Trip Of Fortune tops Equus Award table

Trip Of Fortune (87 points) added to his Grade 2 World Sports Betting Green Point Stakes win by completing his first Grade 1 victory in Saturday’s HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and vaulted above his stable companion Charles Dickens (80 points) to lead the Equus Horse-Of-The-Year table.

The two Drakenstein inmates of the Bass-Robinson yard now occupy the top two spots in the quest for Horse Of The Year honours for 2023. Anfields Rocket (52 points), winner of the Grade 1 World Sports Betting SA Classic, and Princess Calla (52 points), winner of the Grade 2 Senor Santa Stakes, are new entrants onto the table for March in sixth and seventh position respectively.

Retired Jet Dark (70 points) is in third position on the table, with Gimme A Prince (66 points) and Make It Snappy (64 points) making up the remainder of the table.

Several Grade 1 races will be run on the Highveld to end the Highveld Autumn season and these races should have a strong bearing on the leadership for Horse Of The Year honours and the various sub-categories leading into the KZN Winter Season.

Champion Three-Year-Old Colt

With most of the three-year-old action concentrated on the Highveld in March, Anfields Rocket (52 points), now second, made inroads into the lead of Charles Dickens (80 points), although the latter is still far ahead in the quest for sophomore colt honours for 2023.

Two new entrants onto the table are Grade 1 World Sports Betting SA Derby winner Son Of Raj (32 points), and placegetter in both the Grade 1 World Sports Betting SA Classic and Grade 1 World Sports Betting SA Derby, Billy Bowlegs (32 points). They join See It Again (32 points) on the table.

Champion Three-Year-Old Filly

With no Highveld sophomore filly able to complete a win in two of the Triple Tiara races, Make It Snappy (64 points) remains comfortably in the lead in this category.

Bless My Stars (34 points) moves onto the log into second position after her narrow victory in the Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic. None Other, another new entrant after finding the extra distance of the 2450m Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks much to her liking, joins Ciao Bella and Feather Boa on 32 points.

Champion Older Male and Female

Trip Of Fortune (87 points), the only change to the Older Male category, takes over from Jet Dark (70 points) at the head of the table. Gimme A Prince (66), Puerto Manzano (50), and Al Muthana (48) make up the table.

With another sprint victory to her credit, Princess Calla (52 points) leaps above her closest rival, Desert Miracle (46 points), for Older Female honours. Both are likely contestants in the upcoming Grade 1 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes in April. Now retired Captain’s Ransom (36 points) remains in third position, with Under Your Spell (34 points) and Humdinger (21 points) in fourth and fifth position respectively.

Distance Categories

Two females, Princess Calla (52 points) and new entrant Grade 3 Sycamore Sprint winner Alula’s Star (16 points), were the only movers on the Champion Sprinter table in March. However, Gimme A Prince (66 points) remains firmly in the lead with Bereave (24 points) and Rio Querari (20 points) making up the table.

Trip of Fortune (82 points) leads the Champion Miler category to add to his Horse-Of-The-Year and Older Male category leads. The only new entrant onto the table is MK’s Pride (24 points) who finished second to Trip Of Fortune in the Grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes on Saturday.

Al Muthana (48 points), Desert Miracle (40 points), Under Your Spell (34 points), and Charles Dickens (24 points) complete the table.

There were no changes to the Champion Middle Distance category in March and Jet Dark (48 points) remains in the lead, followed by Puerto Manzano (42), Make It Snappy (32), Nexus (32), and Kommetdieding (24).

Nebraas (20 points) won his second Grade 3 World Sports Betting Caradoc Gold Cup on Saturday and moves to second spot on the Champion Stayer log. This leaves him marginally below table-topper Salvatore Mundi (23 points) while Arumugam (15), Chrome Yellow (10), and Senso Unico (10), make up the table.

Equus Awards 2023 - Points Tables to 2 April 2023