Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

New tactics for flying Villandry

MICHAEL CLOWER
Vaughan Marshall will adopt new tactics with Villandry in the Betting World Cape Flying Championship at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Last season’s top sprinting two-year-old has made the running in all his three starts this term but has had no answer when tackled in the final stages.
“We are going to hold him up for the first time this season,” says Marshall.
“We now think that’s the way to ride him, although it’s still difficult for him at this stage. He is going to be more competitive in three months’ time.”
The sponsors’ Cape Town offices make the gelding an 11-2 chance and have installed Warm White Night favourite at 3-1. Captain’s Secret is on 9-2 and you can get 8-1 about Hear The Drums, Thunder Key and Casey Cool.
Mike Bass is leaning towards running River Jetez in the J&B Met rather than keeping her to her own sex in the Majorca where she is badly drawn. Bass has booked Glen Hatt who was third on her in last year’s J&B Met.
Greg Ennion finally put last year’s horror story behind him when John Harrison’s Sangria Girl defied top weight in the Cape Breeders Club Sun Classique Handicap at Kenilworth on Saturday.
The Wolfhound mare was bred by Gary Player and was delivered with impeccable timing by Karl Neisius.
“I had a brain seizure on August 16 and I was forced by my neurologist to stay away from work,” related the Milnerton trainer.
“In fact I did work two hours a day but I still lost owners. Fortunately others, like John, stood by me. I’ve now been back full time for the last three weeks and the tide is turning.”
Neisius promptly brought Tassie Belle with a strong run to land the Cape Breeders Club Jamaica Handicap, much to the delight of owners Joy and Rodney Dunn, while breeder John Koster was quick to point out that he has plenty more like this Casey Tibbs filly at Klawervlei.
Tassie Belle is trained by Basil Marcus who was also on the mark with Uly - completing a rapid-fire treble for Neisius - in the concluding Equi-Feeds Handicap and 25-1 shot Texas Jack in a rough run fifth, the www.freemanstallions.co.za Handicap.
Marcus leaves for Singapore after the J&B Met and Mike de Beer will take over his Milnerton yard. De Beer, 35, spent seven years with Ivan Allan in Hong Kong before returning home to join Glen Kotzen and then Marcus. He expects to start with between 50 and 60 horses.
Disappointment of the day was Andrew Fortune’s postponement of his long-awaited return.
“I have lost 11 kilos in the past five weeks but I’m still too heavy,” said the champion jockey who has not ridden since last season. “I’m now going to wait another three weeks.”
Joey Ramsden, for whom Fortune rode so many of his 203 winners last season, sprang a 25-1 surprise with the Chris Puller-ridden Mount Mulanje in Gisela Burg’s colours in the opening maiden and promptly followed up when Kelvin Jupp on Rozelana just got the better of We Three in the Riverton Stud Maiden.
The winner is owned and bred by the Robertsons’ Milkwood Stud where Ramsden used to house-sit in his Port Elizabeth days.
Grafton Street continued his extraordinary comeback when making much of the running under Richard Fourie in the Cheveley Stud Handicap to win for the second time in four weeks.
“His owner-breeder Margaret Filmer sent him to me nine months ago to see if I could find a home for him,” related trainer Mike Stewart.
“He had broken down and was in a riding school. But he proved to love racing and I ride him myself at home.”
Gerrit Schlechter brought Badger Lake with a beautiful run up the inner to thwart Wood Be’s bid to make all in the Litchfield Stud Maiden and win race three for the Steele brothers and Stan Elley.
Greg Cheyne is doing well in Hong Kong and wife Claire’s High Waters
survived a bad bump 600m out to
land the fourth, the Wilgerbosdrift Handicap, for the Karis Teetan-Glen Kotzen combination.
The carryover Pick 6 pool reached R2,2million and the popular exotic bet proved particularly remunerative with 42 punters each winning R52,484.

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