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Master Redoute powers through a gap to win the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
The Andre Nel-trained Master Redoute became only the third horse this millennium to win the Gr 3 World Pool Gold Cup after running in the Hollywoodbets Durban July.
The first to do it this millennium was also a Sabine Plattner-owned horse, Reveille Boy, who was trained by Brett Crawford when winning in 2005, and the second to do it was the Basil Marcus-trained Desert Links in 2008.
In 2010 the Mike de Kock-trained Ancestral Fore ran in the July and won the Gold Cup, but in that football world cup year the Gold Cup was run before the July.
Master Redoute thus bucked a 16-year-old trend.
He has wrapped up the Equus Champion Stayer award as this was his second Gr 3 staying race win of the season.
What made his achievement even more special on Sunday was he had only three weeks to recover from the July, in which he was the chief victim of an incident at about the halfway mark which caused him to be carried way wide for a few strides. He ultimately finished tenth in the July.
Reveille Boy had five weeks to recover from his fourth place finish in the July, while Desert Links had four weeks to recover from his July fifth place finish.
So it was a fine training feat by Andre Nel on Sunday.
However, Nel magnanimously deflected the praise on to his Summerveld assistant Byron Forster and to Callum Dixon, who rides Master Redoute in his workouts, and he also thanked Corne Orffer for a fine ride.
Nel said, “Byron and Callum have done all the work, I’ve just come to watch and support. I was playing with fate before the July, when I said he likes a dirty race, but I wasn’t expecting that kind of race. So be careful what you wish for! Today worked out for us. Coming into the last 100m, I knew Corne still had horse under him, with a lot to do still. He managed to go through that gap and put his head down where it mattered”.”
Orffer said, ““He’s a gutsy horse. He really deserved to win this race today, as he was messed around in the July, not that he could have won it, but he probably would have been in the first 5 or 6. He was very well today. He was in tip-top shape. He went down well and came out good. He travelled very smooth throughout. There was a tight gap I chose to go through, but he likes to do that. I just hoped that the gap stayed open long enough for him to find his feet and fight on. He won a very good race. Once he got his shoulders in-between, I could feel he was just getting going. I could see they weren’t getting away from him and he was gaining on them. I knew then and made sure I rode him right past the post. He did a phenomenal job as the 3.2 is not an easy task”.
Byron Forster said, “He looked really well and even better than going into the July. This race was his goal and nice that it all worked out.”
Callum Dixon said, “It’s unbelievable. He came out the July so well and just progressed at home. You could see how he went down to the start today … he wanted to be here and ran his heart out”.
Indeed, Master Redoute looked well in the parade ring and stood out in the canter down to the 400m mark, where the race starts. It was hard to believe that as the winner of the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers over 2800m, which is Cape Town’s premier staying race, he was now paying R19.10 on the World Pool Tote for a win.
Orffer, jumping from draw three, secured the rail ahead of the two horses inside of him and then settled Master Redoute well as a number of wider drawn horses went in front of him.
Grant van Niekerk sent Zeus, who played up before the start, into a big lead and he was chased by Future Swing and Shoot The Rapids. There was a gap to the rest of the field and Master Redoute was handy on the rail in that pack.
The field became much more compact as they came up the hill towards the straight, although it certainly did not concertina and the backmarkers were still out of their ground, whilst the hot favourite Future Pearl still had six lengths to make up turning for home.
Future Swing and Shoot The Rapids kept on rolling as Zeus faded and Ponte Pietra was running on well from a handy position and Baratheon was staying on quite well on the inside rail.
Master Redoute was also unwinding a strong run but had the wall, from inside to out, of Baratheon, Shoot The Rapids, Future Swing and Ponte Pietra in front of him.
Orffer was aiming at the gap between Future Swing and Ponte Pietra.
Fortunately it opened wide enough for him to get Master Redoute’s shoulders in.
At the same time Future Swing carried Shoot The Rapids inward, which might have been costly to the latter, but it momentarily opened the gap wider.
Ponte Pietra then also hung in so the gap then became tighter, but Master Redoute was already through and he maintained a long stride, changing legs on the line, to beat Shoot The Rapids by a neck, with Ponte Pietra a further half-a-length back in third. Future Swing was beaten 0,90 lengths into fourth and a running on Madison Valley was a 2,30 length fifth. Baratheon was next best and Future Pearl, who started 18-10 favourite, could only manage a 4.05 length seventh.
Master Redoute, carrying 58.5kg off his 115 merit rating, gave Shoot The Rapids 4,5kg, Ponte Pietra 3kg and Future Swing 2kg.
Master Redoute was the best performed horse in the race, if the weights are taken into account, so fully deserves to have his name on the trophy.
Nevertheless, Shoot The Rapids ran an amazing race considering he was drawn widest of all in the 15 horse field and was used up quite a lot to go very wide around them on the first turn.
The first five home showed they had good stamina capacity in a race run at a decent pace.
Master Redoute is by Querari out of a mare called Lady Redoute, who is by the three times Australian champion stallion Redoute’s Choice out of a mare called Macedon Lady, who won the Gr 1 Melbourne Racing Club 1000 Guineas.
Lady Redoute was bought for Aus$250,000 at the 2011 Australia Easter Yearling Sale.
She won two races in South Africa from 1400m to 2000m and her worth as a broodmare was soon evident as Master Redoute is her first foal.
Querari gelding Master Redoute, now a five-year-old gelding, won two of his first four starts, both over 1600m, and has generally been highly tried since.
He has come into his own this season and showed his versatility as he has won three Gr 3s during the season, the Ridgemont Peninsula Handicap over 1800m, the New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers over 2800m and the World Pool Gold Cup over 3200m.