Andrew Harrison
William Of Orange has been up and down in distance as is the want of exceptional horseman Garth Puller but the drop of 1200m after stretching to 2400m at his penultimate start saw him produce his best as he got the better of Owner Of Creation in a tough fight up the straight in the first on the poly at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Friday evening.
Placed only once in nine starts, William Of Orange was not an obvious choice but he kept running under Siphesihle Hlengwa to hold off his Dennis Bosch-trainer rival.
Bosch went one better in the second as Keagan de Melo, canny to Hong Kong tactics, got first run on Vaans Spirit to win the second rather comfortably. In truth, De Melo had the race sewn up a long way out and won with plenty in hand.
An apprentice allowance can go both ways. A 4kg claimer can be a liability but trainers that pick up on early talent will always benefit. Sean Tarry cottoned on early to Lyle Hewitson that paid huge dividends for the yard. Dezahn Louw has potential but it will be a long road in a cut-throat environment.
That said, he got the best out of Wonderful Tonight for Glen Kotzen in the first leg of the Pick 6. It was anyone’s race with a furlong to run but Louw got the best out of the favourite when it counted and Wonderful Tonight stretched away to win well in a tough open maiden.
Like any good red wine that improves with age, Fine Wine is proving to be the equine equivalent. Winless at the start of this season, Garth Puller’s filly now boasts three wins and three seconds from just five starts and showed a fine turn of foot when coming from the back end of the field to whistle past the opposition and win going away. Zena Rose was a touch unlucky as she found some traffic but in the final analysis, she was always going to finish second.
Cole Dicken produced a telling run up the outside of a tightly bunched field as Sweeper Keeper lived up to his name. It was anyone’s race approaching the final 50 meters with a wall of horses contesting the finish, but Dicken gave Wendy Whitehead’s gelding a clear run at the wire and he gradually wore done the opposition to get up close home with pacemaker Got The Word holding on for second in a close finish.
The now retired multiple champion jockey Anton Marcus labelled the outside of the poly track straight as the ‘golden highway’. The track has been resurfaced since but for the third race in a row, the winners all came from the back and down the outside.
In truth, Trippi’s Silk could have won the sixth from anywhere as Sean Veale hardly had to move a muscle as the gelding made light of his top weight. Slightly slow out of the gate, Veale settled his mount towards the back of the field. Wide into the straight, the writing was on the wall a long way out as Trippi’s Silk effortlessly picked off his rivals to win as he liked for Candice Bass and her assistant Terry Frip.
Masterofthedesert made it a quick double for the stable as apprentice Dezahn Louw rode a confident race on the favourite for his second winner of the evening. Well back crossing the subway as fellow apprentice Mxolisi Mbuto went for broke on Super Fast, Louw got Masterofthedesert to build into his stride and come with a well-timed run to snaffle Super Fast close home.
The last race of a night meeting was long past Gary Rich’s bedtime but it paid dividends as De Vlugge and Dawn Surprise finished one and three with Qhawekazi separating the pair. It was the third straight win for De Vlugge who pulled Mickaelle Michel into the lead and there she stayed, finishing strongly to hold off her rivals. The start did not go well for Saragossa Cat as she came out on her knees and Keagan de Melo did the right thing, easing her out of the race.
