Gareth Wright looks oversized on the tiny Beach Bomb (Picture: Wayne Marks).

Beach Bomb The New Beach Beauty?

The Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Beach Bomb by the late Lancaster Bomber is a small filly who resembles her mother Beach Beauty to some extent and in her last two starts she has shown she also possesses her mother’s big heart and exhilarating turn of foot.

The Drakenstein Stud-bred homebred Beach Bomb actually drifted in the betting on Saturday for the WSB Listed Irridescence Stakes over 1500m, despite having won her maiden in testing going over 1200m by 5,25 lengths.

She was also going to always relish the step up in trip.

She went off at generous odds of 15/2 in the face of strong support for her stablemate October Morn, a Drakenstein homebred by Trippi who started at 63/10.

Darryl Maree of Weighted To Win pointed out before the race that October Morn had to have a stamina doubt and taking such short odds was not advisable.

October Morn’s dam Miss October by Var was an out and out 1000m specialist, with all five of her wins being over that distance , including the Grade 3 Tommy Hotspur Handicap.

Miss October has also tended to produce speed horses like Gr 1-winning sprinter Tempting Fate (Master Of My Fate), four-time winning sprinter Spring Break (Trippi) and twice-winning sprinter Spielberg.

October Morn, winner of the Perfect Promise Sprint by six lengths, duly found no extra in the last 200m after moving up well in the sticky conditions and was beaten 6,65 lengths into fourth.

Beach Bomb sat handy and looked to be enjoying herself.

She moved up to join the leader and then in a fashion highly reminiscent of her mother found a telling burst in the last furlong to win going away by three lengths under Gareth Wright.

Wright said he remembered Beach Beauty to be slightly bigger than Beach Bomb.

He said Beach Bomb lacked rein but further down was a nicely put together horse with a good action.

Beach Bomb becomes War Front stallion Lancaster Bomber’s second stakes winner, the first being the Glen Kotzen-trained Rascova, who will be going for Gr 1 Douglas Whyte Stakes glory at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday.

Lancaster Bomber is going to be a big loss as he looks likely to be named Champion Freshman sire.

He has had 19 individual stakes winners of 23 races. That is just three individual winners short of the 22 record for a freshman stallion held by Captain Al.

Lancaster Bomber is more than R700,000 clear of Danon Platina in stakes accumulation, so is unlikely to be caught.

Beach Bomb is Beach Beauty’s third stakes winner.

Beach Beauty’s five runners to date have all been multiple winners.

Beach Bomb looks to have a bright future.

The Glen Kotzen-trained Hold My Hand deserves a change of luck and could become yet another Drakenstein Stud-bred individual stakes winner this season as she runs in the Gr 2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet over 2000m at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting on Sunday (Picture: Candiese Lenferna Photography).

Drakenstein Reach 20 Individual Stakes Winners And Have 6 More Chances

On Saturday at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Beach Bomb became Drakenstein Stud’s 20th individual stakes winner this season, which is now two better than their own record of 18 set last season.

There are still more chances for Drakenstein to add individual stakes winners in the last few days of the season.

On Friday at Fairview Silver Host (Silvano) can give them another individual Stakes winner in the Listed Port Elizabeth Gold Cup.

On Sunday at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting the horses who can add to Drakenstein’s individual stakes winners for the season list are Danilo Danilovitch (What A Winter) in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint, The Africa House (What A Winter) in the Gr 1 Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes, Hold My Hand (Gold Standard) and Silver Darling (Silvano) in the Gr 2 Riding High Together Gold Bracelet, and Ready To Charge (Gimmethegreenlight) in the Gr 2 Umkhomazi Stakes.

Of course Drakenstein have plenty more chances than that to add to the number of stakes races they have won this season.

Their 20 individual stakes winners this season have won an amazing 34 stakes races between them, which can be compared to their 18 individual stakes winners of last season winning 25 stakes races between them.

Drakenstein will also be crowned national champion breeders for the first time.

Big numbers usually win the Breeders Championship, but Drakenstein have done it with just 180 runners to date, which can be compared to the champions of the last five seasons doing it with 387 runners, 254 runners, 453 runners, 445 runners and 314 runners respectively.

Drakenstein have earned the championship through their ability to churn out black type performers.

Their average earnings per runner of R177,777 is easily the best in the land of all breeders who have had a significant number of runners.

What is it that has seen Drakenstein dominate the black type columns for the last two seasons?

Turf Talk will try and delve deeper into this during the off season in an attempt to analyse what makes this stud farm as successful as they are.

Arumugam (Duke of Marmalade) is owned and bred by Durbanite Steven Chetty and is trained by the master of producing staying race winners, Weiho Marwing (Picture: Candiese Lenferna).

What The Gold Cup Trainers Are Saying

Michele Wing and the Gold Circle team interviewed trainers with runners in the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup to be run at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday. Read the comments below and watch the video.

1. RAISEAHALLELUJAH: “He’s doing really nicely in Durban. He stayed down there. This has always been a target race for us, so hoping it’s been worth the wait”, Candice Dawson.

3. FUTURE PEARL: “It’s a lot of weight for a 3-year-old to carry in the Gold Cup, but I suppose he is 4 next month. There are a couple of horses better weighted than he is, but he must have a very good chance”, Sean Tarry.

13. ARAGOSTA: “I suppose the jury is out that 3200m … I think it’s okay for him, but whether he stays it genuinely or not, I don’t know. His last run was very good. If he reproduces that, he should be in the top 4”, Mike de Kock.

14. CRIMSON KING: “He recently moved to our stable and his form since arriving with us has just got better and better with each and every run. He’s had a flawless preparation leading up to this race and on the strength of that, I think he’s a horse that must be considered”, Brett Crawford.

4. ARUMUGAM: “He’s a young horse. He’s a decent little stayer. I sent him back to Joburg because I couldn’t really do much of the stamina work here. He’s drawn well at 4”, Weiho Marwing.

6. SHANGANI: “He goes for a double of wins in the race. The only horse not under sufferance in this year’s field. He posted similar below par runs ahead of last year’s race, before going on to win under 59kgs. Has a good draw of 6”, Racing News.

7. NEBRAAS: “I think he is spot on for the race. He reunites with Lyle (they won 2 years ago). I don’t think he’ll be far off them”, Sean Tarry.

10. ONE WAY TRAFFIC: “July day was certainly a problem and I think that I have ironed out a few things that certainly will put this horse into play. I do think that if the right One Way Traffic arrives on the day, over this distance, he’s definitely one of the best stayers in the country”, Justin Snaith.

11. BLACK THORN: “The second run scenario isn’t ideal (2^nd run after a rest). His last run was very good. I think he’s still got another bit of improvement in him”, Mike de Kock.

5. FIGHT SONG: “He is a horse that is very hard to get consecutive, honest runs out of. If he does settle, because he needs to settle, he’s got the ability to turn it on, which is a great asset in a race like the Gold Cup when most horses will be stopping”, Gareth van Zyl.

2. SENSO UNICO: “He’s a decent stayer. Even though he finished a couple of lengths off them on July day, he ran a very good race in the 3000m race, he came from last to run 4^th. Since then he’s progressed”, Vaughan Marshall.

12. SEA MASTER: “The draw is not preferable for him. He just needs to settle, which will be possible as long as he’s not cramped up behind them. A horse who is definitely in a happy and good space. Anthandiwe Mgudlwa knows him very well”, Gareth van Zyl.

15. SALVATOR MUNDI: “Great jockey in Gavin Lerena. He’s won on him before in a big race. He doesn’t do well in Natal, he certainly does a lot better in the Cape season. Shocking draw. Going to need a bit of luck”, Justin Snaith.

8. ROCKIE REEF: “Obviously she’s taking a big step-up in class. She’s from an outstanding female line. If you look through her 3^rd dam, just champion stayers of Europe. She does stay very well. She’s very fit. I have no doubt in my mind that she’ll be one of the ones ‘towering’ down the straight”, Peter Muscutt.

9. FLYING FIRST CLASS: “She’s a proven stayer. She’s up against the boys. Out at the weights. But if you go back to her ‘Vase’ run she ran a credible race and am expecting her to be right there. If we can have her handy, she’ll give a good account of herself”, David Nieuwenhuizen.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

My Golly Molly (far side) gets the better of Hluhluwe (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Sands-trained Langerman Victor Boosts Fire Away And Wicklow Stud

The Eric Sands-trained Fire Away colt My Golly Molly was the surprise winner of Saturday’s Gr 3 WSB Langerman, a 1500m event which has become a reliable pointer to the classic races of the following season.

He became the second stakes winner for Wilgerbosdrift Stud-based freshman stallion Fire Away (War Front).

Wicklow Stud, who bred My Golly Molly, have had a fine season and their stakes earning per runner of R111,057 is second only to national champions elect Drakenstein Stud for those breeders who have had more than 20 runners.

They have had two stakes winners from their 22 runners, the other one being the Gr 3 Sea Cottage Stakes winner Billy Bowlegs.

Fire Away’s other stakes winner is the Alan Greeff-trained filly Luna Halo, who has won three Listed races.

He has had ten individual winners of 15 races in all.

My Golly Molly sat at the back of the small seven horse Langerman field.

He was produced up the inside rail by San Veale and ran on strongly. He collared the favourite, the Justin Snaith-trained Hluhluwe (Trippi), in the final 100m and then fended the latter off when he rallied back.

Another Fire Away colt, the Brett Crawford-trained Zil Moris, was third.

War Front stallions were responsible for three of the quartet-placed runners as the Snaith trained Lancaster Bomber colt Snow Pilot finished fourth.

The odds of 16/1 about My Golly Molly were not a reflection of the Sands yard’s confidence and Eric revealed in the post race interview that he had known his last race was all wrong as he was without cover in the running.

Gary Player, Nick & Val McFall, Canine Solutions CC (Nom: Mr D C O’Driscoll) & the Sands Grooms Racing Trust (Nom: Eric Sands) are the owners of Golly Molly.

Sands revealed grooms had to be with him for more than three months to be part of the Sands Grooms Racing Trust and the longer serving grooms have a higher percentage of the trust.

This is the second stakes winner the Sands grooms have had, the other being Hanabi who won a Listed race in 2017.

My Golly Molly denied Justin Snaith a fourth successive win of the Langerman.

His three recent winners of the race are Jet Dark (2020), Pomp And Power (2021) and Light Speed (2022).

Other recent winners of the Langerman include the Vaughan Marshall-trained stablemates Tap O’ Noth (2017) and One World (2018).

Some of the above names show just what a great pointer it is to the following season’s classics.

Straospheric (JC Photos).

Stratospheric to strike for in-form Tony

Jack Milner (Tab4Racing)

Tony Peter has only had his trainer’s licence for six months but his success so far has been remarkable.

At the time of writing, he had saddled 168 runners for 44 winners, a percentage of 26.19%, and despite not training in the first five-and-a-half months of the season.

That percentage is by far the highest on trainers’ log with Joe Soma in second place on 17.79% and father-and-son team Mike and Adam Azzie on 17.16%

While a remarkable feat, it is not particularly surprising as he was assistant to his father Paul who is the current champion trainer. Paul opted to hand in his licence early in the season and the family pulled out of the racing business. However, after a short break Tony was itching to get back and has done so in style.

Once he started churning out winners (in fact, his first runner was a winner), he started to get more horses and has done particularly well with runners moving up from Cape Town.

Stratospheric is one of those horses and this son of What A Winter has run four times for the stable for three wins and a fourth place. He will line up again in Race 7 at the Vaal on Tuesday in a Middle Stakes over the straight 1400m.

He is not one of the best weighted runners and is 2kg out with Terra Time who heads that table. However, Terra Time has not been in the best of form lately and generally is better over further.

After winning his first two races on the Highveld, Stratospheric faded late over 1600m on the Vaal Classic track to finish a 5.25-length fourth behind Trident King.

The three-year-old gelding was given a short rest and when he returned last month Peter corrected the problem of his last start by fitting a tongue tie. That remedy worked in no uncertain manner and Stratospheric romped to a two-length victory over Bey Suyay.

The tongue tie stays on and with Gavin Lerena taking the ride for the first time, he looks the runner to beat.

Bard Of Avon will be having his first run for the Roy Magner stable and stands out as the main danger. While he has yet to win beyond 1300m, perhaps the fact they will be racing up the straight will suit him.

While Magner has only had Bard Of Avon since June, jockey Muzi Yeni knows the horse well and has been the most successful rider of the horse. Yeni has ridden the four-year-old Var gelding four times for two wins, a second and a third.

If close to his best form Bard Of Avon should fight out the finish.

While Paton’s Tears has not won a race since April 2021, she has run into the places on numerous occasions. Her merit rating continues to fall and the Lucky Houdalakis-trained runner comes into this race with just 52kg on her back courtesy of her sex allowance and that does her competitive.

Kaidan Brewer takes the ride.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 9 Jumping Analia, 1 Wilkies, 12 Waitforgreenlight, 13 War Queen

Race 2: 16 Wyzeact, 8 King’s Ransom, 11 Mastership, 9 Kinshin Sha

Race 3: 2 Contra Fiscum, 6 Gotcha Buzz, 12 Universal Love, 1 Cartagena

Race 4: 10 Zietgeist, 1 Solo Diva, 2 Summer Of Dreams, 8 Azaleas For All

Race 5: 7 Diesel’s Shadow, 8 No Place Like Home, 6 Brotherhoodofmagic, 11 Purple Pitcher

Race 6: 3 Munchkin, 1 Captain Dizzy, 10 Back To Basics, 7 Mini Coop

Race 7: 2 Stratospheric, 5 Bard Of Avon, 12 Paton’s Tears, 6 Now I Got You

Race 8: 2 Ivy League, 3 Queen Of Camelot, 10 Mamaquera, 1 Radu

BEST BET

Race 2 No 16 Wyzeact

VALUE BET

Race 5 No 7 Diesel’s Shadow

BEST SWINGER

Race 7 2×5

BIPOT

R162

Leg 1: 1, 9, 12

Leg 2: 16

Leg 3: 2, 6, 12

Leg 4: 1, 2, 10

Leg 5: 1, 6, 7, 8

Leg 6: 1, 3

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R162

Leg 1: 16

Leg 2: 2, 6, 12

Leg 3: 1, 2, 10

Leg 4: 6, 7, 8

Leg 5: 1, 3

Leg 6: 2

Leg 7: 2, 3, 10

PICK 6

R1600

Leg 1: 1, 2, 5, 6, 12

Leg 2: 1, 2, 8, 10

Leg 3: 6, 7, 8, 11

Leg 4: 1, 2

Leg 5: 2, 5

Leg 6: 1, 2, 3, 10, 14

JACKPOT 1

R64

Leg 1: 1, 2, 8, 10

Leg 2: 6, 7, 8, 11

Leg 3: 1, 2

Leg 4: 2, 5

JACKPOT 2

R80

Leg 1: 6, 7, 8, 11

Leg 2: 1, 2

Leg 3: 2, 5

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 10, 14

Medical personnel carry jockey Abel Cedillo to an ambulance at Del Mar (Paulick Report Photo).

USA Race Should Also Have Been Stopped

There has been a furore in SA recently about a race on the Fairview poly which most believe should have been stopped because during the running jockey Gabriel Pieterse was being tended to in the pull up area 50m from the finish line.

The medical staff did the correct thing by not moving Pieterse, who had a broken septum and blood was rushing into his lungs.

However, in a two lap race in the USA recently an injured jockey was moved off the track and it turned out he had a fractured neck.

The jockey himself protested that the race should rather have been stopped.

The Paulick Report wrote about the incident (see below).

‘They Should Have Stopped The Race’

Cedillo Suffers Neck Fracture In Del Mar Incident

by Paulick Report Staff

Jockey Abel Cedillo will not require surgery for a fractured bone in his neck, reports the Daily Racing Form, which was incurred via a spill in the fourth race on Sunday at Del Mar. The injury will require four to six weeks of physical therapy.

Cedillo was aboard Get the Gold for trainer Kristin Mulhall in a one-mile maiden special weight race for California-breds when the colt was pinched badly coming out of the starting gate and fell, throwing the rider to the ground awkwardly. Get the Gold scrambled to his feet and was quickly apprehended, but Cedillo did not get up.

An ambulance positioned adjacent to the starting gate for the two-turn race – which began in front of the grandstand a short distance from the finish line – arrived shortly after the incident, but members of the starting gate crew were the first to attend to Cedillo. As the race continued, and medical personnel did not seem to take charge of the situation, the gate crew lifted Cedillo by his four limbs and carried him to the nearby winner’s circle, thereby clearing the track and permitting the race to continue.

“I think it was a mistake,” Cedillo told DRF. “They shouldn’t have touched me. They should have stopped the race.”

Josh Rubinstein, president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, declined to comment on whether safety protocols were properly followed, with the rider carried off the track as he was.

“Our number one priority is the safety for the rider and the horse,” Rubinstein said.

Cedillo, a native of Guatemala, has 1,594 career victories from 10,744 starts since kicking off his career in 2009. Among the horses he’s ridden are G1 winners Mongolian Groom, Fighting Mad, Keeper Ofthe Stars, River Boyne and Maximum Security.

Shot Of Courage (Willow Magic), owned by Chad Zoghby, gave Timothy Pretorius and Kobeli Lihaba their first respective wins as trainer and apprentice and today he gave them their second respective wins. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).

Maujean, De Melo Doubles, Puller Goes Four Clear In Title Duel

Chase Maujean kept up his good recent run with a double and national champion elect Keagan de Melo also scored a double.

Maujean made it two wins and a third in three rides for Louis Goosen over the last two KZN meetings when scoring on eyecatching first-timer Sbrigati (Ideal World).

He later rode a winner for Garth Puller which saw the latter go four clear of Gareth van Zyl in the intriguing race for the KZN Trainers championship.

Maujean is now on 38 wins for the season scored at a strike rate of 5.31%.

De Melo goes to 274 wins at 19.32% and he has quelled a recent threatening move by Richard Fourie as he is now 22 wins clear.

Vaal Fields, Tuesday

Winning Brew

Today’s Question

Who is the fastest horse of all time?

Question answer at the bottom of the newsletter

ANSWER TO TODAY’S QUESTION

Peter Thomas (Racing Post) wrote this article in 2018 on the world’s top equine speedsters

1 The fastest equine in the world, ever, was not a blueblood speedster but an American quarter horse named Winning Brew, trained by Francis Vitale, who clocked 43.97mph at the Penn National racecourse, Grantville, Pennsylvania on May 14, 2008.

2 Not that the quarter horse is a lowly creature. The breed was begun by 17th century colonists on the east coast, who crossed Native American steeds with imported British thoroughbreds and came up with a quick, manoeuvrable and hardy type, well suited to ranch work, as well as running like stink in races over two furlongs, or a quarter of a mile.

3 The fastest racehorse in the world over five furlongs is Stone Of Folca, who set his record time of 53.69sec on ground officially described as good to firm, in the Epsom Dash on June 2, 2012, ridden by Luke Morris and trained by John Best. Punters obviously didn’t think the 93-rated four-year-old was that fast, sending him off a 50-1 shot, but he reached an average speed of 41.9mph in breaking the 1983 record of Spark Chief by 0.01 secs.

4 Actually, Stone Of Folca isn’t really the fastest. That accolade goes to Indigenous, who set a mark of 53.60sec at Epsom on June 2, 1960. Indigenous’s time is still recognised as the course record in some quarters, but Stone Of Folca’s is the fastest since the introduction of electronic timing.

5 The Americans are a bit sniffy about our world records, on the basis that they are set on lightning-fast ground on a largely downhill track. Then again, we can reciprocate their sniffiness, given that US times are recorded from a flying start, with the clock triggered only after a ‘run-up’ of varying distance at different tracks. The run-up is disregarded by the timing system but it means that all horses will effectively start the race at a gallop, with the start speed differing according to the length of the run-up.

6 The fastest average speed at a Breeders’ Cup was by California Flag, who used the easy gradients of Santa Anita to record a time of 1min 11.28sec for the six and a half furlongs of the 2009 Turf Sprint, at 10.97sec per furlong. The fastest time for the dirt race is Midnight Lute’s 1min 7.08sec in 2008, again at Santa Anita; the best for the turf race is 56.12sec by Stormy Liberal at Del Mar last year, albeit over five furlongs.

7 Dr Fager, the champion American sprinter of 1967 and ’68, was named after Boston neurosurgeon Dr Charles Anthony Fager, who had saved trainer John Nerud’s life by removing a blood clot from his brain after a fall from a horse.

8 In a match-up between a racehorse, Usain Bolt and a greyhound, Bolt would come off a poor third best, at a top speed of 27.8mph, with the horse and dog reaching broadly similar levels of around 40mph. Add a grizzly bear to the mix and you’d spice things up no end; the bear can hit top speeds of 35mph, which might motivate Bolt to set a new world record. A cheetah could join the fray at a withering 75mph, but even he would be outpaced by a peregrine falcon at 242mph (assuming the race was a vertical dive from a great height) or a black marlin at 80mph (if all the contestants could be persuaded to compete in the sea).

9 The roll call of the most prolific two-year-old sprinters is crammed with precocious, speedy and hardy individuals who hit the ground running. The old-time record was set by The Bard, who won 16 races in 1885, including a walkover, before going on to land the Goodwood Cup and Doncaster Cup the following year. He stood alone until 1984, when Bill O’Gorman unleashed Provideo, who managed 16 wins from 23 runs before finishing unplaced in the one-mile Buckpasser Stakes at Hollywood Park. He was rated 20lb behind the best of his generation but was still voted Horse of the Year by both Timeform and the Racegoers Club.

10 In 1990 O’Gorman attacked the record again with another quick, if not top-class, individual called Timeless Times who won 16 from 20 by September 5 before a bid for the outright record ended in defeat in a Grade 3 event at Laurel Park in Maryland, where he finished 13th of 13 over an extended mile.

Turf Talk Newsletter – 24 July, 2023