Trois Trois Quatre makes it career win number six (Candiese Lenferna Photogaphy)
Andrew Harrison (Race Coast)
Records are made to be broken but former champion jockey Anthony Delpech would have thought that his record of 334 winners in a season was fairly safe. Richard Fourie put paid to that last season but the aptly named Trois Trois Quatre will have been in the forefront of his mind at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday.
French for 334, Sean Veale rode a confident race on the son of Rafeef, coming from off the pace to motor past the filly Plum Pudding in the Gallop TV Class 3 that headlined the meeting.
Often a tardy starter, Veale had his mount out in a flash and although at the back of the field for most of the race, the gelding quickened up smartly up the inside under minimum effort from Veale. “If I haven’t pulled my stick at the 200 you know that I have plenty of horse under me,” quipped the rider, always good for a quote or three.
It was Hollywood Racing’s 693rd winner since registering their colours.
It is seldom that we have two objections in a day but the first came in the first when Chad Little, runner-up on Lucinda Woodruff’s filly Ebisu, protested against Nathan Kotzen’s charge Fascination and apprentice Dezahn Louw on the grounds of interference in the latter stages. It was a case of six-of-one and six-of-the-other and the result remained unchanged not to anyone’s surprise.
It is seldom these days to have the stipendiary stewards lodging an objection and when that sirens goes off the result is almost always a foregone conclusion. While Trois Trois Quatre and Plum Pudding were fighting it out for top honours, Royal Invitation and Arverni King were having a ding-dong over third place, with Arverni King the one missing out.
Apprentice Damyan Pillay continues to impress and in spite of a lengthy break from riding through injury he has come back without fear. He got the well-backed Jet Legacy home for Alyson Wright in the second although his Academy colleague Mxolisi Mbuto came in for plenty of criticism for his handling of second-placed Major Tommie as he allowed his mount to shift right across the hindquarters of the winner to only get beaten a neck.
Every trainer dreads the positive tests for NCO2 whether they are guilty of not and it was visibly upset Lucinda Woodruff who dragged her saddle back from the saddling enclosure after favourite Sohot Sowhat failed the test and was withdrawn from the first leg of the Pick 6 leaving five runners to contest the race.
Captain’s Christie looked to have the race in the bag before Russian Doll arrived late. Out of racing for nearly a year, Michael Roberts had his filly in good order and Siphesihle Hlengwa got the best out of her.
Duncan Howells has his stable in good order of late and Promise Of Fire made the required improvement to land the fourth and shed her maiden. Always handy under Kabelo Matsunyane, the daughter of Fire Away kept rolling to hold off Dee Day with Harpa a distant third.
Tristan Godden set a pedestrian pace on Lucky Dollar in the fifth and was not for the catching as he kept rolling to comfortably keep French Trip at bay.
Lucky Dollar is co-owned by Bruce Campbell who enjoyed his finest hour as a breeder along with Jane and Rodney Trotter and Rob Alexander with the Master Of My Fate colt Jan van Goyen winning the Gr1 World Pool Moment of the Day Champion Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday, a win that could well earn Mike and Mathew de Kock’s colt an Equus Award.
