The champion yard of Sean Tarry kicked into full stride at Turffontein yesterday as the four-year-old Trippi colt Trip To Heaven won the Gr 2 World Sports Betting Spring Challenge over 1450m under S’Manga Khumalo in impressive style. The pair later combined for a double when another four-year-old by Trippi, the 101 merit-rated Zambezi River, won a Pinnacle event over 1000m cosily, while Ormond Ferraris also scored a double, including winning the Gr 2 World Sports Betting Spring Fillies and Mares Stakes over 1450m with the crack filly Lazer Star, who was ridden by Weichong Marwing.

Down at Durbanville the Joey Ramsden-trained Act Of War and the Mike Bass-trained Inara confirmed their brilliance when respectively winning the Gr 3 Matchem Stakes under Anton Marcus and the Gr 3 Diana Stakes under Grant van Niekerk, both over1400m.

Trip To Heaven had to be reshod at the start and then stumbled shortly after jumping, but after surging to the front he settled beautifully. The brilliant Charles Laird-trained miler Ice Machine, who raided from KZN, was well in at the weights on official merit ratings under the weight for age plus penalties conditions, but did not get the pace he needed and was forced to race wide from his high draw. Trip To Heaven kicked for home superbly and when Ice Machine’s challenge petered out, it was left to the Alec Laird-trained Bouclette Top to chase him home and clinch his second Gr 2 runner up spot over this sort of trip. The Tarry-trained Whiteline Fever pipped Ice Machine for third and the Tarry-trained Halve The Deficit was fifth. Trip To Heaven now looks likely to stay the trip of the Gr 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile on October 31.

Earlier, the Ormond Ferraris-trained Toreador four-year-old filly Lazer Star proved herself more than just a pure sprinter when winning the Gr 2 World Sports Betting Spring Fillies and Mares Challenge over 1450m under Weichong Marwing. She has now won seven races from just nine starts, six of them over sprints, and is fittingly owned by Marwing’s wife Anneli. Under yesterday’s weight for age conditions, she bided her time in third place behind a steady pace set by Sarve and after creeping forward in the straight she found a telling late kick to go on and win comfortably by 1,75 lengths, converting even money favouritism. Sarve, rated 103 compared to Lazer Star’s 109, held on for second ahead of the three-year-old Madame Dubois.

Ferraris had earlier sent out the Australian-bred Duke Of Marmalade mare Marmalady to score her third win on the trot in a Pinnacle Stakes event over 2200m and she looks to be a highly progressive stayer.

National log-leading jockey Andrew Fortune scored an early double and one of his winners, the three-year-old Gary Alexander-trained Kahal colt Champagne Haze, a half-brother to Piere Jourdan, had a fair bunch spread out like the washing behind him in a MR 92 handicap for three-year-olds over 1450m.

At Durbanville, the Western Cape’s Champion Three-Year-old colt from last season, the now four-year-old Dynasty colt Act Of War, sat one wide in midfield in the Matchem Stakes, which meant he was some way out of his ground on the tight course after the Justin Snaith-trained Heartland, to whom he was giving 2kg, had stolen a march down the inside. However, he came home powerfully after winding up into his big stride and beat Heartland by a comfortable 1,5 lengths, converting 1/3 odds. Charles Lytton finished third and Line Break and second favourite Sail For Gold were next best. Three of the first four are by Dynasty and Charles Lytton is by Dynasty’s half-brother Thomas Crown.

In The Diana Stakes Inara, who conceded at least 3kg to the entire field, sat in second place behind her sprint-miler stablemate Come Fly With Me. After she had eventually found top gear in the straight, she surged past to win by a length, converting odds of 5/10. Come Fly To Me was second favourite at 5/2 and finished second. Fear Not was only a head back in third, ahead of Harvard Crimson and Just Felicity.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Inara winning the Diana Stakes (Liesl King)