Sean Tarry Speaks About His Sale On Friday
Kambulu (3yo Querari colt) (Lot 37)Also Victoria Paige (Lot 27), a six-year-old Captain Al mare who had a number of Graded race places.
Bela-Bela’s Stunning Foal By Erik The Red
One of the closest fought Sires championships in SA history was in the 2014/2015 season and in the end Captain Al pipped Dynasty at the post, thus becoming the first SA-bred champion stallion to be stood by the stud who bred him since Henry Nourse’s Dwarsvlei Stud achieved that feat with Dignitary in 1934.
The stunning foal pictured above is the result of a mating between Captain Al’s classy twice Grade 2-winning sprinter Erik The Red (who won six of ten starts) and Dynasty’s multiple Grade 1-winning champion Bela-Bela.
This colt’s birth came hard on the heels of Bela-Bela’s Gimmethegreenlight daughter Ciao Bella running out an impressive winner of a Graduation Plate event over 1250m at Hollywoodbets Durbanville last week.
The Justin Snaith-trained Ciao Bella races in the colours of her breeders, Varsfontein.
Only time will tell whether Bela-Bela’s latest foal will be seen at the sales one day.
If he is there is sure to be some fierce bidding.
Vicky To Provide The Value
Jack Milner
Usually, the advantage of a fixed weight race for punters is that one or two horses are particularly well handicapped based on merit ratings.
However, in Race 6 at Turffontein on Thursday, a Pinnacle Stakes over 1200m on the Inside track, just 2kg separates the entire field, almost turning the event into a straight handicap.
But based on form, both the advantage and the value, could lie with Vars Vicky. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, he is unbeaten in two runs over the course and distance, and secondly, trainer Stuart Pettigrew has left the blinkers on.
The second reason might be construed as strange because the first time he was fitted with blinkers was two runs back. However, the comment about blinkers came from Pettigrew prior to that start and he proved to be spot on.
On that occasion the five-year-old Var gelding looked to be going nowhere with 200m to run but suddenly took off late to mow down the opposition and win going away.
It did not work as well for Vars Vicky in his next start but that was in the Grade 2 Post Merchants over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville. Despite that, he still performed well enough to end up just 2.80 lengths behind Val D’Orcia.
Diego de Gouveia, who rode him to victory in his penultimate start, is back in the irons.
Ultra Magnus is an interesting runner. The seven-year-old gelding only recently joined the Mike de Kock yard and made his debut for the yard in the Listed Topbets Spring Spree Stakes over 1200m on the Turffontein Inside track.
He drifted in the betting and ran accordingly, beaten 8.30 lengths by Team Gold with only one runner behind him.
But he has to be better than that performance and if he is able to reproduce his best form, Ultra Magnus has to be a contender.
Others to consider are Bon Vivant, Bard Of Avon and Quantum King.
Jack Milner’s selections
Race 1: 5 Regina Bellissima, 7 Don’t Tell Ash, 6 Wilkies, 8 Treaty
Race 2: 1 Pyromaniac, 4 Total Protection, 5 Boisterous, 2 Fast Love
Race 3: 2 Var Park, 8 Siberian Steel, 10 Unzen, 3 Pendragon
Race 4: 1 Brazilian Storm, 10 Karin’s Legacy, 3 Strange Magic, 2 Countess Danza
Race 5: 9 Whispers Of War, 8 Ablaan, 3 Barneys Pride, 5 Leopold
Race 6: 2 Vars Vicky, 3 Ultra Magnus, 8 Bon Vivant, 6 Bard Of Avon
Race 7: 1 Big Eyed Girl, 7 Iphiko, 9 Insatiable, 3 On Cue
Race 8: 9 Mythical Dream, 4 Moonstrike, 1 Laetitia’s Angel, 5 Feather The Nest
BEST BET
Race 2 No 1 Pyromaniac
VALUE BET
Race 6 No 2 Vars Vicky
BEST SWINGER
Race 4 No 10
BIPOT
R216
Leg 1: 5, 6, 7
Leg 2: 1
Leg 3: 2, 3, 8, 10
Leg 4: 1, 10
Leg 5: 3, 8, 9
Leg 6: 2, 3, 8
PLACE ACCUMULATOR
R162
Leg 1: 1
Leg 2: 2, 8, 10
Leg 3: 1
Leg 4: 8, 9
Leg 5: 2, 3, 8
Leg 6: 1, 7, 9
Leg 7: 1, 4, 9
PICK 6
R1536
Leg 1: 2, 3, 8, 10
Leg 2: 1, 10
Leg 3: 3, 8, 9
Leg 4: 2, 3, 6, 8
Leg 5: 1, 3, 7, 9
Leg 6: 1, 4, 5, 9
JACKPOT 1
R96
Leg 1: 1, 10
Leg 2: 3, 8, 9
Leg 3: 2, 3, 6, 8
Leg 4: 1, 3, 7, 9
JACKPOT 2
R192
Leg 1: 3, 8, 9
Leg 2: 2, 3, 6, 8
Leg 3: 1, 3, 7, 9
Leg 4: 1, 4, 5, 9
Hewitson/Whyte Double At Happy Valley
Lyle Hewitson is viewing this as a season he can break into the big time.
Any aspirations of a championship bid might have been put to bed already with Zac Purton already clear at the top of the table.
Nevertheless, Hewitson scored a double at Happy Valley today for his guv’nor and fellow South African ex-pat Douglas Whyte.
He came from a handy position in race 3, a class 4 event over 1000m, on the favourite Pretty Queen Prawn (Magnus).
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE REPLAY
In the last race of the eight race meeting, a class 4 event over 1200m, Hewitson produced a flying finish from some way back on Durham Star (Deep Field).
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE REPLAY
Hewitson goes to three winners for the season, which is six behind early leader Purton.
Whyte has also only had three winners this season, all ridden by Hewitson.
Reigning Eclipse Award Winning Photograph
A few weeks before the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Jeff Faughender injured his knee playing tennis and asked for a photo assignment that wouldn’t require too much walking. So he was assigned to cover the race from the roof of the racetrack with the focus on shooting the finish.
“I was delighted to get the rooftop assignment,” said Faughender. “I was focused on shooting the finish but also the start of the race. In setting up my shots, I turned to my left. I saw shadows of the spires over the racetrack, and I thought about getting the field in one view.”
Faughender’s ensuing photograph “Between The Shadows” won the 2021 media Eclipse award for photography (see above picture).
The awards are usually held in January every year.
The 2020 Ecipse media award for photography was also of a far off shot of the Kentucky Derby, “A Derby Without Fans,” taken by Alex Evers (see below).
Rafeef Half-Sister To Do It Again Born At Lammerskraal
The filly foal pictured above bears some resemblance to her famous older brother Do It Again (Twice Over) (pictured below).
De Melo Double
Keagan de Melo scored a double at Hollwyoodbets Greyville today and his nearest pursuer in the national championship Muzi Yeni only had a single winner.
De Melo’s 43 winners this season have come at a strike rate of 23.63% and he is seven clear of Yeni.
Today’s Question
Which horse has won the most Grade 1 or Group 1 races in history?
Picture: This racenet.com picture shows the moment the subject entered the record books as the most prolific Group 1 winner in history.
Turffontein Inside Fields
Today’s Question Answer
The Aussie wonder mare Winx (Street Cry) broke a world record by registering a 23rd Group 1 victory on 2nd March 2019 in the Chipping Norton Stakes at Royal Randwick.
The Chris Waller-trained superstar did not stop there either; she extended her Group 1 tally to 25 later in the year before retiring to take up a career as a broodmare.
Winx won 33 races including a record four Cox Plates and she earned more than 26 million Australian dollars in prize money.
