Geoff Woodruff has reluctantly sent his SANSUI Summer Cup winner and runner up, Master Sabina and Deo Juvente, down to Cape Town earlier than intended and they arrived at the Milnerton training centre over the weekend.
Master Sabina (JC Photos)
The chief target for both is the J&B Met and Woodruff had wanted to train them out of Randjesfontein, but became “panicky” due to a recent positive African Horse Sickness case in North Pretoria, which fell only just outside a 40km radius from Randjes. If the case had been within the 40km radius they would not have been allowed to travel.
Both horses have also been nominated for the Gr 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate but Woodruff is not sure yet whether they will take their places.
He admitted both Master Sabina, as a Gr 1 winner with a 108 merit rating, and Deo Juvente, off a 104 merit rating, had tough tasks under the conditions of the Met, which is basically a weight for age race with a Gr 1 penalty. Both horses would be 6kg under sufferance with the 120 merit rated Legal Eagle if the weights were set today.
However, he added the six-year-old Jet Master gelding Master Sabina should have come on from the Summer Cup, for which he was “only just ready enough and I think he got away with it”, while the four-year-old Trippi gelding Deo Juvente was a “big strong” young horse who was improving.
Woodruff faced a dilemma when Deo Juvente’s jockey Sean Cormack objected against Master Sabina in the Summer Cup, but fortunately the stipendiary stewards allowed him to remain neutral.
It was the third time in succession Woodruff yard had achieved the Summer Cup exacta and this included doing the trifecta two years ago.
This year’s result saw the five-time championship winning yard soaring from 18th place on the National Trainer’s log to 7th.
The two horses will be staying at the Woodruff satellite yard in Cape Town which is run by his daughter Lucinda.
By David Thiselton
