Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Sweet performance by Chocolicious

David Thiselton
The Herman Brown-trained Kahal filly, Chocolicious, got the big race ball rolling nicely for the KZN trainers at Scottsville yesterday as she fought off the Gauteng raider Waywest Goddess in brave fashion under Johnny Geroudis to win the Grade 1 Allan Robertson Championship over 1 200m. Geroudis also won this race last year with the Sean Tarry-trained Give Me Five. Chocolicious beat Intellectual in a grass gallop on Tuesday and looked superb in the parade ring yesterday. Frank Robinson, Brown’s assistant trainer, allowed her “to get big” for her second start having won on debut, knowing that the Allan Robertson was her target. She was beaten three lengths there by Romantic Moon, who went off one of the favourites yesterday, while Chocolicious started at an incredible 55-1. Geroudis was content to bide his time a few lengths off a strong pace set by Ibrox Park. Chocolicious responded immediately to his urgings and after taking the lead fought off a challenge from the Louis Goosen-trained Waywest Goddess to win by 0,5 lengths. The Mike de Kock-trained 7-2 favourite Mahbooba ran on from behind to finish third ahead of the Paul Matchett-trained Oochee Agent and the George Scott-trained Stormy Coast. Chocolicious was bred by Backworth Stud and is owned by P Ebbs, MG Frost, MA Robinson, L Kapustina, Herman Brown himself and Neil Smith. The celebrations for the KZN training contingent were even greater in the second two-year-old feature, the Grade 1 Gold Reef Resorts Medallion over 1 200m, as the Dennis Drier-trained Link Man, under Alec Forbes, just touched off the Charles Laird-trained Sports Coach, while the Alistair Gordon-trained Tuscan Sky blazed a lone trail down the inside rail to run a gallant third. Drier won this race with Spook And Diesel in 1990, while Forbes won on the Duncan Howells-trained Zeeno in 2006. Link Man provided the sire Toreador with his first Grade 1 victory. Link Man had won by steeple chase margins in his last two starts, but they were against very weak fields so he was allowed to go off at 9-1. Tuscan Sky was out like a shot and lead for much of the race on the inside. However, he was caught late by the pair on the outside, Link Man and Sports Coach who fought out a thrilling finish, with Link Man getting up by a quarter-of-a-length. Tuscan Sky held on for third ahead of the odds-on 13-20 favourite from the Mike de Kock yard, Kavanagh. De Kock’s Sky Marshall finished fifth. Link Man is owned by Larry Nestadt, Greg Blank and GZ Burg and was bred by the Tawny Syndicate. The most eagerly awaited race of the day was probably the SA Fillies Sprint over 1 200m due to the clash between the two brilliant three-year-olds, the Drier-trained Val De Ra and the de Kock-trained Gibraltar Blue. A few shrewd punters did not ignore the versatile Sean Tarry-trained four-year-old Captain’s Gal, especially considering Tarry has a fine record in this race. They proved on the mark as Piere Strydom brought her home for the first of his two Group 1 wins on the day. Captain’s Gal sat off the pace set by Val De Ra, Gibraltar Blue and Purple Lake, travelling comfortably, and Strydom said afterwards it was just a matter of time before she got there. Gibraltar Blue pulled away from Val De Ra in the final 300m but Captain’s Gal wore her down and got there late to win by 0,25 lengths. Gibraltar Blue finished second ahead of Val De Ra. Badger’s Cove and Purple lake were next best. Captain’s Gal, owned by Chris van Niekerk, is by Captain Al and was bred by Normandy Stud.

\| All information on these pages are (©) Copyright Gold Circle Pty (Ltd) 2002 \| site map
(This site is best viewed at 1024 X 768)