Morgan Dean Smith – CTS ambassador

The Lanzerac Ready To Run Stakes presented by CTS will be run over 1400m at Kenilworth on November 22 where a quality field of 16 runners will contest the R2 million race over 1400m. The winning connections will earn R1 million with prize money being paid out all the way to tenth place.

Sponsor Lanzerac Hotel and Spa’s newly opened Cellar Hall, served as the venue for a five star luncheon on Thursday, followed by the barrier draw where the new CTS ambassador, Morgan Deane Smith, wife of former Proteas captain Graeme Smith, ably assisted the connections in the draw for barrier positions.

Joey Ramsden, trainer of last year’s runner-up Red Ray, is out to revenge his defeat with Red Ray’s half-brother, the Western Winter colt, Brutal Force. However, the draw did not go in his favour and jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe will have to box cleverly from gate twelve.  Amanda Carey drew pole position for the unbeaten Sean Tarry-trained Zambezi River for owners Chris van Niekerk and Markus Jooste.

Less lucky in the draw was the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Var colt, Varlo. Owner Lars Kelp was on hand but drew 18, on the extreme outside. Champion Trainer Justin Snaith had to be content with a mix bag for his three runners, with Sunset Tripp fairing best as Jonathan Snaith drew barrier five for the Greg Bortz owned Trippi colt. Sean Cormack and Cat and The Moon will jump midfield from barrier nine, while Snaith’s third runner, Harvard Crimson will occupy gate thirteen.
(Pictures: Liesl King)

Final field

THE team at Avontuur Estate were ecstatic last week when SA champion sprinter Val De Ra  arrived home safely with her super Frankel foal in tow, from the Quarantine Facility at Drakenstein where she spent the last month. Mom and little ‘Miss Frankel’ are now settling in happily with other mares and foals in the paddocks at this Helderberg Stud Farm.

With her maternal instincts proven beyond doubt after giving birth in the UK in 2013 to a strong filly by another of the world’s top sires, Oasis Dream, and after being covered by Frankel she took on the long trip home to SA with her first foal at foot earlier this year.

“She is looking well and the filly is a real character.  We had a fantastic visit by Val de Ra’s trainer during her racing days, Dennis Drier, and his wife Gill earlier this week and we all agreed that this foal has that something special,” says Avontuur GM Pippa Mickleburgh.  “Val de Ra was recently covered by Oratorio and we are now waiting to see if she is with foal again, but in the meantime she’s enjoying a well-deserved routine and is getting lots of pampering by all of us.”

Val de Ra (Var x Minelli) had a blazing career in South Africa and was crowned the Equus Champion Sprinter for the 2010-11 season with her greatest moment arguably when she beat What A Winter in the 2012 Cape Flying Championship.

Released for Avontuur Estate by Cobie van Oort

Caption: Val de Ra and Miss Frankel are enjoying their time together, as they settle in at Avontuur. (Picture: Liesl King)

BRETT Crawford will give both Champions Cup winner Futura and Captain America (pictured) their first runs of the season in the Green Point Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday week.

He said: “Futura is doing well and he will run even from his bad draw (17). Captain America has taken his gelding really well and has been putting in some good work.”

Captain America, second in both the Grand Parade Cape Guineas and the Investec Cape Derby, won last season’s Lanzerac Ready To Run Stakes and Crawford again has a strong hand in Saturday week’s R2 million race.

His intended runners include last week’s Kenilworth winners Alexis (third on the log) and Star Of Paris. His other entries include Night In Seattle and Valerin.

The final field and draw will be announced at the sponsor’s Stellenbosch hotel on Thursday when Morgan Deane Smith will be in attendance as one of the ambassadors of the race. The singer is the wife of former South African cricket captain Graeme Smith.

However Cape Classic winner Act Of War, who headed the list when the entries were announced last week, goes for the Selangor Cup on the same day. Joey Ramsden said: “The Lanzerac entry was a mistake. He is not qualified for that Ready To Run race.”

Ramsden, who has won two of the last three runnings of the Selangor, also expects to run Kingvoldt in the mile test. He said: “I took him to Kenilworth last Saturday to work him over six furlongs and he put up a smashing gallop.”

Picture: Wayne Marks

The ruptured tendon is the identical injury to the one he had in his right thumb last year with the only difference being that it is “not as severe.”

He said, “A pin has been inserted and there are bandages. I will only have some kind of idea how long I will be out for in about two weeks time, but I will be back riding as soon as possible because after 24 hours I am bored already. There are so many variables. I could possibly come back for one or two horses with the pin still in. I would like to be back for the Cape Guineas on December 20. But on the other hand I could be out for ten weeks, I just have no idea. Even after the pin is removed it still takes a couple of weeks for full movement in the thumb to return.”

Marcus described the incident in which his mount Admiral’s Eye jumped a patch and faltered badly at the 1200m mark of the KZN Guineas Trial on the Greyville turf as “unfortunate”, but was thankful it was not worse as “the horse could have fallen.”

He added, “It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.” He was obviously referring to the big feature races that are fast approaching in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.

He was not sure exactly how the injury occurred, whether it was caused by the rein or the horse’s neck, and all he knew was that it happened sometime during the stumbling incident.

Marcus was out for a period of eleven weeks last year after the operation to his right thumb, but the recovery process might have been effected by an initial delay to the operation in order that he could ride Variety Club in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and also by his attempts to make it back in time for the Vodacom Durban July.

He is currently five ahead of Piere Strydom in the national jockey’s championship, but this injury will probably rule out any chance of landing a fifth title this season.

The Dynasty colt runs in the Gr 2 Green Pont Stakes over 1600m on November 22 and Snaith said, “It was fantastic to see him moving so well. The injury he picked up on July day had been a bit of a concern and that is now all past us. He is back to his best and peaking at the right time. This will obviously be his first run of the season, but I couldn’t be happier with where he is at the moment. This horse never ceases to amaze me.”

–       Snaith Racing