Turf Talk Newsletter – 03 March, 2006

Splittheeights won the Gr 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas more cosily than the margin suggests and must have a big chance of following up in the Gr 1 TAB SA Classic over 1800m, but the race is full of questions and will be a most intriguing contest (JC Photos)  

TAB Gauteng Guineas winner Splittheeights will be out to land the second leg of the SA Triple Crown, the Gr 1 HKJC World Pool SA Classic over 1800m, but will need to beat his Mike and Mathew de Kock-trained stablemate Jan Van Goyen and the contest for top honours definitely does not end there.

There is little between the pair on strict formlines with Jan Van Goyen beating Tin Pan Alley by 3,70 lengths when winning the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premier’s Champions Stakes over 1600m and Splittheeights beating that same horse by 2,45 lengths in the Gauteng Guineas, although Jan Van Goyen did beat a below par Tin Pa Alley by nearly eight lengths in the Jackpot City Dingaans; Jan Van Goyen lost to Trust by 0,70 lengths in the Jackpot City Dingaans, although the race did not pan out well and he was returning from a layoff, while Splittheeights beat Trust by an official 0,90 lengths in the Gauteng Guineas; Jan Van Goyen beat All Systems Go by 4,40 lengths in the Dingaans, while Splittheeights beat All Systems Go by 6,85 lengths in the Gauteng Guineas.

Jan Van Goyen’s easy and impressive win by 2,75 lengths in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas has subsequently been proven to be a good but not exceptional victory, because the exciting prospect Note To Self performed to the same level when runner up in Saturday’s Gr 1 Lucky Fish Cape Derby over 2000m.

Jan Van Goyen failed in the Gr 1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate when palpably going too fast in pursuit of pacemaker Dave The King, but an interesting point to note is that the horse that went the same speed as him, Legal Counsel, beat him by 4,65 lengths. Legal Counsel then proved he was a good horse by running second in the WSB Met.

That King’s Plate run might also have been a flat run from Jan Van Goyen.

His time in the Cape Guineas was average, whereas Splittheeights time in the Guteng Guineas was the quickest since Monk’s Hood beat subsequent Gr 1 winner Surcharge by 5,90 lengths in 2018.

However, Jan Van Goyen pulled off an incredible feat to win the Cape Guineas because it was two weeks after the Dingaans and required a long journey from Johanneburg to Cape Town to get there. His subsequent King’s Plate run was entitled to be below his best.

Jan Van Goyen is the dual Gr 1 winner of the pair and it is little secret of how high the regard for him is.

Both horses are by sires who would have easily got the 1800m trip of the SA Classic.

However, their female lines are quite speedy, so the 1800m trip being suitable is not a given.

Splittheeights looked to have a bit in hand when winning the Gauteng Guineas and his second dam, Pacific Lights by Al Mufti, won up to 1800m.

If the best horse is all about the top line i.e. the best stallion, then Splittheeights emerges on top as he is by the phenomenal Vercingetorix, whereas Jan Van Goyen is by the good but not phenomenal sire Master Of My Fate.

It is going to be a highly intriguing race which will require some more thought and study before committing to one or other of the pair.

Trust might even end up being tipped ahead of them.

Trust is by the former SA Classic winner Heavenly Blue out of a Frankel mare Frankly. There is also a lot speed close up in that female line, but Trust was doing eye-catching late work in the Gauteng Guineas after being hampered and he has been shown in the past to have an exceptional late surge when at his best.

Grand Empire ran on well for second in the Gauteng Guineas and is by Vercingetorix out of a Potala Palace mare whose only win was over 1000m as a juvenile in a Gr 3 event. He is progressive and on the up, but once again the 1800m trip is not a given.

Joe Soma is pound for pund one of the most successful Gr 1-winning trainers in the country and has a fine record in this race. He has just a small yard and yet won this Gr 1 event three times in the space of five years with 36/1 shot Lobo’s Legend in 2018, with the top class Got The Greenlight in 2020, although he started 14/1 that day, and with the 25/1 chance Red Saxon in 2022.

This year Soma has the unexposed but exciting Erroll Flynn in the line up. This ultra progressive sort has won his last two over 1450m and 1600m by 4,50 lengths and three lengths respectively  and looks the part. The long-striding Master Of My Fate gelding was dropped out to last in the 1600m event and made up the ground quite effortlessly. He was only running off an 88, but he has plenty of scope. His What  Winter dam’s two wins were over 1400m and 1600m.

One Eye On Vegas is believed to have stamina limitations being by Buffalo Bill Cody, but he ran on from last to be beaten just 0,90 lengths in the Gauteng Guineas, and although his one-time winning Fastnet Rock dam’s win was over 1600m, she ran plenty of places and most of them were from 1800m to 2100m. Furthermore, she was out of a Sadller’s Well mare, so this De Kock-trained stablemate to the more fancied pair could be the dark horse from draw seven under Gavin Lerena. An intriguing fact in One Eye On Vegas’s formlines is that he beat Erroll Flynn who was making his debut, by 9,55 lengths when cruising in by 7,25 lengths in his second career start over 1450m last September.

The other De Kock-trained runner Yipee Kiyay could do better than in the Gauteng Guineas if ridden more conservatively, but he is not the most scopey sort and does not make much appeal here.

All Systems Go should enjoy the step up in trip being by Gimmethegreenlight out of a Dynasty mare, but he looks well held.

Radio Star has run well in a couple of ordinary races, but has been well beaten in the two Graded races he has participated in.

It should be a cracking race and one for the purist to look forward to.

The final field is shown below and the betting is below that.

North Point has been tipped to win Race 2 at Hollywoodbets Durbanville, a Middle Stakes event over 1000m, although the grey does not have an easy task at the weights with Elusive Winter, who is second best in at the weights behind the filly Candy Town (Picture: Wayne Marks) 

Alistair Cohen (Race Coast)

Expect the pace to be blistering in race 2 over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Durbanville today. Some of the quickest in Cape Town will test their pace against each other. With the promise of a hot speed, the one who could sit back and wait to pounce could be the most dangerous. That is the talented North Point as he continues his rise through the ranks.

Setback by injury for a few months, many forgot the promise North Point showed as a two-year-old toppling the likes of Demanding Dave. From five starts he claimed two wins and two places through his juvenile campaign. Rested between May and November 2025, expectations might have been curbed slightly for his return.

He lost none of his exuberance and obvious natural ability. To return to the course in the form that he has is the mark of a talented horse. After six months away from racing he came back with a superb 0,4-length second behind Demanding Dave over this trip at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. He hit the line with plenty of gusto suggesting that he would be hugely dangerous in his next run. Keep in mind that Demanding Dave has now completed three wins-on-the-bounce.

North Point duly followed up with a classy win over subsequent winner, Black Eagle over the same Hollywoodbets Kenilworth trip. He might be one-dimensional in that he is best over the minimum trip but there are serious races in that range.

With Elusive Winter and Candy Town in this race, they are likely to do what they do best. Their best assets are their speed which should allow North Point to have horses who have battled it out up front to aim at. It is never as simple as wait and pounce but he should have every opportunity judging how the race should transpire. JP van der Merwe knows him best and he takes the ride for James Crawford.

Elusive Winter never does things the easy way. His speed is a weapon and that has carried him to five wins and eight places through his career. Michelle Rix has done a fine job keeping this horse on the boil. He was hammered early by the handicapper for winning on debut so patience had to be exercised for him to spark into life. One can be sure that despite his brave but vulnerable running style, that he has tons of tenacity to pull this off. Especially with Sifiso Bungane taking 4kg off his back.

Candy Town is another known element of pace. She probably has more natural gas but she is prone to the odd howler. Her cheap speed makes her interesting on a dry track but she is not the easiest to follow. At her best, she is very dangerous. Keagan de Melo takes the ride.

Fort Yukon ran his best race in his most recent appearance and he could confirm that improvement against a rather poor field in race 1 over 1600m. His last run came over 1400m down the road at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth and he finished second behind Cedar Point. That elevation in form and proximity to the winner should be enough to propel him to victory. Calvin Habib rode him last time and he is back aboard for Adam Marcus.

There are a few with chances in race 3 over 1000m. Lyrical Gangster has always suggested some promise but he has fallen short of kicking on from a rather weak level. He might still have the tools to make progress and he could be the horse to beat. He left the maiden ranks in his penultimate run when he reverted to this trip and he followed up with a neat second post-maiden. He might have a little more scope than his rivals.

Kamchatka is the most interesting runner in race 4 over 1250m. She gave the entire field stacks of weight in the Clapham Stakes over 1600m exactly a month ago. She was not disgraced when she finished fifth behind her stable companion, Rose Woott. If she can fit into this sprint trip, she will take a ton of beating. Her exploits this summer read well with runs to Legal Counsel and Sukhumvit. Legal Counsel was runner-up in the Grade 1 World Sports Betting Cape Town Met.

There is a good spread of chances in race 5 over 1250m. Star World could be peaking at the right time to score an overdue second career victory. She has placed in her last two starts which came over this course and distance. Richard Fourie sticks with her for Vaughan Marshall. She finished ahead of Final Call last time and he is 4kg better off for two lengths. That should keep her ahead of a rival with a chance. Others to consider are Flying South, William’s Woman and South Of France.

Gin Palace was a fluent winner of her most recent start when she beat South Of France by a length over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. Andrew Fortune did duty on her last time and the run before when his irons snapped and he was of no assistance. She is tipped to complete back-to-back wins in race 6 over 1400m. Corne Orffer has won on Gin Palace before and he replaces the medically indisposed Andrew Fortune. Dream Searcher could be her main danger. She gets on so well with jockey Craig Bantam. They are never easy to ignore.

A simple view of Show Off’s last run which came over 1400m at this course will remind racing fans just how unlucky he was. He was baulked twice and after he came from the clouds to finish second behind Boogiefied, beaten 0,4 lengths. No fault of Gareth Wright aboard, he should have won. He is back over the same course and distance in race 7. Consider chances from King’s Quest, Astronomical Boy and Nightrain.

There is not much to get excited about in race 8 over 1400m. Theleia could prove to confirm her better last run when she ran second behind Peaches And Cream over this course and distance. She has always given the impression that she needs time and racing. Things seem to be falling into place.

Beach Verse (Vercingetorix) becomes the fifth stakes winner for Drakenstein Stud’s fairytale former Equus Champion Broodmare, Beach Beauty (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Beach Beauty’s career is one of the all time fairytale stories of the South African turf and the small Dynasty mare, herself a five-times Gr 1-winning champion, has now produced a fifth stakes winner at stud.

The Candice Bass-trained Beach Verse relished the step up in trip to 1800m in the Listed OTT Cape Fillies Classic at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday under Aldo Domeyer and she was thus able to win by a cosy 1,25 lengths despite officially being 4,5kg under sufferance with the best weighted Queen Regent, who finished second.

Both fillies started at 9/4 odds in the three-year-old fillies contest.

Beach Verse is now a winner of 3 races with 5 places from 9 starts for stakes of R351 738.

Beach Verse, who is a Drakenstein Stud homebred, provided yet another stakes winner for the sire phenomenon Vercingetorix.

He has now had 13 stakes winners this season of 17 races and is just about on track to break his own record set last season of 23 stakes winners of 33 races.

Drakenstein are quiet on the stakes-winning front this season by their standards, having either bettered or equaled the SA stakes-winning record for the previous four seasons consecutively.

The record Drakestein equaled last season was 21 stakes winners and they have a long way to go to match it this season with five stakes winners of five races to date.

Beach Beauty has only had seven runners and has five stakes winners and one stakes-placed horse.