Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Nova Zembla, Castlethorpe excel

David Thiselton
Two horses that ooze class were seen winning their maidens at Clairwood yesterday and both look to have bright futures. In the second race, a maiden over 1 200m, the Charles Laird-trained Western Winter three-year-old filly, Nova Zembla, started at 5-10 having been backed in from an opening call of 5-2.
She looked a million dollars going down to the start under Anton Marcus, being a bay that is hard to fault and having class written all over her. She came back even better, leading from the off and easing further clear the further they went, crossing the line 4,25 lengths clear without being extended.
She did not bat an eyelid in the winner’s enclosure and looks to have a fine temperament too. She is a three-parts sister to one of the best juveniles South Africa has seen in recent times, the Geoff Woodruff-trained Western Winter colt Argonaut, who was a facile five length winner of the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes over 1 600m at Clairwood in 2007. Nova Zembla is out of the Elliodor mare, Oceana, a half-sister to Argonaut, and she herself won two Listed races over 1 300m and 1 400m respectively as well as finishing second in both the Grade 1 Allan Robertson over 1 200m and the Grade 1 Thekwini over 1 600m as a juvenile. Anton Marcus was also aboard the other most impressive winner on the day, the Mike Bass-trained Castlethorpe, who is a strongly built Australian-bred three-year-old colt by Not A Single Doubt.
Bernard Fayd’herbe, the Bass stable jockey, is off for a month at present with a broken foot, an injury that occurred sometime ago and he heeded doctor’s advice to give it a rest. Castlethorpe faced strong opposition in his first two starts and caught the eye in both. Being out of a Sadler’s Wells mare, he was always likely to appreciate the step up in trip and after travelling comfortably in about fifth place behind his market rival, the Gavin van Zyl-trained Big City Angel, he drew alongside in the straight before powering clear to win by 1,5 lengths. Beaches, the first-timer by Dynasty from the Kumaran Naidoo yard, was 3,5 lengths further back, and the rest of the field were in a different race, so both Big City ASngel and Beaches can be followed.
Mark Dixon has had a good start to the new season and got the meeting rolling when Gavin Lerena brought home the Way West three-year-old filly Hololulu in a Maiden over 1 200m. This was her third start and she further franked the form of a strong recent maiden that was won by Fragrant Al.
Derryl Daniels is in fine form and rode another winner in the third, a maiden over 1 000m, when he brought the Dave Goss-trained Muhtafal colt with a devastating late rattle on the outside. The fifth saw Duncan Howells and Kevin Shea teaming up to win with the Tamburlaine filly, Sauna’s Rose.
The Joey Ramsden-trained Captain Al filly Possible Dream, who finished third in the Grade 1 Thekwini on debut, proved too classy off a merit rating of 88 in the sixth, a handicap over 1 200m, under Raymond Danielson. The owners were all on course for the winner of the seventh, the Paul Lafferty-trained Manshood three-year-old colt How Many To Won, who gave Kevin Shea a double. In the eighth, the four-year-old Herman Brown-trained Caesour filly Young Caesour was backed from 9-2 to 19-10 and proved she stayed the 1 900m trip, winning under apprentice Jassurick Jordaan. In the last, a maiden over 1 900m, the Joey Ramsden-trained Western Winter filly Crimson Glow was not the most relaxed in the parade ring, but was relaxed in the running and won easily to give Marcus a treble and further frank the form of Fragrant Al’s maiden win.

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