Turffontein Inside track stages a low key nine race meeting tomorrow which is headed by two MR 80 handicaps over 1800m and 1000m respectively.

In the first of them, the fifth race, Zeal And Zest is a rangy four-year-old gelding by Traffic Guard and should be coming into his own. He does have a tough draw to overcome, but showed a good turn of foot when winning last time over 2000m at this course on July 30 and is only three points higher in the merit ratings. Urgent Fury is now a seven-year-old, but has found consistency and remains off a competitive merit rating. He moved up well last time over 1700m at the Vaal and should prefer this tighter track. Eight-year-old Killua Castle is a former Summer Cup runner up, so would win this race with ease off his 78 merit rating if producing anything close to his best. This is his return run on the Highveld, having ended his Port Elizabeth campaign in March, and he loves this course and distance having won two of his three starts here.

Holy Joe is interesting as he returned from an eight month layoff over 1700m and stayed on from pole position to finish just 1,25 lengths behind Urgent Fury. He should have benefitted from the run. However, there is the second run after the rest theory to be concerned about as this race comes just nine days later. He also has a wide draw to overcome, but on the plus side the two time champion jockey S’Manga Khumalo is aboard. Scotland is a nice type of a horse and on first appearance put in a bit of a lacklustre performance last time over this trip on the Standside track. However, the form of that race has turned out to be not bad and off a two point lower merit rating he could make his presence felt from a good draw. Detonation and Revelation also have form chances.

In the second of the MR 89 Handicaps over 1000m, the four-year-old Trippi gelding Cathedral County is still unexposed and is often backed, so this two-time winner from just five starts is likely held in good regard. He could run on to win from a tricky draw of nine, as there is plenty of pace in the race. Alpine Echo has his second run after gelding and as one who possesses plenty of pace could be a big threat from pole position. Topweight All Night Flight has a good draw and the race should pan out well for him. Fidelio was a touch unlucky last time over course and distance and is now better drawn, although was raised two points for that run. Magic is talented and could surprise if bouncing back to form. Duke Nukem is also talented but has breathing issues.

In race two over 1600m, Artax looks likely to relish the step up in trip and from pole position under Piere Strydom this improving sort is chosen as the best bet of the day.

In the first the first-timer Did I Win is by Dynasty out of a one-time wining Galileo mare and will likely prefer further than 1200m but looks to only have the pole position drawn The Great Duchess to beat.

The third looks a straight between Noceur and Rolled Silver, but Oratorio filly Cloud Nine was backed to favourite last time and was very green so should be given another chance.

The seventh is a difficult race, but Shortstop has everything in her favour and should finish in the first three.

By David Thiselton

London Call, beaten by Bull Valley in two high class features in Champions Season, is back in Pinnacles Stakes company over what is arguably his best course and distance at Scottsville on Sunday.

Mark Dixon’s runner has had his issues over the years but under Dixon’s care and some careful placing London Call has managed to win eight of his 15 starts.

He showed good pace in both the Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint and the Gr1 Mercury Sprint before being run out of it late by Bull Valley.

London Call is back in Pinnacle company on Sunday in the Nashua Maritzburg Pinnacle Stakes and is rated 3kg better than anything else in the line-up that makes him an attractive proposition. However, he does face a couple of younger rivals who may have yet to hit their straps.

The Howells-trained Secret Captain was gelded after a couple of disappointing showings towards the tail end of Champions Season. Prior to that he was second in the Gr2 Daisy Guineas to Janoobi, but he had shown his better form over sprints. “He’s a much better in himself since gelding,” says Howells and although he his way out at the weights with London Call he could prove a threat.

So too Di Mazzio. Louise Goosen’s Australian-bred has only had three outings but caught the eye when finishing stoutly in his Scottsville debut behind Prime Suspect. This is a far stronger test but he gets weight all around and the best may still be to come.

Goosen, recently relocated to Ashburton, holds a strong hand in the Yogas Govender Racing Stables Handicap where he saddles two speedy fillies in Effortless Reward and Hastag Strat. Regular pilot Gunter Wrogemann will have made the trip from the Highveld to partner Effortless Reward who, along with Hastag Strat, were both given a strong blow-out on the sand at Ashburton in Tuesday morning.

Both fillies are quick over five furlongs but so too is Muscatt. Although eight-years-old at the beginning of the month, he has lost none of his speed and is arguably over his best course and distance. Michael Roberts was confident that he would run a good race last time out after returning from a break and is was only caught out over the final 50m.

Apprentice Craig Bantam, back from a successful stint in the Western Cape, takes 2.5kg off his back and the two fillies will need to be close to their best to put one over the veteran.

Brighteyebushytail is held in high regard by the stable and looks the part in the Sugar Hill Stables Handicap. The son of Dynasty made a modest sprint debut but stepped up in trip second time out he finished with a rattle to beat the well fancied Kapen Pride. The opposition on Sunday are mostly well-exposed handicappers and Brighteyebushytail should have a host of supporters.

The South African Jockey Academy is hosting a group of apprentices from the gulf state of Qatar and they have been given an opportunity to show what they have learnt at the academy when they ride in the Al Rayyan Apprentice Cup, marked down as the tenth race on the Scottsville card and not included in any of the exotic bets although it will be run between the fourth and fifth races.

Most of the riders have limited racing experience but the Paul Lafferty pairing of Freddie Flint and Simply Scrumptious have some useful form over the course and distance while Astroman is way better than his last showing over a mile and can do better over this trip.

By Andrew Harrison

The past season was tinged with sadness due to the passing of the champion stallion Captain Al and less noticed was the passing of another top stallion Goldkeeper, who ironically was at his best when crossed with Captain Al.

Goldkeeper nearly did not make it to Southern Africa at all due to a bolt of lightning, which struck the Mashonaland turf club one Saturday in the mid-1990s.

That would have been a blow as his influence lives on today through broodmares of the like of Secret Of Victoria and he is also one of the stallions who have helped establish the good reputation of South African-bred racehorses abroad.

Bloodstock agent Alistair Brown sourced Goldkeeper from the USA on behalf of the 24-time Zimbabwean Champion Breeder Geoff Armitage of Sandown Stud.

Brown has sourced champion sires Al Mufti and Fort Wood alongside other top stallions like Ideal World, Strike Smartly and Sail From Seattle as well the promising new sire Noble Tune.

Armitage had asked Brown to keep an eye out for a new stallion and the latter had been watching Goldkeeper due to his top class pedigree as well as his ability on the track.

Goldkeeper was by Mr Prospector and his twice Grade 2-winning Northern Dancer mare Chapel Of Dreams was a three-parts sister to none other than the legendary stallion Storm Cat.

 

Storm Cat was still in his early stud days and Goldkeeper had won four races when Brown received a call one Monday from the USA to inform him the latter had fractured a conylar bone.

Brown immediately contacted Armitage about the potential stallion.

Armitage had to move quickly due to the quality of Goldkeeper’s pedigree. His offer was initially accepted, but on the Thursday of the same week Brown was informed the connections had reneged due to a higher offer.  Brown’s USA-based representative decided to invoke his right to match the higher offer. Brown suggested Armitage should still go forward subject to a vet check and photographs, which would be faxed through. Armitage agreed to phone him from the Mashonaland Turf Club on the Saturday, where he would be racing. Brown had received the photographs, which not of bad quality considering they were on fax paper. However, the phone call from Mashonaland Turf Club was not forthcoming. He eventually decided to fax through the photographs to the turf club as the 1pm deadline for acceptance of the offer was fast approaching. There sitting in the fax machine tray was a piece of paper with huge bold writing stating, “Buy Goldkeeper, Repeat Buy, Goldkeeper.” Brown still has the fax as a momento. The lightning strike meant a frustrated Armitage had been unable to phone and he had faxed the message as a last resort.

Goldkeeper made an immediate impact and among his first crop were the Trevor Armitage-bred Gold Tax, who won two Grade 1s in South Africa; Gold Flame, who won Zimbabwe’s premier race the Castle Tankard, as well as the Zimbabwean Guineas and the Grand Challenge twice; the filly Valdi, who was a Guineas winner. There was also a Listed winner in the crop.

His second crop included Grade 2 Post Merchants winner Gold Merchant and among the third crop was the champion Hide Out as well as other Graded winners Bold Bidder, Jet Blast, Kushka and Listed winner Dash Along.

Goldkeeper headed the sires list in Zimbabwe four times.

Geoff later decided to relocate Goldkeeper to South Africa, first to Wilfred Koster’s Cheveley Stud and then to his son James when the Sandown operation moved to South Africa in 2006.

All in all, Goldkeeper produced four individual Grade 1 winners, who won five Grade 1s between them, although it should be remembered Zimbabwe did not have any Grade 1 races while his progeny raced there.

James Armitage recalled Goldkeeper had not travelled well to South Africa and also, standing at just 15 hands 2 inches, he was dwarfed by some of the top Western Cape stallions.

He consequently did not receive the support he deserved.

Therefore his lifetime record of 79,3% winners to runners is phenomenal.

Furthermore, his 32 individual stakes winners produced from 459 foals gives him a strike rate of close to 7%, a figure which apparently only 1% of stallions achieve.

Goldkeeper’s overseas stars were Tiza, who won three Group 3s in France, and Cerise Cherry, who won a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 in Hong Kong and also finished second in the Grade 1 Hong Kong Sprint as a seven-year-old. As an eight-year-old Cerise Cherry finished third in another Grade 1 Sprint in Hong Kong. Two more of Goldkeeper’s progeny, Brilliant One and Travel Comforts, also won in Hong Kong.

In the same crop as Tiza was Secret Of Victoria, who won a Grade 2, two Grade 3s and a Listed race. She is out of the current Equus Champion Broodmare, Mystic Spring, and has produced two Grade 1 winners by Captain Al, All Is Secret and The Secret Is Out, as well as the like of Secret Command, who won in Hong Kong.

Goldkeeper’s Grade 1-winning daughters Battle Maiden, Give Me Five and Geepee S have produced the Listed placed Lineker (Star Witness), the Grade 2 SA Fillies Nursery runner up Myfunyvalentine (Captain Al) and the Listed placed Gee I Jane (Captain Al) respectively.

The Grade 2 Sceptre Stakes winner Reflective Image is out of a Goldkeeper mare and so is Grade 3 Politician Stakes winner Blaze Of Noon. His daughters have also produced a few other Listed winners.

“He was an amazing stallion and part of the family,” concluded James Armitage about the small, good natured bay, who retired from stud duties at the beginning of this decade and lived happily in his own paddock at Sandown Stud.

By David Thiselton

Monday is D-Day for Durbanville when the racecourse will be used for the first time since it was closed for resurfacing ten months ago.

General manager Dean Diedricks said: “We are going to put horses on the track and see if the jockeys are happy with the surface. If they, and everybody else, are satisfied then we will race there on September 9.

“I am pretty confident that we will be fine but it’s a case of being safe rather than sorry – and if people are not happy with it then we are going to be in crisis management.”

Durbanville is scheduled to stage ten meetings inside six weeks and “crisis management” would mean a devil’s alternative between no racing and stretching Kenilworth beyond its limits – and probably a combination of the two. The situation is further aggravated by the drought.

Diedricks wants to keep Kenilworth for the summer season and said: “We are under pressure from a weather perspective and I am really concerned for the summer when shortage of water is going to be a real test.”

The Kenilworth dam used for watering the course is in a better position than most dams in the Cape Town area but the level is way below normal.

However Durbanville now finds itself in the fortunate position of having surplus grass as it was decided to buy in turf rather than put back the old sod after the ridge and furrow beneath it had been levelled out. In addition a grass nursery was set up on the inside of the racecourse.

Diedricks said: “Nothing has yet been decided about what we will do with this nursery grass, whether we build a grass gallop at Philippi or extend the grass track at Milnerton.”

Apparently, though, the original plan to extend the Milnerton grass gallop into an oval is likely to be dropped because of the restrictions imposed by the conservation area.

By Michael Clower

Dennis Drier generally sits quietly when watching his horses run. No bouncing up and down and bellowing his horses home by the veteran. But tucked away in front of a members lounge television, Miss Frankel came home to the mute sounds of “Go girl; Go girl,” the relief on his face there for all to see as he hugged wife Gill before heading for the winner’s enclosure.

“I’m glad she brought what she shows at home to the track. She has been off for seven months and her first run was all hype, just hype.”

Pippa Mickleburgh, the driving force behind Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm, took the bold decision to mate top sprinting mare Val Da Ra to the much-hyped unbeaten champion Frankel and Miss Frankel was the first of the sire’s progeny to race in this country. Miss Frankel had been all the rage on her Kenilworth debut back in January, starting deep in the red. But she ran no sort of race as she faded tamely under pressure behind Magical Wonderland who has since shown herself to be better than just average.

Yesterday at Scottsville, Anton Marcus gave Miss Frankel a confident ride having her up and in front shortly after the start. Once he asked the filly for an effort she quickened away to win as she liked.

“I’ll be happy if we can just get her out of the maidens,” commented Drier earlier in the afternoon after winning the first two races on the card.

Dame Commander returned to the winner’s circle with blood streaming from her mouth and a clearly upset Anthony Delpech was vocal in his criticism of the new loading procedure where horses are loaded in a set order in an effort to speed up the loading procedure. Dame Commander went in the first wave and “she bashed her mouth in the gate,” complained Delpech.

According to Chief Stipendiary Steward Shawn Parker, the new loading procedure was implemented country-wide in an attempt to give all a fair chance and specifically to prevent serial offenders from hanging back in order to be loaded late.

Drier was back for a second time when Bad Attitude got the better of rank outsider Unbelievable Lad in a tight finish to the second. The first timer Drageda was sent out a short-priced favourite but was never in the hunt, finishing unplaced. “Very disappointing,” said a crestfallen Keagan de Melo. “He was never going well.”

Summerveld-based John Nel saddled his first winner as a trainer in his own right when On Your Life put one over the favourite Diamonds Forever in the fourth. Nel was a former jockey and more recently assistant trainer to Luiz Cunha before the latter handed in is licence. Weight finally got to Nel and he hung up his riding boots in 2009 after riding 16 winners from just 56 rides.

Drageda may have come up pop for Duncan Howells but Queen’s Plain made amends when getting up late to win the fifth at rather longer odds. “She was just a tiny little thing when I bought her,” said Cathy Rymill. “I just hoped she would grow. I also thought this would be too short for her.” Her full sister, Russet Roses, won over 2000 m last Sunday for Drier.

By Andrew Harrison