Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

River ran the race of her life

MICHAEL CLOWER
Pocket Power’s incredible Queen’s Plate-J&B Met sequence may finally have come to an end last Saturday but Mike Bass has not lost one iota of faith in the champion and he is already talking of bringing him back for next year’s race.
Pocket Power was struck into behind, and this could well have accounted for his defeat, but equally the moment that ended his 15-race unbeaten 1 400m-plus Kenilworth record almost certainly came when Mother Russia shot two lengths clear at the 400m mark. The favourite was in full flow by this stage, and the cheers of all those who backed him were threatening to lift the roof off the stands, but in an instant he had too much ground for even him to make up.
He gallantly kept eating into the leeway as his full sister River Jetez passed Mother Russia but, as Glen Hatt punched the air in triumph, he was still half a length and the same behind. Fort Vogue was a short head away fourth to give Mike Bass three of the first four. “I’ve no excuses,” reported rider Bernard Fayd’Herbe. “The two fillies really flew and I was always battling to get there.” Hatt,45, winning his second Met, blessed his luck in opting for the right tactics, saying: “The idea was to track Pocket Power but, when I saw Mother Russia travelling so well, I decided to follow her and it all played into my hands.” It was Met number five for Bass who said: “Pocket Power ran a great race giving weight to two fillies who both ran the race of their lives, and he ran his heart out. He is still as good as ever and he will probably be back next year. In the meantime he, River Jetez and Fort Vogue will go to Durban.” Bass was also full of praise for his 15-1 winner. The Jet Master mare, bred by the Out Of Africa Stud, was a R230 000 National Two-Year-Old sale purchase for Cedric and Barbara Amm and Marsh Shirtliff.
Bravura extended his unbeaten run to five when outstaying Noordhoek Flyer in a thriller for the Investec Cape Derby. Anton Marcus brilliantly made light of the Silvano gelding’s outside draw and his mount bravely battled back when the Cape Guineas winner headed him 200m out. Joey Ramsden, who trains the winner for Markus and Ingrid Jooste, and breeder Veronica Foulkes, said : “That was a masterful ride from Anton who broke quickly, gave him a breather and kept something back for when he was challenged. “I was going to keep Bravura at home for the winter series but now I’ll have to look at the Durban July.” Karl Neisius reported that the runner-up found the distance “just a fraction too far.” But Aim High, Irish Flame and Ancestral Fore all suffered when Bold Silvano made his move 400m out. Rider Warren Kennedy declined to sign an admission of guilt and faces an inquiry. The stewards were also busy when Gluwein finished like a rocket under Anthony Delpech to dead-heat with the Bass-trained, Neisius-ridden Love Is In The Air in the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes. Delpech promptly lodged an objection, saying: “I was knocked sideways just before we turned in.” But, after much deliberation, this was over-ruled. The result was a triumph for Pat and Henry Devine who own and bred Love Is In The Air, like Gluwein a daughter of their champion sire Jet Master. Breeder Vaughan Koster owns Gluwein in partnership with Chubby Chandler, De Kock and golfers Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy. Greg Ennion’s return to the limelight continued when Sangria Girl under Raymond Danielson proved too strong for the opposition in the J&B Reserve Stayers to delight John Harrison who owns the Gary Player-bred Wolfhound mare. She will now be aimed at the Canon Gold Cup. The 35,000 crowd was nearly 10% up on last year. Tote turnover on the big race, and the national tote’s total, were also up.
Gold Circle’s total was slightly down but, as Western Cape chairman Vidrik Thurling pointed out, it was a good performance in the present economic climate. So too was that of the Western Province Owners and Trainers who raised over R1 million for charity at their function last Wednesday evening.

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