Picture: King Pelles was an impressive winner of the Gr 3 Durban Gold Vase and will win many new pals if he scores his fourth Gr 3 staying race victory of the season (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Gareth van Zyl said the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup favourite King Pelles had pulled up with a “slight niggle” from his win in the Gr 3 Durban Gold Vase, but he had responded well to treatment.
He said, “We had to treat it and treating it has been a success. He is doing great and is in a very good space.”
Gareth and S’Manga Khumalo won the Gold Cup in 2020 with Paths Of Victory, while Khumalo also won it in 2016 with the Mike de Kock-trained Enaad.
Gareth said about King Pelles’ credentials, “Stamina is of no concern and he has the perfect draw of four. I hope he is not sluggish out of the pens as he was last time, in which case a good draw can’t be utilised.”
Gareth does not issue intructions to S’Manga and said he usually lived by an old adage, “A good rider doesn’t need instructions and a bad rider can’t follow them, so you don’t have to give them either way.”
Considering King Pelles is joined by the like of Dave The King, Chronicle King, King Harald, King Of The Gauls, Outlaw King, Royal Victory, World Of Royalty, The Real Prince, Princess Of Gaul and Count Of Rouen as runners on the day it could be another day for royalty, just as Hollywoodbets Durban July day was.
In the first race Gareth runs Imilenzeyokududuma, who proved his class when running third in the Gr 1 wfa Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600mat Turffontein Standside.
He subsequently finished 11,65 lengths back in the Gr 1 HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge over 2000m, also at Turffontein, and has not run since that race, which was four months ago.
The 114-rated six-year-old Dynasty gelding has to carry 62kg and is drawn out at ten in the Listed Michel Nairac Appreciation Stakes over 1600m, but Gareth said, “The break has done him good and he’s doing very well. On the downside he does not have good gatespeed and is drawn ten, so not sure whether he is going to be in a striking position but hopefully the race works out for him alright. He turns it on and can sustain a finish, so the course and distance will suit him and he is in a very good space and has been working well, so I am expecting a big run.”
Sean Veale is aboard the Hollywood Racing-owned bay.
In the second race, the Gr 2 World Pool with Race Coast Debutante over 1200m, Gareth runs the promising Legislate filly Serengetti Sun, who was backed on debut over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville and delivered under S’Manga Khumalo.
She only won by a head, but the third-placed horse was beaten 6,90 lengths.
However, the form has not worked out exceptionally well and Gareth said, “I did expect her to win easier. She’s a filly that’s working well and she shows a lot of ability, so I’m quite excited to weigh her up against the better juveniles and see where we are.”
In the tenth race, the Listed HKIR In December Umngeni Handicap over 1000m, the yard run the three-year-old One World gelding Lion Rampart, who is owned by Hollywood Racing and Sean Veale is up from a wide draw of 12.
In his first run for the yard the former Cape Town-based dual Listed-winning 109-rated sprinter finished 4,85 lengths back in a Class 2 event over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, but he was just three-quarters of a length behind subsequent Gr 2 Post Merchants winner I Am Giant.
Gareth said, “He’s doing good. I think he may just come on with this run under the belt. He’s not really where I think he can be, but he is working well and is in a good space.”
