play a leading role in the drama called horseracing.
This charismatic trainer knows exactly how to get his runners in prime condition not only for the big-stakes races, but also for the big stage.
Tarry was, after all, the protagonist behind Flying Carpet’s surprise win in the Summer Cup earlier this season, when his Judpot colt rewarded his, and the trainer’s followers, with a dividend of R32,90 for the win.
Come Saturday, Tarry saddles three runners in the main feature, the Group 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge, and a solitary filly in the undercard, the Group 1 Computaform Sprint.
Zillzaal, Flying Carpet, and Shango, are Tarry’s three stars in the Premier’s Champions Challenge.
While none of his three actors in the blockbuster are regarded as leading players by bookmakers, it won’t come as a surprise if one of them snatches an Oscar from under the nose of the more fancied competitors.
“Obviously, as it’s a weight for age, it’s a tough race and we are under pressure at the weights,” said Tarry earlier in the week.
“Kommetdieding looks the obvious horse. But it’s always a challenge for the visiting horses to raise their game on the Highveld.
“We have to run and take our chances at the weights, even though we are under pressure.”
Getting a horse race-ready for such an important event is no mean feat, but Tarry is conservatively confident that his runners are not there to just fill the field.
“My horses have all had good preparations.
“Zillzaal, a former Summer Cup winner, has found his form at the right time. He’s had an excellent preparation and Richard Fourie gets on well with him. I think he should make his presence felt.
“Flying Carpet needed his last run. It’s not easy to use a Group 1 race as a prep run, but that was what we had,” said Tarry about his Group 1 winner who was last seen running fifth in the Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes.
“He certainly has come on well with that run. He’s got a few lengths to make up on the favourite, but hopefully he would have made a lot of progress in his fitness and the course and distance is far more suitable. He is expected to run a decent race.
“Shango on the other hand had an interrupted preparation and we are hoping for a good run here and that he’s running on well at the end of the race going into the Durban season.”
Shango, it must be said, has a Group 2 and 3 victory to his name and regardless of Saturday’s outcome, it could pay punters to keep a close eye on this Captain Of All gelding when feature racing moves to KwaZulu-Natal.
Ecstatic Green, Tarry’s lone runner in the Computaform Sprint, is the lowest rated runner in the field of 15 with a Merit Rating of 99 while the others are rated from 105 to 125.
But that does not mean this Gimmethegreenlight filly can be ignored.
“Ecstatic Green is obviously not my normal profile runner in a Group 1, especially at weight for age with a rating that is so far under sufferance with the rest,” said Tarry.
“I think she’s an interesting horse because she’s come really well at the right time. Her prep into the race was very good. I can’t stretch her for another three or four months. I’ve got her well right now.
“I decided to take the chance right now. 1000m may be sharp for her, but it’s also maybe what she’s wanted. Maybe we jumped to conclusions going over further distances in the past.
“I can’t have her any better than she is.
“Obviously we are at the bottom of the boards, but I think she will run a bit better than her odds. So, let’s see.”
With TAB adding a R500,000 into the Quartet pool of the Computaform Sprint, it might pay bettors not to ignore Tarry’s runner just because of her rating.