Graceland’s stay and play package has a beautiful setting and top class accomodation and golf course (Picture: Emperor’s Palace)
Choose one of the five rides below as the Emperor’s Palace Ride Of The Month for April and email your vote to editor@turftalk.co.za and you can win the below fantastic prize:
1 x Night stay at Graceland for 2 including breakfast
1 x round of golf for 2
1 x Dinner Voucher
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE ABOUT GRACELAND’S STAY AND PLAY GOLF PACKAGES
Nominees for Emperor’s Palace April Ride Of The Month:
1. Corne Orffer Dancy Variety NBT Easter Sprint April 2 Hollywoodbets Kenilworth 1100m
This horse usually comes from off the pace and tends to idle when hitting the front, thinking he has done enough. However, Orffer pointed out to trainer Adam Marcus there was no pace in the race and he might have to ride him completely differently to normal. Marcus left it in his hands. Orffer after jumping well duly found himself up front alongside another horse. Instead of attempting to rein in him behind the leader he switched him outward into the middle outside portion of the track while the rest of the field were on the inside. This enabled the horse to see the opposition despite going ahead of them and in that way he built up plenty of momentum. By the time he drifted inward he was clear and had plenty in the tank. Nobody was going to catch him. He won by a cosy 0,75 lenghs under a well planned and clever ride.
2 Muzi Yeni Royal Victory Gr 1 World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge April 6 Turffontein Standside.
Yeni found himself further back than planned and then got stuck behind Puerto Manzano turning for home. He had deemed the latter to be a good one to follow, but instead the horse was dropping back on to him. However, he did not panic at any stage. The horse made rapid progress on the outside in the straight. However, when flattening out and hanging inward at the 300m mark Yeni was in a quandry – he could not change whip hands to his left hand to extract a leg change because the horse was already hanging inward. Therefore, he stopped riding for a stride and yanked outward on the right rein. This got the horse to change legs. That cool calm and collected split second decision under immense pressure was crucial to the end result, because it saw Royal Victory quickening. He was able to keep him relatively straight with the whip still in the right hand. Royal Victory secured a historic Gr 1 double by half-a-length.
3 Kabelo Matsunyane Purple Pitcher Gr 1 TAB SA Derby April 6 Turffontein Standside
Matsunyane has built a fine relationship with this New Predator colt. Knowing that this colt does not mind leading and finds extra from wherever he is in the running, he drove him from the off to get to the front and this worked in his favour because he ended up sitting one out and one back behind slow fractions set by Mondial. He was thus able to get first run on his chief rivals. He left enough in the tank to fend off the late challenges of the running on Pure Predator and the rallying Mondial.
4. Anthony Andrews Winter Cloud Gr 3 Champagne Stakes 1200m Hollywoodbets Kenilworth April 20
This horse clearly enjoys being ridden cold and covered up behind horses. Her devastating turn of foot is seen to best effect under those circumstances. In her previous start she had burst through between horses to win going away. She now had to jump from draw eleven of eleven. Andrews reined her in and was happy to be last early. She ended up finding a run between horses down the inside and burst through to win easing up by 1,25 lengths from her stablemate October Morn, who had had to be switched to the outside for a run.
5 Richard Fourie Lucky Lad Gr 2 TAB Senor Santa Sprint 1160m April 27 Turffontein Standside
The star Gimmethegreenlight colt was going to be vulnerable due to his tendency to start tardily and Fourie duly found himself at the back after jumping from a favourable high draw of eight out of eleven. However, Fourie made a split decision to switch inside to the perceived unfavourable side. The outside part of the track becomes overcrowded as jockeys seek to be there in the final dash for home. That might have been part of the thinking and it paid dividends because Fourie eventually got a clear run down the inside after the horse had not latched on well to the horses in front of him. He was now on the perceived unfavourable side of the ttrack, but Fourie knows from past experience that if you keep on and on riding this horse eventually “erupts”. His incredible turn of foot eventually kicked in after being hard ridden. Fourie prevented the hanging which had earned him a suspension on this horse in the Gr 1 Gold Medallion through the use of a couple of deft changes of whiphand. He won cosily in the end by 0,40 lengths.
