Torrential rain and lightning that affected the outside broadcast was not enough to stop racing at Greyville yesterday. Bucketing rain flooded the poly track but after a lengthy delay, tractors squelching through the puddles and a track inspection, racing went ahead.
The Ashburton stable of Louis Goosen was in the doldrums for a few months towards the end of last year, but the wheel has turned in the past few weeks and he took his season’s tally to 15 as Bravo Zulu, showing no ill effects from his narrow loss last Wednesday, backed up with a solid victory in the first.
Goosen had lodged an objection on Wednesday which was over-ruled, which in the light of yesterday’s win, was probably a blessing.
“It was probably 50/50,” commented Goosen on the objection. “But you know it was 90/10 with the emotion taking over.”
The storm hit shortly after the running of the first and it was over an hour before Getaway got to strut her stuff for Wendy Whitehead. The temperamental Diamondsandpearls was sent out favourite but came under pressure early in the straight as Getaway lived up to her name.
“She’s a really nice filly, very quick,” said Whitehead. Getaway finished fourth behind winners in a KZN Breeders race but pulled a back muscle which took time to heal, hence the lengthy break.
Diego de Gouveia had a rocky start to his riding career, in and out of the Jockey Academy and riding in work rider races for a time, but his perseverance has paid off. More importantly he has caught the eye of some of the bigger yards in Gauteng and made the most of his ride on Atyaab to win the Gr1 Cape Derby for Mike de Kock on Sun Met day.
De Gouveia was only three weeks out of his time as an apprentice before winning the Derby and he showed yesterday why he has been given chances at the highest level as he steered Moshav home in the third for Stuart Pettigrew.
Well off the pace turning for home, De Gouveia steered the favourite through gap after gap to get the favourite home when at one stage he was staring at defeat.
Ivan van Wyk is one of the quiet men of racing training off the farm at Yellow Star Stud in the KZN midlands and he is mostly left with the lessor lights. But he has kept the seven-year-od Putchini on the boil and he scored the eighth win of his career in 83 starts when landing the fourth. “He is never unsound,” said Van Wyk of his charge who had four starts last month.
Anton Marcus has plum rides nearly every meeting and he makes the most of them as he rarely goes home without at least one scalp on his belt. His winning strike rate is nearly one in every three rides – 31.5% currently.
He scored a double yesterday, driving Wordbuster home for Garth Puller in the fifth to deny championship rival Muzi Yeni on Whiskey Road and he went two clear of Yeni with another polished ride on Sir Bernadini for Dennis Bosch in the seventh with Yeni, who did not get the best of passages, third on Legend.
Serino Moodley is another rider just out of his time and he caused something of an exotic bet boil-over as he got Frank Robinson’s 20-1 chance Komeshans Flight home ahead of Heart Of A Legend.
Keagan de Melo deputised for De Gouveia on the Pettigrew-trained Bel Canto Chorus in the last, as De Gouveia was forced to leave early or miss his flight back to Johannesburg. It proved something of an arm-chair ride for De Melo as Bel Canto Chorus sprinted clear and won as she liked.
By Andrew Harrison
