The Brett Crawford-trained sprinter Real Gone Kid (Snitzel) will be heading to Johannesburg to run in the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint.
It will be important to win a Grade 1 with this horse as he is beautifully bred and has a stallion career ahead of him.
The four-year-old Australian-bred colt is by the Group 1-winning four-times Australian champion sire, Snitzel, whose service fee is among the top ten highest in the world, reaching a zenith of Aus$220,000 in both 2018 and 2019.
Real Gone Kid is out of the former Justin Snaith-trained Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas and Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 winner, In The Fast Lane (Jet Master), who finished a decent fifth in the Durban July as a three-year-old.
Real Gone Kid could hardly have chosen a better yard to achieve Grade 1 status.
Crawford has had a Grade 1 winner every season since 2011/2012 and in seven of those ten seasons had multiple success at the highest level with a high of six Grade 1s in the 2016/2017 season.
He is yet to win a Grade 1 this season but still has a few chances to extend that sequence beyond ten seasons.
He felt Real Gone Kid had not raced the way he normally did in the Grade 1 Pongracz Cape Flying Championship and was better than that.
He had come into the race on the back of four successive wins and started 4/1 second favourite, so his one length fifth was a touch disappointing.
The Computaform Sprint is on April 30 and Real Gone Kid might have another race in Cape Town before then.
The rangy three-year-old Zapatillas (Master Of My Fate), a Listed winner over 1200m as a juvenile and a narrow runner up in the Grade 3 Cape Classic over 1400m, ran on well from near the back for a fine 2,80 length fourth in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas.
He subsequently ran on well for a 0,80 length third in the Grade 3 Politician Stakes over 1800m despite carrying joint topweight of 60kg.
He missed the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Cape Derby as he was a little bit sore after the Politician and would not have been ready in time.
He is back in training after recuperating on the farm.
However, Crawford said it is yet to be discussed whether he will take part in the Winter series races at home in Cape Town or travel to KZN.
The Grade 1 Daily News 2000 and the Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July would be options if he does travel to KZN.
Crawford’s What A Winter two-year-old colt Alpine Challenge made a fine debut to win by 3,25 lengths over 1000m at Kenuilworth in a time that was almost half-a-second quicker than the other juvenile event on the day.
The fourth-placed horse, Piroshka (Quasillo), came out and finished a 1,75 length second to another promising debutant by What A Winter, Hithemhardsunshine, so the form is looking good so far.
Crawford was pleased with the run and added, “I don’t know what he beat but we will give him one more run and assess whether he is good enough to go to Durban.”
His exciting Australian-bred three-year-old filly Whoa Whoa Whoa (Maurice (Japan)) will be staying in Cape Town for the winter to be prepared for next season’s Cape Summer Season.
He said there were one or two options for this speedster during the winter including the Listed Olympic Dual Stakes over 1200m at Kenilworth on June 25.
He added he had a number of promising youngsters and is looking forward to assessing how good they are after one or two runs.
Picture: tsanews.co.za