Jack Milner
Champions Day at Turffontein promised to be a meeting of equine stars - current and future - competitive racing and drama.
The meeting turned out to be all of that – and more.
Stars there were aplenty. There were outstanding performances from a number of the two-year-olds in the Grade 2 TAB SA Nursery and the Wilgerbosdrift Fillies Nursery and even those who finished behind the winners showed enough to let us know they will be making their marks in the future.
Competitive it certainly was – five of the Graded races were won by no more than 0.25 lengths as we witnessed these races coming to thrilling conclusions.
And as for drama, well, there was probably a lot more of that than most pundits really wanted as two of the Grade 1 races had to be decided in the boardroom.
The first came up in the Computaform Sprint as gutsy William Robertson (77-100) kept going to beat filly Golden Sickle (8-1) by a neck with Winds Of Change (25-1) the same distance back in third.
Halfway through the interviews the announcement came through that there had been an objection lodged by the connections of the third horse against the winner. Jockey Ryan Munger was stunned by the announcement as was trainer Corne Spies.
The stipendiary board, after giving regard to the evidence presented by the relevant parties, the proximity of the incident to the finish line and the finishing distance of 0.50 lengths between these two horses, could not be comfortably satisfied that the result had been affected by this incident, therefore overruled the objection and allowed the judges result to stand. Their deposit was refunded.
However, the bad news for the connections of William Robertson is that he bled during the race and has been suspended for 60 days. That will put a dampener on their plans for him as his next run was due to be the Grade 2 Drill Hall Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville on 3 May.
Munger, who has ridden this six-year-old gelding in his last three starts for three wins, has a massive soft for the son of Rafeef. “I’m going back to Canada on Friday and I would love to take him back with me,” he laughed.
“The race went perfect, I had the gap opening for me at the right time. I might have pulled the trigger a little bit too early but like a top horse does, he gave a hard run to the line and it was just an unbelievable win from him.
“A top horse, he produced a top run and I’m just privileged to be standing here as the jockey.
“Of all the horses who deserve a Grade 1 win, I may be biased, but he was definitely that one.”
If one thought that race was dramatic what happened next in the Grade 1 HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge made it look like a light comedy.
Over final 100m it was left to 13-10 favourite Fire Attack and last year’s winner Royal Victory (5-1) to fight out the finish. In the concluding stages Royal Victory, ridden by Muzi Yeni, shifted out away from the crop while Fire Attack with Richard Fourie up, shifted in away from the crop, and the two came together and bumped, and shortly after that bumped again.
At the line it was Alec Laird-trained Fire Attack who won by a neck but shortly after the numbers went up Yeni lodged an objection.
It was clear this decision could go either way but the stipes, after giving regard to the evidence presented by the relevant parties, the movement of both horses which caused the first bump, the proximity of the second contact to the finish line, the distance of 0.25 lengths between these two horses and the manner in which both horses finished the race, “could not be comfortably satisfied that the result had been affected by this incident, therefore overruled the objection and allowed the judges result to stand and the deposit was refunded”.
Third place went to Purple Pitcher with Atticus Finch in fourth.
Legend Of Arthur finished fourth in the Gauteng Guineas and then third in the SA Classic but Sean Tarry’s charge finally had his day with a narrow win in the TAB SA Derby over 2450m. Going off at 4-1, Legend Of Arthur produced a sustained finish to get the better of Lucky Houdalakis-trained Wild Intent by 0.25 lengths with Mark Khan-trained 66-1 shot Solar Sail just 0.20 lengths back in third.
Tarry has always had a high opinion of this Lancaster Bomber and he has always given the impression, based on his manner of racing, he was looking for this distance.
“It’s very rewarding,” admitted Tarry. “He’s not an easy horse to contend with, we had to make some changes which I was not sure about but thank goodness he pulled it out of the flames and got the job done.”
He added that the Hollywoodbets Durban July will be on his radar.
For the record, Munger, who was aboard favourite Immediate Edge, reported that his mount did not handle the going and he should not be written off based on this run.
Cape Fillies Guineas winner Fatal Flaw added a second Grade 1 success to her tally by running out a 1.25-length winner of the Empress Club Stakes. Using her usual front-running tactics, Gavin Lerena had her in the lead shortly after the start and she never let up to hold off Spumante Dolce with White Pearl in third.
The money did not stop pouring onto the Brett and James Crawford-trained filly and the punters were spot on.
“It was always my plan to go to the front but I didn’t want to rush her there because she hadn’t run for a bit and it worked out very well for me.
“She’s so professional and she’s very responsive, so I had to hang on to her for as long as I could and she won well.
“I think she can improve off this run, she’s a really nice filly.”
James Crawford said she would be aimed at the Grade 1 Garden Province Stakes at Greyville in July.