The Mike De Kock-trained Soqrat would probably be of the quiet unassuming sort if he were human as he is not at all imposing and has impeccable manners.

However, this does not prevent him from being an exceptional racehorse and he proved this again at Turffontein on Saturday under Callan Murray.

He once again obeyed his jockey’s every command in the Pinnacle Stakes event over 1600m, going to the front from a wide draw and then switching off, allowing Flying Winger to take the lead.

In the straight he crept up under the hands and when asked the question changed into a higher gear.

He was soon forging clear and won easing up by 1,10 lengths from his heavily backed and running-on stablemate Like A Panther, who was returning from a layoff but nevertheless shortened from 20/1 to 113/20. Flying Winger was a 2,75 length third.

Soqrat was comfortably best in at the weights but did have to carry 62kg, no easy task first up, so this was a fine start to a season in which the races he will contest like the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate might well see their strongest ever renewals.

By David Thiselton

Pomodoro is the latest in a long list of headline makers left by his famous sire Jet Master and three of his progeny won in one meeting at Turffontein last week.

All three, Ballon D’Or, Golden Belle and Westlife are trained by Pomodoro’s former trainer Sean Tarry and were ridden by Raymond Danielson.

The first two were bred by Klawervlei Stud and the other by Guillaume Stud.

Tarry has the midas touch in the sales and breeding rings and by now people should know to sit up and take notice when he supports the unfashionable.

Pomodoro could not have been considered a highly sort after sire when he first appeared and Tarry also supported the Jet Master sire Skitt Skizzle, who was not a stakes winner but is proving a useful sire.

Pomodoro’s five lots at this year’s Cape Premier Yearling Sale sold for an average of R295,000.

The former Vodacom Durban July winner can be considered a miracle horse as he had to be nursed back from serious illness by Baker and McVeigh veterinarians while still in training.

His best progeny to date are the twice Grade 1-winner Return Flight and the four time Grade 1-placed Cirillo.

By David Thiselton

Umkhomazi winner African Warrior has to give between 4kg and 10.5kg to the entire field in in the Cape Classic when Cape Town racing returns to Kenilworth on Saturday week. In addition he has been hit with a 21 draw and so it is hardly surprising that he is far from certain to run.

Dean Kannemeyer, who won the 1 400m test with Depardieu eight years ago, said: “The draws have not been kind to African Warrior. He was drawn widest of all when he won the Group race in Durban and when he ran fifth in the Matchem. I haven’t yet made a decision on whether he will run in the Classic.

“I have other horses in the race and I am going to gallop some of them at Durbanville on Thursday including Liberty Hall who was second in the Premiers Champion. He comes in quite well in the Classic but it depends on how he works on Thursday.”

Durban-based Dennis Bosch has booked Craig Zackey for recent Graduation winner Padre Pio while Candice Bass-Robinson has accepted with Sophomore Sprint winner Three Two Charlie, Arctic Drift and Langerman victor Snow Report who was seventh in the Pinnacle on Saturday.

Justin Snaith has declared three and intriguingly these include General Franco who will be ridden for the first time by dual champion S’Manga Khumalo. Richard Fourie will be on Sachdev and Robert Khathi on Captain Tatters.

By Michael Clower

S’Manga Khumalo is back and hungry after an extended spell in the doldrums and the former champion jockey is now a regular at KZN meetings. He paid for his airfare and some more as he got his meeting off to a flying start on the Dennis Bosch runner Treading Water in the card opener at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday.

First timer James Peter was hampered out of the gate which did his chances no good but with Donovan Dillon pushing forward on Valiente a thankful Khumalo slotted in behind in second and James Peter also pressing forward.

Two furlongs out Valiente looked to have it all in hand but his fuel gauge went from full to empty in a matter of strides leaving Treading Water to go clear. But he too was ‘treading water’ as the filly Ode loomed up on his outside, the line coming just in time.

Valiente may have let the side down in the first but Dillon made no mistakes on Brett Crawford’s filly Gwendolyn in the next. Gwendolyn, Royal View and Another Secret stood out as the form runners and the finished one-two-three.

With Belinda Impy handing in her brief towards the end of last season, Lady Colleen Glaeser moved most of her runners to Wayne Badenhorst and Lady Legend provided their first winner together. A close-up second over course and distance last time out, Muzi Yeni took no prisoners with Lady Legend bolting clear to win by the best part of four lengths.

Parting company with his mount Silent Crusade at Hollywoodbets Scottsville last month will have been fresh in Keagan De Melo’s mind. It was a fearful fall and a miracle that he escaped serious injury.

De Melo was back on board Mark Dixon’s filly yesterday where he rode a cracking finish on the favourite. Tracking the pace, Silent Crusade shifted into top gear 400m out but didn’t look at all comfortable as she hung out and seemingly not to keen to go on with her effort. But De Melo kept hard at her and she gamely held off a charging phalanx headed by Generous Lady and Exclusive Quantity.

No doubt young Luke Ferraris will have designs on a career in Hong Kong where his father is a leading trainer and judging pace correctly a prerequisite. Ferraris has a way to go yet if he is ever to get the nod from the super picky Hong Kong Jockey Club but he rode a perfectly judge race on Self-Mastery for Garth Puller. He got a soft lead from a wide draw and made the most of it, going for the line on the home turn and drawing off to win comfortably.

That said, he may have misjudged the pace on Georgina Rose in the very next race as Calvin Habib played the small field on the brake. All under a hard hold for much of the contest, Mary O kept finding when asked the question. Electric Surge tried hard and Jacks Bird arrived late with Georgina Rose struggling to quicken off the slow pace.

On contrast, there was no hanging around in the seventh as apprentice Jason Gates set a solid pace on Bling A Ding Ding that suited winner Coyote Girl. Stuart Randolph sat her in one from last and when all were gasping for air, Coyote Girl picked them off to win smartly.

Title-chasing Warren Kennedy, twice beaten into second on the day, got it right in the last as Dennis Bosch opened and closed the meeting. Kennedy left it late on Mutawaary to ware down game veteran Big King and deny Randolph a quick double.

By Andrew Harrison

Pretty Young Thing is going to be a major contender in Saturday week’s Western Cape Fillies Championship judging by the emphatic way she beat older horses in the TAB Telebet Conditions Plate at Durbanville on Saturday.

Only two fillies in the 1 400m Grade 2 are rated superior to her – the Mike de Kock-trained Gin Fizz and Alan Greeff’s World Radar – and the Ridgemont filly is clearly on the upgrade, winning three of her last four.

True, she is drawn 24 out of 28 but neither Greg Cheyne nor Brett Crawford seem unduly concerned, both pointing to her considerable gate speed. The jockey, now third on the national log with 45 winners, added: “She pinged the gates here and, when I asked her to go, she really lengthened – and to the line she just coasted.”

Drama Queen, an encouraging third in her first race for three and a half months, is also bound for the Western Cape Fillies but she will be 2kg worse.

Crawford, true to recent form, went home with a treble with Kilindini convincingly justifying favouritism in the Betting World Maiden and Bag Of Tricks (backed from 7-1 to 2-1) just holding on in an incident-packed finale.

But this was a treble with a difference because Bag Of Tricks enabled the Philippi trainer to join the successful band who have trained 1 000 winners.

Corne Orffer, who also rode Kilindini, had to survive an objection from Donovan Dillon on runner-up Brother Louis before he could join in the celebrations and he was suspended for a week (Oct 16-22) for causing interference to the unplaced Snowy Mountain.

Morne Winnaar, riding the leader Bindi, was given the same unwanted seven-day holiday for causing interference to runner-up Lana Belle early on in Pretty Young Thing’s race.

Racehorse trainers, and often owners too, need to be blessed with abnormal amounts of patience and Agent Of Fortune provided a perfect example of how this gift can pay off in the Tellytrack.com Pinnacle.

While Bwana, in the words of commentator Philip Sarembock “went off like a dirty shirt,” M.J. Byleveld sat handy a couple of lengths behind and pounced when the leader’s exertions took their toll in the final furlong.

Vaughan Marshall said: “It has been a long hard struggle with this horse. He won a feature first time out (the Kuda Sprint on Met day last year). We then took him to Durban and he chipped a knee at Summerveld. Then he went in the wind.”

The expression of Marsh Shirtliff, who shares ownership with Bryn Ressel, seemed to suggest he was reliving every painful moment when he was asked about the horse’s history!

Richard Fourie, four winners at Fairview on Friday, landed a Justin Snaith double on Queen’s Club and Dancing Sally to take his total for the season to 33.

Anthony Andrews and Andre Nel were also in double form, landing the opener with Aqua Bolt and the third with Quickstep Lady, one of four horses on the day who set new class records.

By Michael Clower