Vaughan Marshall is in unstoppable form at the moment and he can trace the roots of it to that desperate day eight weeks ago when he scratched all nine runners because the stable was in the grip of a respiratory virus.
If that decision sowed the seeds of his current success he is certainly harvesting the rewards. His Kenilworth treble on Saturday was his second of the week and the last six Cape Town meetings have seen him saddle 14 winners.
He recalled: “The virus had been hovering over me for a while but then it got bad for about ten days during which I decided to take the drastic route. It has paid off, the horses are fit and we are cracking on with them.”
Ken Truter was able to celebrate his 60th birthday in style (“My wife told me to pace myself but it’s not easy!”) with all-the-way scorer Even Better and Paladin while MJ Byleveld completed his own and the stable’s treble on the four-month absent Exelero in the Racing.It’s A Rush Handicap.
Zubbadubbadoo’s bid to make it five in a row in the last-named raced proved an expensive anti-climax. The 16-10 favourite never got into it and finished with only two behind him.
Corne Orffer told the stipes that he felt there was something wrong and Brett Crawford said: “I am sure we will find that he is a little bit sore in the morning. He is not a sound horse.”
Langerman winner Ready To Attack ran a fine race over a distance too short for him to take fourth to the comfortable Glen Kotzen-trained winner Albarakah (Greg Cheyne) in the Mother City Handicap, particularly as he lost ground at the start and came back cut into on his left hind. But Justin Snaith wants to see further evidence before he starts regarding the colt as a Guineas horse.
It’s rare indeed for a Mike Bass winner to start at 50-1 but Spanish King surprised the stable as much as the punters under Jason Smitsdorff in the opening maiden.
Candice Robinson said: “He really disappointed first time out and we gelded him, but I wouldn’t have expected him to win this.”
Grant van Niekerk was seen at his determined best on the yard’s Beautiful Bird two races later although he modestly said he was lucky. Maybe he was but he certainly created his own. After repeatedly trying a succession of virtually non-existent gaps he thrust his mount into one that wasn’t there at all and, miraculously, it opened for him. The 15-20 favourite got up to beat fellow Drakenstein homebred Arabian Winter in the last stride.
Paul Reeves rode four of his near-300 winners on Lady Be Mine and her granddaughter Baby Be Mine brought the memories flooding back when leading just over 100m out under Robert Khathi in the 1 200m fillies handicap.
Michael Clower
