The highlight of today’s poly meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville was the win of the Glen Kotzen-trained Connery as it made him a perfect three from three in KZN and it was a fourth career win in succession. The Ten Einde Stud-bred What A Winter gelding runs in the colours of Robert Bloomberg, who owns him in partnership with Messrs Anthony Attieh, Andre Louw, W Luthi, R P Macnab, S Poriazis & Eric Wong, Miss Natasha C Pretorius & Woodhill Racing Syndicate and was ridden by 2,5kg claimer Nirvan Nastili . (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Craig Zackey scored a double on the Greyville poly on Wednesday to draw within seven wins of the lead in what is turning out to be an intriguing national jockeys championship.
Zackey is now on 61 wins achieved at a strike rate of 15.14%, while the sidelined Muzi Yeni is on 68 wins and Gavin Lerena is just one behind him on 67.
Richard Fourie is on 57 wins.
Fourie is still odds on favourite to take the title with Hollywoodbets at 7/10, with Lerena at 3/1, Zackey at 4/1 and Yeni at 7/1 and Sean Veale is next best on 50/1.
The below report was written on today’s poly meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville by Andrew Harrison.
Andrew Harrison (Gold Circle)
It takes faith in your ability to keep fighting when the odds are seemingly stacked against you, but Yadav Singh, with only three horses in his string reaped the rewards in the first at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Wednesday as the cleverly named Chakpori obliged with Kabelo Matsunyane taking over in the saddle from a suspended Cole Dicken.
The Greyville poly is running quick these days and with a strong tailwind to help them home, Matsunyane always had Chakpori in contention as Head Girl took up her customary roll. The two came together a long way out with Chakpori gradually eating into Head Girl’s lead and getting up close home.
Hot favourite Princess Goldie did not appear to be enjoying the afternoon and Craig Zackey commented later in the day that the filly just didn’t come to the races. He was at her from the jump and eventually had ‘to take my medicine’. “She shows good work on the sand back home so this was a disappointing effort,” he said. “She will be back!”
With everything in her favour, barring top weight, War Empress enjoyed the wind at her back and Louis Goosen’s mare won well in a small field. She was always handy under Chase Maujean and kicked on nicely in the run for home to win rather comfortably from Happy Analia and Jane’s Vision.
The scratching of Star Of The Future from the first leg of the Pick 6 saw Gimmethegoodlife top the bookmakers boards and he landed the odds for Gareth van Zyl although it was a close call as Richardthefearless lived up to his name and was not giving in as he pressed Gimmethegoodlife all the way to the line. It was Gimmethegoodlife’s first attempt at a mile and he took Marco van Rensburg on from the start, refusing to settle, so it was a win full of merit.
Every horse has its peculiarities and Lucretius seemingly inherited his ornery temperament from his sire Eightfold Path whose progeny were notoriously difficult. Carl Hewitson has done wonders with the gelding who, at one stage had him wondering if he could win a maiden. At times he just refuses to work in the mornings but he was in a galloping mood yesterday as Zackey, his now regular rider, got him to respond up the inside rail to gradually wear down rivals Porfirio and Wave Warrior with favourite Mr Hotstepper making the pace before emptying out in the straight.
Zackey is a little under the radar when it comes to the national title chase but he is hot on the heels of log leaders Muzi Yeni and Gavin Lerena. Princess Goldie was an obvious disappointment but he had two in the bag by the running of the sixth to take his tally for the season to 61 behind Yeni, six behind Lerena and four ahead of Richard Fourie. He posted his second win of the afternoon as he scraped home aboard Garth Puller’s charge Way To Burn in the fifth, with the judges having to consult the photo finish to separate his filly and Mark Dixon’s Doctor’s Orders. Zackey made all the running on Way To Burn and punched for home crossing the subway and seemingly having the race the won. However, Calvin Habib had all the while been hunting him down. Making up ground from last coming up the hill, Doctor’s Orders delivered the slow poison up the outside and it was a piece of paper that separated the two at the line.
A frustrated Habib has made the second box his home so far this season, with 51 seconds to add to his winning tally of 26.
Dennis Bosch, an exceptional rider in his day before the dreaded scale got the better of him, does not have the fire power that he used to have when starting his training career but there are few better. He has kept Knight Warrior sound and competitive in all of his racing career that now stretches into his seventh season.
Serino Moodley had the veteran galloper out and racing from his inside draw and was not for the catching. It was a smart ride from Moodley who was in jocular mood post-race. “The way the track’s running you have to ride like you don’t know what you doing. That’s what I did. I rode like an apprentice,” he quipped.
It’s never easy for a horse to win three-on-the-bounce let alone four as the handicappers come a-hunting but gelding appears to have kept Connery’s mind from wandering and it was four up on Wednesday. Glen Kotzen’s charge made all the running and was not for the catching under Mauritian apprentice Nirvan Nastili. Kotzen’s assistant at Summerveld, John Buckler, has turned to apprentices in his three local runs with a suspended 4kg claimer Jaycee Botes being replaced by Nastili’s 2.5kg claim that could be a ploy to keep the handicappers in check but Connery has jumped 13 points in the ratings for his last two wins and is sure to get another hike after this success.
Stevie Gee finally got Habib out of the second box as the Geof Perkins home-bred, named after one of his sons, pulled out all the stops. For Wendy Whitehead it was a deserved win after a string of placed starts as he kicked on strongly to put daylight between himself and the late-charging Mac Hardy who just got his nose in front of the chasing scrum.
