King Of The Gauls is one of a trio of young horses in the Listed Umngeni Hanidcap on World Pool Gold Cup day who could go on to bigger things in the sprinting arena (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
The Listed Umngeni Handicap over 1000m on the turf brings down the curtain on the stakes races for the season on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Greyville, but it will be watched with more than passing interest by purists this year because this was the race which unearthed the Equus Champion Sprinter Isivunguvungu two years ago.
There are three youngsters in the race who look to have the ability to go on to bigger things in sprint arenas, Dreamland, Pistol Pete and King Of The Gauls.
The focus of this article is on the Tony Rivalland-trained King Of The Gauls because he could represent good value at 8/1 with Hollywoodbets.
His last run did not pan out well and could explain that price.
He is likely to drift on the day too, because he is drawn widest of all in the 14 horse field.
He is part-owned by racing aficionado Robert Bloomberg, who said, “The first issue last time (in the Gr 2 Post Merchants over 1200m) is we didn’t think we were going to get a run (he was first reserve before coming in after a scratching) and Tony eased up on the horse and he was probably a gallop short. He was terribly above himself in the parade ring, on his toes, snorting like a bull. When I saw that, I knew his race was run before he even got to the start. Things soon went pear-shaped in the race from a wide draw. Grant (Van Niekerk) was instructed to slot in. If you watch the replay there was an overhead cam and there was a gap at one stage for him to slot in on the fence. However, by his own admission, he couldn’t hold the horse going to the start, and I never ever envisaged him being in front of Cruise Control or Golden Sickle, who are arguably the two quickest horses in the country. But that’s what happened. You know, once the horse took him on, he had no alternative but to let the horse go. I’m surprised he lasted until the 150m mark under the circumstances, so being beaten four and a half lengths after he left the horse alone wasn’t as bad as it may appear on paper.”
The first two things in the Vercingetorix geldings favour are he will be better prepared this time and this is also 200m shorter, which logically will allow him a better chance of settling as the pace should be quicker. He should thus have a better chance of slotting in from another wide draw.
Gavin Lerena will be aboard this time.
Robert continued, “Gavin, unlike Grant last time, knows the horse from Cape Town. You just cannot fight this horse. You need him to do what he wants to do. The two biggest dangers must be Dreamland, who is going for five in a row, and Pistol Pete. Richard has the number one draw on Dreamland and Pistol Pete is drawn reasonably and has tremendous gatespeed. Gavin’s just going to have to try and get across. My horse has got superb gate speed and he got across very easily last time without using up much horse. So hopefully Gavin can do that again. But you have to settle this horse. Having said that, you can’t fight him in the process. So, you know, it’s a fine line. But hopefully he can do that. He’s going to have to try and slot in and get the horse to drop the bit. You just can’t go to the front and get involved in a speed duel and have what happened last time. It’s going to be tough from the draw, but he’s a really good horse. You have just got to catch him right on the day.”
Dreamland makes plenty of appeal from pole position because he has superb natural pace, that has seen him lead in his sequence of wins on the Highveld, and he is able to kick off that pace and put the race to bed. He has gone up from an 86 to 105 in the merit ratings as a result of those wins. However, he is superbly bred, being by Lancaster Bomber out of an Oasis Dream daughter of the champion sprinter Val De Ra, and could have more to come.
Pistol Pete is very quick and will be ideally suited to the minimum trip.
There are sosme other points of intrest in the race.
The six-year-old gelding Pray For Rain, now trained by Carl Hewitson, goes for his third win in this race, having been successful in 2021 and last year.
The three-year-old Underworld looks to have plenty of class and could be aimed at classic events next season. He has his first run after a rest and gelding and his class could give him a shout.
