Mercantour cruises in to become the first locally-trained horse to win all three legs of the Poly Challenge (Pauline Herman Photography)
The six-year-old Alan Greeff-trained gelding Mercantour became only the second horse in history to win all three legs of the Nelson Mandela Bay Racing East Cape Poly Challenge in a season and he became the first locally trained horse to do it.
In the 1600m leg of the Challenge today he had to carry 62kg but Richard Fourie had him beautifully settled in a handy position over a trip he has actually never won over before and he ran on in his usual fine style to win easing up by half-a-length from Bingwa.
A good draw of two had helped his cause and the Varsfontein Stud-bred Var gelding landed the R250,000 bonus for owner Peter Moor.
Mercantour won the first leg of the Challenge over 1200m in August.
Last month, he had no problems winning the second leg over 1400m, and the R175,000 third and final leg today over 1600m also saw a comfortable victory.
The Polytrack was installed in 2013 (upgraded in 2022), and the Challenge was introduced three years later.
The Cape Town horse, King Regent, became the first to win the triple crown last year.
