Chronicle King holds on from Sukhumvit (far side) and Echo Check in a thriller (JC Photos)
Chronicle King, winner of the Gr 2 Omoda Golden Horseshoe on Hollywoodbets Durban July day, proved his class at Turffontein Inside on Saturday.
Following his Golden Horseshoe win, the Candice Dawson-trained Vercingetorix colt proved that was no fluke by finishing a fine third to crack colts Jan Van Goyen and Tin Pan Alley in the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Gold Cup day.
The form of the latter race was franked when Tin Pan Alley won the Gr 2 Joburg Spring Challenge over 1450m on October 4 at Turffontein Inside.
Nevertheless, Chronicle King only started second favourite on Saturday in a 1450m Graduation Plate event such is the high regard the Fabian Habib-trained Echo Check is held in.
The pair had been set to carry the same weight of 58,5kg but Echo Chck did have the 1,5kg gender allowance of Rachel Venniker as an advantage.
Muzi Yeni tucked Chronicle King, who jumped from barrier five, in behind the pacemaker Echo Check, who jumped from barrier three and was bidding to make it three from three.
Echo Check opened a two length lead coming off the elbow but Chronicle King was soon making inroads, while the classy Alec Laird-trained Silvano mare Sukhumvit was taking advantage of a light weight of 53kg as she was making a bold bid on the inside, despite returning from a layoff of nine-and-a-half months.
Echo Check could not find the necessary extra and Chronicle King passed him late and held off Sukhumvit by a head.
Echo Check was beaten half-a-length into third.
The win followed the victory of the Dawson-trained Truth (Heavenly Blue) on Thursday at the Vaal, which stamped him as a top class candidate for sprints this season, and it preceded the victory of the Dawson-trained Pioneer Square (Querari) at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday in the Michaelmas Handicap, so it has been a halcyon few days for the Dawson yard.
