Dyce cruises to his ninth career win (JC Photos)
Vaal trainer Lucky Houdalakis said his William Longsword gelding Dyce had not looked himself in the aftermath of his gelding in April last year and likened him to someone wearing pyjamas that were to big as his skin looked to be too big for his body.
He said all this after Dyce had made it two from two this season when winning a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1100m down the Vaal straight in cosy style by two lengths under his new regular rider Piere Strydom.
Striker showed his experience by taking Dyce to the outside rail from a worryingy low draw of three as the going is known to be best on the extreme outside when the rail on that side is at zero metres.
Dyce traveled within hmself and just had to be let go at the end to beat Cliff Hanger, to wom he gave 6kg, by a couple of lengths.
When speaking about Dyce’s condition after gelding which prompted the decision to back off him last season, Lucky said, “He lost his muscle tone and his skin was still there and he needed to firm up, I didn’t know how to explain it to people but I know what I am seeing.”
Dyce has clearly now tightened up and the big horse is back to his best.
Lucky concluded, “I believe he is the best sprinter in the land, unless there is something on the way up.”
Striker is also at his best at present despite being in his late 50s and had a double today from just two rides and that followed a treble on Saturday.
Tony Peter also scored a double on the day.
Strydom is on 17 wins for the season at a phenomenal strike rate of 31.48%.
Peter is on 12 wins at 11.76%.
