David Thiselton
The weekend was a memorable one for big players both in South Africa and overseas, with Hollywood Racing having memorable experiences both at home and abroad, while two Race Coast Sales races at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday went to deserved big players and a new ownership record was established on the same day in the Grand National at Aintree.
In the R6 million Race Coast Sales Big Cap over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday the winner was Roland Garros from the yard of champion trainer Justin Snaith and this horse runs in the Greg and Gina Bortz colours which were carried to Hollywoodbets Durban July glory by Oriental Charm two years ago. Greg and Gina need no introduction and own Roland Garros in partnership with JP Cuvelier.
Both Roland Garros and Oriental Charm are by Vercingetorix, a sire which Greg had famously targeted at the Sales before his stallion profile had reached the phenomenal heights of today. The strategy has brought him his two biggest pay days in racing.
Three-year-old Roland Garros was officially 2,5kg out with the best weighted runner, the filly Just Be Lekka, but he faced the four-year-old favourite Talk To The Master as well as the two other prominent three-year-olds Randolph Hearst and Malmesbury Missile on exact handicapping terms.
Roland Garros’ form on paper was virtually on a par with Malmesbury Missile, but he had the advantage of pole position, whilst the latter was draw wide in nine in the 12 horse field. Roland Garros was also entitled to have come on from his last start, a close runner up finish in the March Stakes over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on March 1, as it provided a springboard into the Big Cap.
Roland Garros had been beaten 1,40 lengths by his stablemate Randolph Hearst in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas, but his form points to him being better over shorter and in fact Roland Garros had beaten Randolph Hearst as a juvenile over 1500m, albeit by a shorthead.
In the Big Cap Talk To The Master had a good draw of two and Randolph Hearst had a fair draw of five.
As it happened JP van der Merwe used Roland Garros’s good gatespeed and early speed to find the perfect position on the rail behind Isivivane, who was sitting behind Just Be Lekka, who was setting a fair pace.
The 18/10 favourite Talk To The Master sat behind Roland Garros, but the latter was able to steal a march on him turning for home.
Talk To The Master came around What A Fortune, who turned for home alongside Roland Garros, but whilst Craig Zackey had to ride the favourite all the way down the straight, JP van der Merwe still had Roland Garros in the hands at the 200m mark and the writing was on the wall.
Roland Garros won by 1,0 lengths from Talk To The Master with What A Fortune staying on to be beaten just a head into third and next best were Isivivane and Randolph Hearst.
Malmesbury Missile had to come from last after being dropped out and was too far back, finishing a 4.05 length sixth.
The first prize was a cool R3 million, in comparison to the R2,94 million Oriental Charm had banked for his July win.
Greg Bortz purchased the Varsfontein Stud-bred Roland Garros for R1.3 million at the Race Coast Sales Cape Premier Yearling Sale.
There was a remarkable result in the R3 million Race Coast Sales Slipper as the first three past the post were all part-owned by the racing partnership of Laurence Wernars, Rikesh Sewgoolam and Mukund Gujadhur, while the Wernars was sole owner of the fourth-placed horse.
Sean Tarry was trainer of the victor, the Querari colt Turn It Up, who was the joint-most impressive winner of the day and looks to have an exciting future ahead of him. The half-brother to the Gr 1 Gold Medallion winner Proceed (Gimmethegreenlight) is also bred by Wernars and after being dropped out from a wide draw of ten in the 1200m contest he made up the ground effortlessly on the outside under Keagan de Melo and won easing up by 2,20 lengths.
The Vaughan Marshall-trained One World colt World Series was second followed by the Piet and Elbert Steyn-trained Gr 3 Ridgemont Cape Of Good Hope Nursery winner Red Spice (Erik The Red) and next best were the Louis Goosen-trained Erik Dubois (Erik The Red) and the Tarry-trained Secretary Bird (Rafeef).
Fitting in with those two Sales results was the win of the Marshall-trained Questioning in an A Stakes race, the other most impressive winner of the day. He is owned by the Bortz’s in partnership with Gujadhur and the Wernars Family and sounded a warning to other big older 1200m to a mile horses in the Champions Season.
On Friday at Fairview Hollywood Racing scored a double, including winning the day’s feature with the Dean Smith-trained Craig Zackey-ridden 117-rated sprinter Cruise Control. When the Cliffie Miller-trained Lancaster Bomber gelding Cheerful Charlie B won the last race of the day, Hollywood had reached 128 wins for the season, which equalled their own record for wins in a season that they had set last term.
When the Vengi Masawi-trained Qhude Manikiniki won the second at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday, Hollywood Racing had set a new mark for themselves of 129 and they ended the weekend on 131 wins for the season.
Hollywood Racing and Riskesh Sewgoolam had also finished an unlucky second on Friday in a North American Gr 1 race with their crack Drakenstein Stud-bred One World colt One Stripe, confirming that he can compete with the world’s best in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland.
In the Grand National on Saturday legendary owner and punter JP McManus became the first owner in history to win the race four times when 2024 winner I Am Maximus regained the crown. Watched by a crowd of 59,962 I Am Maximus became the first horse since Red Rum to regain his Grand National crown. Trainer Willie Mullins had thus won the race for the third time in succession and he had made it a record-equalling fourth win for a trainer.
