Andrew Fortune had two rides and two wins in his comeback from serious injury rode and the double was completed by the progressive and impressive Futura three-year-old gelding Future Free, a half-brother to Eight On Eighteen (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Andrew Harrison (Race Coast)
Andrew Fortune has been the subject of more headlines, good and not so good, than most jockeys in their entire careers and he added another chapter as he steered From The Island to a game victory in typical style in the third at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth yesterday and followed up with another tremendous ride on Super Free in the eighth, both for Justin Snaith.
Seven weeks ago he was laid up with six broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken collarbone and a broken shoulder blade. Faith in his ability, a determination to make it back into the saddle and many session in the hyperbaric chamber has paid off and he may still reach his dream of winning the Hollywoodbets Durban July.
An inspiration, on the advice of Gaynor Rupert, was reading the exploits of many-times English champion jump jockey Tony McCoy, now Sir Tony, who broke every bone in his body in his 20-year career but was hardly ever sidelined for more than a few months.
An uncanny ability to bond with his mounts, a horseman and rider with an exceptional tactical brain, Justin Snaith has tapped into the 58-year-old Fortune’s talents and it is paying dividends.
Fortune candidly admitted that he had cherry-picked his two comeback mounts and his ride on From The Island was vintage Fortune.
He took no prisoners in the early exchanges, ‘coming over if you like it or not’ and riding with his typically long rein. In the straight he then played his fellow riders on the break and it was only inside the final furlong that he resorted to a couple of backhanders that were enough to hold off the challenges from It’Sgood It’Snice and Uncle Sam.
Many a seasoned jockey will tell you that it is criminal to let a horse through on the inside rail. There was no love lost in the eighth as Fortune’s son Aldo Domeyer aboard Marcus Aurelius, shut the door in his father’s face forcing Fortune to ease up and switch around. Super Free responded with a smart turn of foot to catch Marcus Aurelius and given this showing he is a horse to follow as he steps up in trip.
Magma Flow showed the benefit of experience as he put a small field to bed at the start of the first race. Piet Botha’s charge was out and running from the jump and Keagan de Melo had to do little more than a steering job as Magma Flow raced home on his own. Navasnine chase home in forlorn hope while the filly Nadia Nerina was slow out and although a long way back in third she does look capable of good improvement.
The cleverly named Black Nightshade impressed when making a winning debut for Vaughan Marshall in the first leg of the bi-pot. First time at the races is never easy but Sean Veale had no hesitation in taking his filly to the head of affairs and there she stayed. Pressed hard by the more experienced Virgina Bluebell, who had some fair form in feature race company, this was a showing full of merit.
Mauritian apprentices are more dedicated than most and Varun Jodhee made full use of his 4kg claim as Pacific Waters kept rolling in the fourth to snaffle long-time leader Theleia on the line to deny De Melo a second win.
It took a little more than 30 minutes for De Melo to go one better for his second winner of the afternoon as he drove Lucinda Woodruff’s gelding Sky Rocket to the line to hold off a late charging Pritti United who somehow got lost in the early exchanges but finished with a flourish – possibly an unlucky loser.
De Melo rounded off his day with a treble as he got Andre Nel’s Phantom Man home in a tight finish to the ninth.
Given a confident ride by Muzi Yeni, Magical Place made short work of his rivals in the sixth as Yeni slipped the recently gelded Eric Sands-trained striking chestnut up the inside rail for a comfortable win with Flying Finley doing the chasing for another De Melo second.
Unlike his father who has sweated down to the early fifties from a top weight that at one stage tipped the scales at 90kgs, Aldo Domeyer is happy to ride 60kg and above. After a testing ride on favourite South Of France in the seventh, he would probably have weighed in a few pounds lighter. Finding a gap at the top of the straight, Domeyer had to press hard on Candice Bass’s filly and she responded gamely to hold off Richard Fourie and Somebody Somewhere in a tight finish. Domeyer intimated that the removal of the blinkers made his task a lot more testing so one can assume that the ‘scoops’ will be back on next time she races.
