Deryl Daniels Comeback Is Imminent
Derryl Daniels looked a picture of calmness and dapperness at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday complete with his flat racing hat and the smile became broader after his boss Peter Muscutt had landed a treble.
William Robertson Pulls Up Sound
Drakenstein Out In Front In Stakes Wins Again
The stipendiary report for the Matchem said, “At the 200m SILVER OPERATOR (G van Niekerk) shifted out, carried TRIP OF FORTUNE (A Domeyer) outwards and made contact with TRIP OF FORTUNE (A Domeyer) at the 100m. As a result, TRIP OF FORTUNE (A Domeyer) became momentarily unbalanced, shifted in and brushed SILVER OPERATOR (G van Niekerk) shortly before the finish. A member of the Stipendiary Board called a race review regarding this incident, which was followed by an Objection being lodged by him on behalf of the 2nd placed horse TRIP OF FORTUNE (A Domeyer) against the winner SILVER OPERATOR (G van Niekerk) on the grounds of interference in the latter stages. The Objection Board, after giving due regard to the evidence put forward, reviewing the patrol films and giving consideration to the margin of 0,05 of a length between the two horses concerned, was of the opinion that but for the interference TRIP OF FORTUNE would have finished ahead of SILVER OPERATOR had this incident not occurred and therefore upheld the Objection.”
De Kock Yard One-Two In A Humdinger
www.mikedekockracing.com
A bit of a rags to riches tale! That’s how Sporting Post described the story of Saturday’s R300 000 TopBet Gr2 Joburg Spring (F&M) Challenge winner Humdinger, who reeled off three on the trot in an unlikely end-to-end victory when beating her stablemate Desert Miracle in a thriller.
Riding with plenty of confidence, JP van der Merwe took the fight to the opposition, and while Smanga Khumalo was ghosting through from some way off on the slightly ring-rusty Desert Miracle as the contest advanced, there was a stark realisation in the final 100m that the pacesetter wasn’t stopping.
In an exciting all Mike de Kock exacta, Van der Merwe kept a cool head and drove Humdinger (25-1)) to a career peak success, scoring by a neck in a time of 89.28 seconds and won by 0.2 lengths.
Desert Miracle (9-4) had been rested for seven months and wasn’t disgraced in going down to the lionhearted galloper owned by Joao Da Mata’s International Racing Club , Mike de Kock and new owner Krish Nagendran. This was the IRC’s first G2 win.
The defending champion Big Burn showed pace but faded away to run out of the money.
Mike commented: “JP rode an enterprising race and this was a win full of merit. We’re looking at options next for Humdinger. There is the Charity Mile and the Ipi Tombe, and a Cape campaign, so we’ll see.”
A R180 000 2020 National 2yo Sale purchase, the versatile Humdinger, a full-sister to the speedy East Cape-based stakes winner and 2021/22 season award-winner Glacier Gold, has now won 5 races with 6 places from 13 starts for stakes of R546 250.
Bred by Ridgemont Highlands from the Equus speed champion What A Winter (Western Winter), Humdinger is out of the five time – winning Fort Wood mare, Himalayan Hill.
Twist Of Fate Wins The Maiden Cup
The former Joey Ramsden-trained and Adam Marcus-trained Favour Stud-bred Master Of My Fate gelding was a top class performer in South Africa and has now won Mauritius’s biggest race, the Medine Maiden Cup.
Mauritiusturfclub.com reported:
It was widely expected to be a cracking contest and it certainly did not disappoint!
In the end, it was the Vincent Allet-trained Twist Of Fate that took it all in the Medine Maiden Cup, producing a big run to score not only his second Classic win on our turf, but also earn his trainer his second win in this big race, after Ubusuku in 2007.
After following at the very back of the field, Twist Of Fate unleashed a powerful turn of foot when it mattered most, earning his jockey Rye Joorawon his fourth win in this race.
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Unbeaten coming into this race, The Gatekeeper (Dynasty) (Chase Maujean) produced a valiant showing to finish as the best of the rest, while Consul Of War (Aus) (Monaco Consul (NZ) (Michel Platini de Oliveira) and Million Dollar Man (Act Of War) (Jose de Souza) produced solid showings to land 3rd and 4th respectively.
Bookmakers: Alpinista’s Arc win ‘the worst result in the book since Enable’
Well-backed favourite Alpanista’s Arc victory was a costly result for bookmakers with one describing it as “the worst result in the book since Enable”.
The top-class mare, trained by Sir Mark Prescott in Newmarket, was second in the market behind Luxembourg and could be backed at around 5-1 in the morning, but sustained support meant she started at 33-10, the shortest-priced winner since Enable’s second success at evens in 2018.
William Hill spokesman Tony Kenny said: “Alpinista was a hugely popular winner of the Arc but she wasn’t for us, and her sixth Group 1 in a row was a pretty costly result.
“Sir Mark Prescott’s mare had always been fancied for the race but the money really began to stream in and she went off a well-backed favourite. It’s looking like she’ll be the worst result in the book since Enable.”
Betfair Sportsbook were among bookmakers offering enhanced placed odds in paying down to fifth place and with the first three home coming from the top four in the betting, spokesman Barry Orr said it was a “stinker” of a result.
“It’s a bad result for us and having started the day as a 5-1 second favourite behind 4-1 shot Luxembourg, she finished up being the best-backed horse of the day on both the Sportsbook and the Exchange,” he said.
“We were paying five places to each-way punters on the Sportsbook and having Vadeni and Torquator Tasso placed was also a stinker.”
Gambled-on Prescott horses have been a theme throughout his career and although Coral’s David Stevens echoed the feelings of other bookmakers, he acknowledged the result was good for racing.
“Alpinista was an extremely popular choice all day and as a result was sent off favourite and, thanks to a wonderful ride from Luke Morris, her many backers had reason to celebrate,” Stevens said.
“Whilst it clearly wasn’t a great result for us, it was a great result for racing, and will no doubt go down in history alongside the many legendary gambles Sir Mark Prescott has landed over the decades.”
ITV’s coverage of the Arc suffered for a clash with the Manchester Derby and the London Marathon, with a peak audience of 552,000 tuning into the action at Longchamp and a programme average of 260,000. By comparison, last year’s peak viewing figure was 881,000 and average 456,000.
Katjedi four-timer, Muscutt Treble, Kannemeyer/De Melo Double, Fourie Double
Malesela “Keratile” Katjedi lost his 4kg claim in spectacular style yesterday, riding a four-timer on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly.
Two of them were for Peter Muscutt, who scored a treble on the day.
Keagan de Melo and Dean Kennemeyer combined for a double and Richard Fourie also scored a double.
Katjedi goes to 21 career winners and 13 for the season at 15.12%.
De Melo is eleven clear of Muzi Yeni at the top of the log and his 55 winners have come at a strike rate of 23.61%.
Fourie is already 39 behind DE Melo and his 16 winners have come at a 15.53% strike rate.
Muscutt has scored ten winners this season at 15.38.
The KZN championship will be a fascinating race this season.
Garth Puller leads having sent out 13 winners in KZN, Kumaran Naidoo and Wendy Whitehead have 12, Glen Kotzen has eleven and all of Muscutt, Gareth van Zyl and Dennis Bosch have ten winners apiece.
Today’s Question
Who was the first to ride 200 winners in a season in South Africa.
Picture: The South African record in a season is 334 achieved in the 1998/1999 season by Anthony Delpech.
Vaal Fields
Today’s Question Answer
Michael “Muis” Roberts rode 203 winners in the 1981/1982 season, beating his own record of 185 in the 1979/1980 season.
His 185 winners in 1979/1980 had come from a then record of 926 mounts (strike rate 19.97%).
His 203 winners in 1981/1982 came from 849 mounts at a strike rate of 23,91%.
This was below his 25,77% strike rate in 1974/1975 when riding 148 winners from 589 mounts.
In 1992 Roberts became only the fifth jockey to ride 200 winners in a British season, ending on 206.
The British record in a season stands at 269, achieved by 26-time champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards.
Frankie Dettori, Kieran Fallon and Richard Hughes became the sixth, seventh and eighth jockeys to achieve 200 winners in a season.
Dettori did it twice, Fallon four times and Hughes once.
However, it is harder to do it these days because in 2015 it was announced that the title, instead of being decided during the traditional flat turf season running from Lincoln Handicap Day to November Handicap Day, would be decided over a reduced timescale – from the Guineas Meeting to British Champions Day, roughly 24 weeks instead of 32 weeks.
