Danie Toerien (The Citizen)
Priced up at 1-4 to win the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks over 2450m tomorrow at Turffontein and claim the R1-million Triple Tiara bonus, every punter and his dog is expecting Rain In Holland to cross the line first.
Trainer Sean Tarry agrees she is the runner to beat. “We have a worthy favourite. She has a very good chance of winning it, but we still have to go and get the job done,” he said.
Richard Fourie, who steered her in the opening two legs of the Triple Tiara, will be back in the saddle.
“I’m very happy with her. I don’t think she could have come through the first two legs more impressively than she did,” Tarry said, referring to her victories in the Fillies Guineas over 1600m and the Fillies Classic over 1800m, where she won by 2.50-lengths and 3.25-lengths respectively.
“Everything’s on track, her work has been good, she’s in good health.”
With a merit rating of 118, she is also not facing the strongest offields tomorrow, rated 13 points higher than nearest competitor Clafoutis on 105, with Eternity Ring (103) the only other challenger with a three-digit rating.
“Looking at the nominations, it doesn’t seem too tough. Hopefully she sees out the trip and hopefully everything continues to go smoothly,” said Tarry.
Of course, the only question is whether she will stay the distance.
After winning the Classic, Tarry said she could stay all day and he reiterated this again.
“I don’t see a big problem with the distance. I’ve had horses that don’t necessarily have to see out the trip, they just have to be better than the horses they are running against.
“With the three-year-olds, it doesn’t necessarily mean it (the Oaks) is a true stamina race. I don’t know if she’s a true stamina horse because she’s got too much speed, she’s got too many gears and kicks on very strongly. She’s definitely not a stayer. Will she see out the trip? I believe she will.”
Tarry is also not concerned about the pace, or lack thereof, in the running of the Oaks.
“I don’t think the pace really maers. I think she could lead, but she could also come from last.
Richard (Fourie) would be awake to what the concerns would be for me, but it wouldn’t be about
pace or where she’s positioned in the race.”
Rain In Holland was scheduled to do her final piece of hard work last week and then “just cruise
into the race”.
Tarry confirmed she will be fied with blinkers again, as she has been for her last three outings.
According to the trainer the idea of adding blinkers was first uttered after Rain In Holland had won the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville as a juvenile on the last day of last season.
“She had no right to win that race,” he said. “That race was already probably the alarm bell that this filly may need blinkers. But having just won the Group 1 and being champion two-year-old, you definitely wouldn’t start her three-year-old career off by slapping blinkers on first run after a rest.”
Her first run as a three-year-old saw her finish third behind last season’s Triple Tiara winner War Of Athena.
“I didn’t expect her to win that first run back. I knew it was a prep run. She was only 80% ready. We did hope she could win her next start, but she probably lost concentration in the race,” said Tarry. “We gave her the benefit of the doubt, but she confirmed she didn’t get the job done, so we went for the blinkers.”
Despite Rain In Holland being the overwhelming favourite, Tarry reiterated the job still has to be done.
“Every day is important, and things need to keep going right,” he said. “To be honest, in my opinion the first leg over 1600m was always going to be the toughest leg to win of the three. As an event like this comes up, you tend to over scrutinize and over analyse, and look for shortcomings. But holistically, the first leg was the one I was most worried about.”
Victory tomorrow will make her the fifth Triple Tiara winner after Igugu, Cherry On Top, Summer Pudding and War Of Athena.
Racegoers in KwaZulu-Natal can look forward to seeing Rain In Holland back in action at Hollywoodbets Greyville later in the season as Tarry confirmed he is considering entering her for the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000.
“That’s interesting,” he replied when asked what the future holds for Rain In Holland after tomorrow. “We will have to sit down with the connections and see what our options are. The obvious Group 1 to go for is the Woolavington in Durban. But we will first have to see how she takes this run and how the race works out.”
According to Tarry he does not believe the Triple Tiara quest has taken too much out of his filly. He described the first two legs as “effortless” and believes she has what it takes to be competitive during the KZN season.
“For Rain In Holland, the first two legs of the Triple Tiara were effortless. She wasn’t over-used, she was put in a very nice position and kicked when the race was over. “I don’t believe it’s too hard to do the Triple Tiara or Triple Crown and go on to the KZN season. I’ve seen a few horses do it and it didn’t seem to faze them.”
Tarry also believes the schedule of the Triple Crown and Triple Tiara series is not too taxing.
“If you’ve got the right horse, it makes the world of difference. But the timeframe isn’t that challenging. You’re running against your own sex, and you have sufficient recovery time between each race, and you’re running at the same centre. It’s a nice test for a horse over all distances. I don’t think the schedule is that testing. The answer lies in the number of Triple Crown and Triple Tiara winners. We’ve had plenty.”
JC Photos: Rain In Holland
