Three-year-old The United States gelding Tin Pan Alley proved his effectiveness at a mile by winning the Gr 1 wfa Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes, run in sticky going, by 3,75 lengths (JC Photos)
Sean Tarry won two Grade 1s and scored two Listed race exactas at the 12 race World Pool Classic day meeting at Turffontein Standside on Saturday and it was also a fine day for sires The United States, who had a Gr 1 first and third and a Listed winner, and Rafeef, who had a Gr 3 win, a Listed win a maiden win.
Tarry is still a long way behind Justin Snaith in the national Trainers Championship, but he has closed the gap to just over R8 million and this gives him a feasible chance of challenging for the title.
Tarry’s gelding Grand Empire had run on well from some way off the pace in the Gr 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas for a 0,60 length second and was surprisingly easy to back at 11/2 in the Gr 1 HKJC World Pool SA Classic over 1800m.
The SA Classic favourite at 5/2 was the dual Gr 1 winner Jan Van Goyen.
A furious pace was set in the race from a vanguard of three rank outsiders, All Systems Go, Yippee Kiyay and Radio Star.
There was a gap of eight lengths back to Trust, whose jockey Serino Moodley’s pace judgement was later proven to be just about perfect.
Jan Van Goyen sat on Trust’s quarters without cover.
Grand Empire was in the box seat of the main contenders, on the rail behind Trust.
Going through the 400m mark All Systems Go had skipped clear and there was still no move from Moodley, although Craig Zackey on Grand Empire had moved past Trust on his inside.
Trust got going just after passing the 400m mark and One Eye On Vegas was also running on strongly from off the pace.
Jan Van Goyen never looked threatening.
Raymond Danielson had sat in last place on Gauteng Guineas winner Splittheeights and looked to be planning to follow Jan Van Goyen at the top of the straight. When that plan went awry the horse was left with too much to do to catch Grand Empire and Trust.
The pacemaking vanguard were swamped at the 100m mark with Grand Empire being challenged in front by Trust. One Eye On Vegas began wilting and was mastered by the running on late Splittheeights.
The front pair crossed the line as one and it was just the head-bob that gave Grand Empire the win over the luckless Trust.
The result gave the phenomenal sire Vercingetorix yet another Gr 1 winner. Grand Empire was originally bought by Eric Sands for R400,000 at the National Yearling Sale. He was bred by Al Adiyaat and is owned by Mrs H Kuhn.
Had the handicappers’ initial handicapping of the Gauteng Guineas been in place a line horse would have been easy to find for the SA Classic, but they look to instead be in the same boat as they were for the Guineas, i.e. the choice of using a line horse that will either make the ratings too high or one that will make the ratings too low. Using the 118-rated Jan Van Goyen, who was beaten 4,25 lengths, would make Grand Empire about 126 or 127, while using either Trust or Splittheeights will give him a maximum of about 113.
The handicappers might be justified in using the higher rating, because of the result of the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Stakes, in which the Tarry-trained Tin Pan Alley blew away a top class field to win by 3,75 lengths. He was originally used by the handicappers as the line horse for the Gauteng Guineas on 117, while Grand Empire later became the official line horse. Both horses proved themselves better than their respective ratings of 117 and 108 on Saturday.
Jan Van Goyen was viewed as the best three-year-old in the country prior to Saturday and his 9,10 length defeat in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate was excused because he had gone too fast when chasing pacemaker Dave The King. However, there was one nagging doubt created by the King’s Plate and that was that the horse who was together with him in the running at that too fast pace i.e. Legal Counsel, beat him by 4,65 lengths. However, Jan Van Goyen shouldn’t be written off yet because he did have no cover throughout in his one wide position on Saturday.
In the Horse Chestnut Tin Pan Alley found the perfect position in midfield on the rail.
The surprise pacemaker was Fire Attack.
The conditions were sticky on the day and after Tin Pan Alley had powered into the lead down the inside the favourite See It Again, who prefers 2000m, had too much to do coming from midfield on the outside.
See It Again was doing fine work late to pip last year’s runner up Texas Red for second. Fire Attack was fourth and two previous winners of this race, Main Defender and Cosmic Speed were next best.
The Real Prince appeared to hate the conditions and was never in the hunt.
The Moutonshoek-based stallion The United States now has a second Gr 1 winner this season and he also had first and third in Saturday’s race.
Tin Pan Alley, bred by Moutonshoek, is owned by the Wernars Family & D Chinsammy
Tarry’s two Listed wins were with Secretary Bird (Rafeef) and Care Forgot (The United States).
Secretary Bird is put of the five-time winning Captain Al sprinter Secretariat’s Girl and she is a full-sister to the smart four-year-old gelding Tintin.
She was an impressive winner of the Listed Wilgerbosdrift Ruffian Stakes over 1000m, coming from off the pace with a fine finishing burst under a cool-headed Ryan Munger to beat the second favourite and stablemate Griselda (Erik The Red) by 2,25 lengths.
Care Forgot had always shown a touch of class and it was fitting that in her sixth career win she landed black type by winning the Wilgerbosdrift Acacia Stakes over 1600m, when producing a fine finish from off the pace under Munger to beat stablemate Warning Sound by a length.
An interesting fact is the seven black type races on Saturday were shared between only three yards, Sean Tarry, Corne Spies and Mike and Mathew de Kock and the trio are next door to each other at Randjesfontein training centre.
