Picture: Pyromaniac (JC Photos).

Tarry Rates Pyromaniac, Nebraas, Litigation Chief Cup Hopes

Sean Tarry regards Nebraas, Litigation and Pyromaniac as his biggest three Betway Summer Cup hopes.

He did not mention rain In Holland other than being one of his chief Cape Town campaigners.

Tarry has dominated the Summer Cup recently and has won four of the last five renewals.

He has seven entries still standing their ground this year, those mentioned above plus previous winner Zillzaal as well as Shango and Marigold Hotel.

He only had two in the top 20 of the final log, Rain In Holland and Nebraas.

He had two in the next five looking in, Pyromaniac and Zillzaal.

However, Litigation then booked his place by winning the Grade 3 Tab4Racing Victory Moon Stakes.

Tarry said, “It wasn’t the plan to run him in the Victory Moon, but I was forced to because his run beaten seven lengths in the (Allied-Steelrode Onamission) Charity Mile wasn’t even good enough to get into the next five. In the Victory Moon the big horses all had big weights and some were going to need the run, so I thought it was worth taking a chance carrying just 51kg, even without it purely being a run to get into the Summer Cup. It was difficult to find a jockey but I got lucky and Philasande Mxoli rode a great race.”

He added, “But Litigation will still go in under sufferance.”

Tarry did win the Summer Cup last year with a horse who was 4kg under sufferance i.e. Flying Carpet, but a look at his three-year-old form showed him to have a big chance.

With that in mind Tarry said, “The one who has the perfect Summer Cup profile is Pyromaniac.”

This son of Silvano is out of SA Oaks winner Pine Princess, so is bred to easily get the trip and he also showed some classic class. He finished just a 1,50 length second to Equus Three-year-old Male Champion Safe Passage in the Grade 2 WSB Gauteng Guineas.

Pyromaniac was a touch inconsistent as a three-year-old but Tarry is confident that will have been sorted out by gelding.

He won his first start as a a gelding in his seasonal reappearance over 1450m carrying 60kg in a Graduation Plate.

Tarry then specifically ran him in the Charity Mile as he believed going in to the Summer Cup off a 1600m run would be a better option than the 1800m of the Victory Moon.

He said considering the wide draw he had and a bad passage in running he had not run a bad race to be beaten just 5,25 lengths into seventh.

Pyromaniac moved up well in the straight towards the outside after being dropped out but was continually faced with a wall of horses and ended up on the inside.

Tarry added, “If he had been better drawn and had better luck in running he could have run three lengths off and everybody would be saying it was a perfect prep. I was pleased with the run and I will still be surprised if he does not get into the Summer Cup. There are a few horses who didn’t cover themselves in glory in the Victory Moon.”

He felt Nebraas had also had a perfect preparation.

He said, “He ran a very good 2,50 length fifth in the Victory Moon.”

He added a touch tongue in cheek, “That was especially considering the 2200m of the July was apparently too short for him!”

Nebraas was eliminated from the Hollywoodbets Durban July despite very good staying form and some evidence that he was effective over as short as 1800m.

Tarry said, “He was the fastest finisher in the Victory Moon.”

It was indeed an eyecatching run and should have put him spot on for the Summer Cup.

At present Rain In Holland is the shortest of Tarry’s chief Summer Cup entries on 10/1.

However, he had said earlier he was not sure whether he would run her there or in the Grade 2 Ipi Tombe Challenge on the same day, so she is a risky ante-post proposition.

Litigation is 14/1 and Nebraas and Pyromaniac are 20/1 and 25/1 respectively.

Shango is 67/1 and both Zillzaal and Marigold Hotel are 100/1.

Picture: Princess Calla (Wayne Marks)

Princess Calla Now With Tarry And Targeting Majorca

Sean Tarry is planning his Cape Summer Festival Of Racing campaign and a surprise name among his potential string is Princess Calla.

She won two Grade 2’s and a Grade 3 for Adam Marcus before being sent up to Ashley Fortune on the Highveld and winning the Grade 1 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes over 1600m.

Tarry said he knew the now five-year-old Flower Alley mare, who is owned by Mario Ferreira, had been rested in KZN before being sent to him.

He felt her chief target for the Cape Summer would be the Majorca, where she ran third last season to the crack fillies Captain’s Ransom and Chansonette.

He felt the Grade 1 Paddock Stakes might come too soon for her.

His Equus Champion three-year-old filly from last season, Rain In Holland, will be his chief Cape Summer campaigner.

The Grade 1 Paddock Stakes is her chief target.

It will be a humdinger of a race as she will likely be taking on Chansonette and maybe Captain’s Ransom, a north vs south battle royale.

Tarry said another Cape Summer contender could be Bless My Stars (Gimmethegreenlight).

She finished a narrow third in the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes for Paul Peter and in her second start for Tarry won a Graduation Plate over 1600m in fine style.

The Grade 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas on December 3 is on her radar, although it might depend on the draw she lands.

Meanwhile, he was happy with the second run for his yard of another crack former Paul Peter-trained filly, Big Burn ( Elusive Fort).

He said, “She had a big weight to carry (when second in the Listed Gardenia Stakes over 1000m) and maybe went a little soon, otherwise she could have won.”

On the breeding front his former Grade 1-winning stalwart Chimichuri Run (Trippi) has been covering well at Blue Sky Thoroughbreds in the KZN Midlands and one interesting mare he received was the former Tarry-trained four time-winning 109 rated sprinter Tropic Sun.

Picture: Surjay holds off a fast-finishing Kommetdieding on Saturday (Wayne Marks).

Kommetdieding Sent A Warning To Jet Dark Fans

“The People’s Horse” showed he is still very much in the big race picture when making a fine comeback run in Saturday’s Bantry Bay Stakes over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

David Mollett (Business Day)

Having his first run since going down by a neck to Jet Dark in the Champions Cup at Greyville in July, the 2021 Durban July winner was narrowly beaten by Brett Crawford’s speedy four-year-old, Surjay.

In January this year Kommetdieding ran second to Jet Dark in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate but got his revenge on Justin Snaith’s star in the WSB Met three weeks later.

Jet Dark showed he was in fine fettle with his recent win so the prospect of the two talented performers locking horns in the King’s Plate on January 7 is mouthwatering indeed. Throw in the possibility of horse of the year Captain’s Ransom being in the field and the Grade 1 race will be even more interesting.

The 1,200m of Saturday’s race was obviously on the short side for Kommetdieding, but this didn’t deter the five-year-old’s fans from weighing in and backing him down to 33-10. Gavin Lerena gave his mount a perfect ride and the performance will have delighted the training team of Michelle Rix and Harold Crawford.

Surjay’s win — the fourth of his career — showcased the talent of Gauteng-based rider Kabelo Matsunyane, who stood in for the suspended Louis Mxothwa. He is enjoying an excellent season and is in fifth place in the national jockeys log.

There wasn’t a happy comeback for former champion sprinter Rio Querari, who was beaten eight lengths. The best days of the son of Querari may be behind him.

Picture: Ciao Bella was an easy winner of the Western Cape Fillies Championship (Wayne Marks).

Ciao Bella Highlight Of Fourie’s Five-timer

David Mollett (Business Day)

Rio Querari’s no show was the blip on a memorable meeting at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday for jockey Richard Fourie who rode five winners. He is probably riding as well as at any time in his career.

One of his quartet of winners was Ciao Bella, who stamped herself as a filly with a big future after an authoritative win in the grade 2 WC Fillies Championship. It was a shrewd move by Varsfontein Stud to retain this daughter of their sire, Gimmethegreenlight, with the dam, Bela Bela, being a daughter of Dynasty.

However, Ciao Bella’s victory was made easier by the well-fancied second favourite, Hold My Hand, ending up wide from a good draw and having nothing to come in the closing stages.

Hold My Hand is better than this performance looks on paper.

Ciao Bella’s win was one of four successes for Justin Snaith’s stable which was also on the mark with Holy Orders, Kingdom Of Heaven and Runaway Song.

The horse to note from this trio is Kingdom Of Heaven and owner Nic Jonsson has every reason to believe his R1m son of Dynasty is headed for the top. No surprise he had to go to seven figures to secure the colt from Drakenstein stud as this is the family of Met winner Oh Susanna.

Kabelo Matsunyane was hoping to round off the meeting on unbeaten three-year-old Champion Warrior, in the final race on the card but the 11-10 favourite failed to deliver the goods and finished three lengths behind another Snaith winner, Runaway Song.

Picture: Captain’s Ransom (Chase Liebenberg).

Do It Again And Captain’s Ransom Clash On Wednesday

There is a star-studded Pinnacle Stakes race over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.

The field is shown below in draw order:

Do It Again won on debut and had finished 1st, 3rd, 1st, 6th, 3rd, 4th, 1st, 2nd and 1st in his comeback runs after layoffs.

Captain’s Ransom won on debut and has finished 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st and 1st in her five runs after layoffs of more than two months.

Captain’s Ransom will have her regular rider Richard Fourie aboard.

Grant van Niekerk will ride Do It Again.

Van Niekerk’s only previous ride on Do It Again was when finishing a head second to Rascallion in his reappearance last season in a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1800m.

Picture: Lydia Hislop (Racingtv.com)

Hislop Shortlisted To Become First Woman Racing Writer Of The Year Outright

The HWPA Racing Writer Of The Year has been won once before by a woman but not outright.

Lydia Hislop, who has twice been the HWPA Broadcaster Of The Year including last year, will attempt to join Claire Balding as the only one have won the Broadcaster and Writer of The Year awards.

However, when Balding won the writers award it was jointly with Doug Moscrop (in 2003).

The British-based HWPA Writer Of The Year award has been going since 1967.

The winning-most writer is Alistair Down, who has walked away with the award five times.

Hislop has submitted three outstanding entries this year.

The judging panel’s comment on her submissions was: Incisive articles, showing an excellent grasp of fine details, containing a wealth of information, the opinions offered cogently argued

CLICK HERE TO READ LYDIA HISLOP’S THREE HWPA RACING WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD SUBMISSIONS

Picture: Syx Hotfix (Flower Alley) ridden by Keagan de Melo gives Alyson Wright and the Hollywood Syndicate the first leg of a double together (Candiese Lenferna).

Wright/Hollywood, Puller And Hlengwa Doubles

Trainers Garth Puller and Alyson Wright both had doubles on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly today.

Both of Wright’s wins were for the Hollywood Syndicate.

The 4kg claiming apprentice Siphesihle Hlengwa had the third double of his career and moved to 17 career wins.

Puller is the favourite to reclaim the KZN Trainers Championship which he won for the first time in the 2020/2021 season before being ousted last season by gareth van Zyl.

He is now on 24 winners for the season at a strike rate of 10.48%.

Wright is on 19 winners at 16.52%.

Puller leads the KZN Championship with 24 from Peter Muscutt on 20 and Wright and Wendy Whitehead are in joint-third on 19.

Hlengwa is now on nine winners for the season at 9.68%.

The Hollywood Syndicate have had 40 wins this season and are just short of R1 million clear of Drakenstein Stud at the top of the national owners championship.

Picture: Aerial view of Hollywoodbets Greyville taken about 20 years ago. (Gold Circle).

Today’s Question

Which pair of constant headaches for stewards at the Greyville racecourse were finally solved in 1950 and 1955 respectively?

Answer at bottom of newsletter.

Vaal Classic Fields

CLICK HERE TO SEE VAAL CLASSIC FIELDS

NB Please wait a few seconds for fields to appear.

Fairview Poly Fields

CLICK HERE TO SEE FAIRVIEW POLY FIELDS

Picture: The subway at the Marriot Road/Avondale Road side greatly improved the Hollywoodbets Greyville run in as the horses no longer had to cross a road as they were attempting to quicken. (Steve Haag).

Today’s Question Answer

Epsom Road used to cross the race track near the Drill Hall and at about the 400m mark.

It was not only a hazard to horses racing and training but growing traffic on the road and careless motorists had resulted in frequent injuries to valuable animals.

Steward HW “Jacko Jackson”, who was one of the City Councillors, finally won approval from the Durban Corporation to build a subway at the Avondale/Marriot Road end of the course in 1950 at a cost of 40,000 pounds.

The course was closed from the middle of August to December to complete the subway and Clairwood and Pietermaritzburg took on extra fixtures.

A subway was built at the Drill Hall end, which included raising the track, starting in August 1955 and racing was reopened in March 1956.

The cost of the second construction was 116,040 pounds.

The horse safety was now ensured and the run in after the 1950 construction was a particular improvement.

Turf Talk Newsletter – 14 November 2022