Mark van Deventer

RUSSIAN Rock bravely overcame a troubled trip to score a massive 100/1 upset in the Cape Guineas (G1) over 1600m at Kenilworth, providing Dean Kannemeyer with yet another win in this historic Classic and a first Grade 1 for jockey Grant Behr. The flashy grey was sired by former Durban July victor, Pomodoro and bred at Klawervlei Stud.

Linebacker was a valiant second, caught in the last jump, after racing wide around the turn before going on strongly and looking all over a winner – except on the post. Rascallion, heavily backed in the market down to 33/10, encountered some trouble in the straight before staying on gamely to secure the trifecta slot. Jet Dark completed an exceedingly difficult quartet sequence, whilst badly drawn The Gatekeeper caught the eye with a torrid late rally just out of the places.

Russian Rock has now won twice from five starts, on both occasions starting as an unconsidered long shot. He won on debut at 50/1 over an inadequate 1250m and provided an even bigger stunner in the Cape Guineas. Trainer Kannemeyer was happy with the exceptional morning workouts the grey was producing – yet this was the first time he was meeting rivals of such a high calibre – hence the dim view the market took of his chances.

Journeyman jockey, Grant Behr seldom gets the opportunity to mix it on genuinely live runners in the big races. He is, however, an experienced level-headed professional and his loyal boss, Kannemeyer has always assessed Behr as an underrated, forceful rider. It was a remarkable effort from both the diminutive Russian Rock and Behr to rebreak after getting hampered at a crucial stage, before lunging to a famous short head victory.

In the Cape Racing Victress Stakes (G3) over 1800m, apart from having the highest merit rating in the field, Silvano’s Pride looked tactically dangerous as the lone speed. She was duly given a finely judged front riding ride by Richard Fourie, though he modestly commented afterwards that, “she does it all herself.” The Justin Snaith trained daughter of Silvano courageously went all the way to notch her sixth victory from 18 starts and will next have a dip at the Paddock Stakes.

Paul Peter’s Gauteng raider, Heart Stwings chased her around the wind-swept track to stay on for second in a career best performance. Favourite, Missisippi Burning was never a factor, jogging tamely in last place then failing to produce any sort of kick at her first attempt beyond a mile. Jockey Craig Zackey lamented that “she was off the bit soon after the start.”

The complexion of the Peninsula Handicap (G3) over 1800m changed completely in the final 200m. Captain Flinders had shaken loose on the lead halfway down the stretch but could not withstand a horde of challengers in deep stretch. Best finisher of all was Nexus, under inspired veteran, Pierre Strydom who rushed past in the centre of the course, marginally ahead of Super Silvano and Love Happens.

The winner was also saddled by furnace-hot, Snaith Racing, who have extracted 7 wins from this talented Dynasty gelding. It was a sterling effort carrying 59kg’s from a wide barrier then passing 11 horses in the final furlong to get up for the win. Super Silvano, 2^nd to Winter Series hero Katak in July, regained form to get closest to Nexus.

Andrew Harrison

Early in the season, Justin Snaith indicated that Native Tongue was headed for the Highveld spring season with the Dingaans a possible target. Things didn’t quite work out as he ran into a couple of road-blocks before then and he stayed home at Summerveld. However, his penultimate start was a cracker when finishing under a length back to Share Holder giving the winner 1kg. It was a stout effort at the weights but he then followed up with a modest fourth when trying the poly for the first time.

He faces Share Holder again in a Pinnacle Stakes over the Hollywoodbets Scottsville mile today but this time is in receipt of 4.5kh which should see Native Tongue turn the tables on his rival.

A bigger threat to his chances could come from Gavin van Zyl’s gelding Greenlighttoheaven who has improved with each outing since being given a break after a no-show in the Gr1 Gold Medallion. He was doing his best work late when runner-up to Ralph The Rascal last time out and the extra furlong will suit.

Share Holder has been a touch disappointing but is nicely weighted here and if he does puts in his best, he can go close while Banzai Pipeline did it the hard way when shedding his maiden but he shows some scope and could be better than his rating.

Bankers always come in handy when it comes to the exotic bets and Tony Rivalland could provide when he saddles Camora in the fourth. Camora was close-up in all three starts and is rated way better than all the exposed runners. He should be hard to beat unless there is a springer in the pack. Of the balance, Toothless caught the eye on debut and is sure to improve with the experience while Cardboard Cowboy has had plenty of chances but has been close-up of late with the sting out of the ground.

Café Pacifica will be in warm order in the sixth but she will faced some stiff opposition. She goes this trip for the first time but has smart form over sprints. From a good draw he rates a strong chance. Assistant Stuart Ferrie is in charge of the Drier stable while the boss enjoys the Cape summer and Ferrie saddles Parallel Universe who make good improvement at his second start. He will much prefer this trip and is likely to give Café Pacifica a hard race. Marcus rides first-timer Galabier for Gareth van Zyl and makes his debut over 1500m. He is bred to get a trip so one to watch in the market.

The first juvenile race of the current KZN season produced a cracking finish with Sheldon and Aisling separated by a nostril at the line and the balance of the field strung out behind like the washing. Both showed exceptional pace and because the race was moved from Scottsville to Greyville the distance was extended to 1000m.

It’s back to 800m tomorrow where the filly takes on males, but they will need to be on their toes if they are to catch her. Mike Miller, who saddled Sheldon, has five runners entered and will know exactly what he is up against.

The card kicks off with a work-riders maiden where Aaron Xabendlini may have the answer in Garth Puller’s runner Drama Queen. She has her first run for the stable but comes with some solid Cape form in strong company and although down a furlong in trip, she does rate the horse to beat. Father’s Frost was unlucky not to win the last work rider’s race after finding plenty of traffic. Winning rider Callum Dixon takes over from Tristan Mustard who has moved to the UK to work for top jumps trainer Nicky Henderson but if Father’s Frost can repeat his last effort, Drama Queen will have to pick up her feet.

David Thiselton

THE three-year-old male crop was at one stage looking to be  vintage but a star or two will need to emerge from tomorrow’s Grade 1 Cape Guineas as the fizz is starting to go a bit flat.

The unbeaten Malmoos is from the yard of four-times Cape Guineas-winning trainer Mike de Kock and is by Captain Al who won this race from draw 16 of 16 and who has produced two winners of the prestigious classic. Jockey Luke Ferraris said Malmoos was still green last time when winning the Grade 2 Avontuur Estate Concorde Cup over this trip so he has the potential to be a champion. He has a tough draw of ten so it won’t be easy for Ferraris to find cover. However, Malmoos strikes as one of those horses who would throw himself over the line if he had to so he is sure to make a bold bid even if he doesn’t get a good passage. The race does look more wide open than the betting suggests and Malmoos is likely to drift out from his current Track And Ball odds of 17-10.

Seeking The Stars is one of five runners from the yard of five-times Cape Guineas-winning trainer Vaughan Marshall and he also has the potential to be something special. This Vercingetorix colt did not get the best of breaks in the De Grendel CTS Ready To Run Stakes over 1400m but once he had reached the front he imposed himself and never looked like letting up his relentless gallop. He won by 5,50 lengths to prove his front-running Grade 3 Cape Classic victory over the same trip was no fluke. The detractor is that second-placed Lemon Delight was well beaten in the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas and four other horses who have come out of the race have also run unplaced. However, he did win easily and the Cape Classic form puts him on a par with Malmoos at least, if not ahead. Vercingetorix is throwing them more speedy than his sire Silvano, so the question is whether Seeking The Stars will be able to keep going from the front in a Grade 1 mile. He could well do as his dam, who is by Count Du Bois, won a Listed race over 2200m. Seeking The Stars’ speed will enable him to get to the front, but his draw of nine means he won’t be able to afford a tardy start this time. Luyulo Mxothwa has given him two fine rides in his last two starts and he stays aboard.

Stablemate Linebacker was beaten into second by Seeking The Stars in the Cape Classic and followed up with another second to Malmoos in the Concorde. The impressive part of the latter run was he had to overcome a wide draw of nine and then ran without cover one out and one back yet still found plenty in the straight to be beaten just half-a-length. He is a big, scopey horse so will still be improving and his big action will carry him close, especially if he manages to find cover under Donavan Dillon, who rides him for the first time.  

The third Marshall runner Rascallion is 5-1 compared to Linebacker’s odds of 18/1. Rascallion gave Linebacker 2kg in the Cape Classic and finished 2,25 lengths behind him and in the Concorde at level weights he was 1,25 lengths behind. However, Rascallion ended up near the back in both races before running on well. He now has a plum draw of two and will appreciate the longer straight of the new course. However, Linebacker is a rangy type who should also enjoy tomorrow’s course and distance so the price disparity can only be justified by the draw and should not be as big.

Marshall’s Contact Zone couldn’t win a handicap over this trip off a 92 rating last time and looks held by The Gatekeeper too.

Marshall’s other runner Look For Hounds has to reverse a 8,75 length defeat by Seeking The Stars from the Cape Classic and could subsequently only manage forurth in the Listed RA Stakes over this trip on the Fairview poly.

Justin Snaith has three runners in his attempt to win the Cape Guineas for a second time ten years after succeeding with Solo Traveller.

Piere Strydom will be wanting to go out with a bang in his last full season of riding and could do it for Snaith with the 16-1 shot Hoedspruit. This Legislate gelding could give owners Suzette and Basie Viljoen a Guineas double, just a week after landing their first Grade 1 with Captain’s Ransom in the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas. He is a big gelding with a big action and has still looked immature in his last two starts. In his penultimate start he had to come around them from last to win over this trip at Durbanville. Last time out in the Concorde he was dropped out to the back from a wide draw and did not get a clear run. However, he still managed to stay on well for a three length fifth. He now gets a good draw of five in the 16 horse field and with improvement and the advantage of Piere Strydom up it would not be a major surprise if he reversed form with Malmoos, Linebacker, Rascallion and Silvano’s Timer.

However, stable jockey Richard Fourie is aboard Gatekeeper, who has shortened into 14/1 with Track and Ball, while Hoedspruit remains at 16/1. This Dynasty colt is a full brother to the course record holder over a mile, Legislate, and he has a fluent action so it is little surprise that Fourie has chosen him. In his penultimate start he ran on the wrong leg around the turn and was beaten 0,30 lengths by Guineas candidate Contact Zone. However, he is now 4kg better off and he also showed more maturity next time out when beating the top class Golden Ducat over this trip when receiving 7kg. However, that race was a canter-sprint affair so not much can be read into it. Nevertheless, The Gatekeeper is one of the horses who could prove himself a leader of the crop.

Snaith’s other runner is Jet Dark who understandably faded in the Cape Classic after being used up early to overcome a wide draw. He won going away next time out in a handicap over 1500m but was running off a 94 so will need a lot of improvement to be a threat.  

Dean Kannemeyer has won the Cape Guineas five times and his charge Silvano’s Timer comes in under the radar at 18/1 odds. He stayed on for fourth in the Concorde, a good preparation, and it is well known that the Silvano’s improve continuously. Furthermore, he is out of a Captain Al mare, Tick Tock, who finished a narrow second in the Cape Fillies Guineas and who has proved her worth at stud already by producing the SA Nursery winner William The Silent (Var) and Listed-placed over 1400m Stopalltheclocks (Trippi). Silvano’s Timer has a tricky draw of eight but will be staying on if dropped out.  

Kanemeyer’s other runner Russian Rock has overraced in his last two starts over 1400m and 1200m respectively so the step up in trip does not augur well and he is also rated only 95.

Querari colt Invincabelle easily beat Jet Dark over 1200m as a juvenile and is one of the dark horses as he has never been further than 1200m but has good cruising speed and a good turn of foot. His trainer-jockey combination Brett Crawford and Anton Marcus  have both won the Cape Guineas twice respectively. On the downside Invincabelle’s full brother Immortelle has never won beyond 1200m. However, his dam Varsity Belle, who is by Var out of a Sadler’s Wells mare, did win over 1600m so he might stay the trip. He is well drawn and has the speed to lead so might spoil the likely race plan of Seeking The Stars.

Last season’s champion two-year-old male Tempting Fate from the Dennis Drier yard ran well below par over 1200m in his seasonal reappearance. In his only attempt at this trip in the Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes he went to the front from a wide draw in a slow run race and could only manage a two length sixth. The form of that race has overall not worked out too well, although Tempting Fate did finish ahead of subsequent Dingaans winner Catch Twentytwo.  

The Sean Tarry-trained Willow Express is drawn in pole but has to reverse five length and 6,25 length defeats by Malmoos and Seeking The Stars respectively over 1400m and he was well beaten in last season’s Premiers Champion Stakes too.

The Glen Kotzen-trained Fast Love was beaten nearly 20 lengths in the Ready To Run Stakes after being caught wide and overracing and earlier he could only manage eighth from pole position in the Premiers Champion Stakes. He is the lowest rated runner too.

Most of the leading contenders are drawn wide on a course which favours low draws, so it is a difficult race to assess.

However, Seeking The Stars, of those, has the best chance of overcoming a wide draw as he is a natural front runner and he is taken to beat Malmoos with Linebacker next best ahead of The Gatekeeper, Hoedspruit and Rascallion.  

David Thiselton

THE Grade 2 Green Point Stakes was run at a good pace over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday and Vodacom Durban July winner Belgarion proved himself the real deal.

In the July he was carrying the minimum possible weight for a male and came from way back in a furiously fast run race to get up, but he was still going to have much to prove when stepping up to weight for age events this season.

On Saturday he showed he was up to it when coming from last to mow down Rainbow Bridge at level weights, beating him by 0,40 lengths with Cirillo a shorthead further back in third.

Rainbow Bridge won the weight for age Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m earlier this year and Cirillo has been a wfa Grade 1 runner up over this trip twice.

Belgarion and Rainbow Bridge were both giving Cirillo 1kg.

The worth of the form was also backed up by the champion mare Clouds Unfold, who was beaten 2,90 lengths in the Gold Challenge and 2,70 lengths on Saturday.

The Grade 1 Cape Guineas will now take on special significance as the crack three-year-old Malmoos, if he wins, might take his place in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate if it is concluded that a horse better suited to middle distances won the Green Point. However, Do It Again was also considered a specialist middle distance horse before winning the Queen’s Plate and so was Legal Eagle before the first of his three Queen’s Plate victories, so Belgarion might be following in their footsteps. 

The sectional times of Saturday’s Green Point also proved the win was no flash in the pan.

Statistician Jay August timed pacemaker Cirillo reaching the turn in 26.45 seconds compared to the 25.88 by La Favourari in the decently paced race last year won by Vardy and the 27.04 of 2018, a tactical affair in which Undercover Agent was a reluctant leader but was then able to dictate.   

The respective times at the 1000m pole were 37.16 seconds in 2018, 35.44 seconds last year and 36.85 seconds this year.

At the 800 metre mark the times were 51.30 seconds in 2018, 48.92 seconds last year and 48.30 this year.

They went through the 600m pole in 63.90 in 2018, 60.93 last year and 60.16 this year.

The times through the 400m mark were 75.23 in 2018, 73.80 last year and 72.37 this year.

The 200m mark times were 86.86 in 2018, 85.48 last year and 84.18 this year.

The respective final times were 98.92 in 2018, 97.60 last year and 96.89 this year, although these times differed from the official times which were 98.92 seconds, 97.46 seconds and 96.72 seconds respectively.       

This was the third fastest Green Point in the last 18 years behind the 95.84 seconds of Legislate in 2014 and the 96.70 seconds of Dynasty in 2003.

August concluded that the fast fractions set the race up for closers but Belgarion was the only one with the ability to close.

Other conclusions were that Cirillo, even with the aid of blinkers and an attempt to use a tactic which has been employed with success by pacemakers in Cape Town this season i.e accelerating the pace on the turn, proved yet gain to be just behind the best.

It was also noted that Rainbow Bridge was edged out in a close finish yet again.

Belgarion has subsequently shortened from 5/1 to joint 28/10 favourite for the Sun Met together with Summer Pudding. 

David Thiselton

GARY ALEXANDER will be setting up a joint-training partnership with brother Dean later this year in the village of Gifford Hill 75km from Adelaide in South Australia.

It will be business as usual for the brothers for although Gary’s name is on the trainer’s license for their Turffontein-based operation it has always been a family affair.

Duncan Alexander, a legendary lightweight jockey who was born in Scotland and immigrated to South Africa shortly after the War, took out his trainer’s license in 1975 after hanging up his riding boots but when he became ill in 1978 his son Gary took over.

Gary and Dean quickly took the business to great heights.

Gary recalled, “The stepping stones, first from jockey to trainer and then me taking over at a very young age, were a lot different from somebody who was succeeding an established trainer. The first couple of years we picked up the pieces but from then onward we did exceptionally well. By the year 2000 we had 160 horses in training.”

The brothers have trained 15 Grade 1 winners.

They are a close- knit family and sister Julie, popular as an outstanding Tellytrack presenter, has been involved in the administrative side of the yard. However, she will not be immigrating with her brothers.

Gary and Dean have made many friends and contacts over the years in Australasia as regular buyers at the Australian and New Zealand Sales.

Gary said, “We are known and greeted out there as the Alexander brothers.”

Among the New Zealand-bred horses they have trained are Clifton King, who won both the Grade 1 SA Guineas and Grade 1 Germiston November Handicap, Timber Trader, who won the Grade 1 SA Derby, Ruby Clipper, who won the Grade 1 Allan Robertson among other stakes races, Lady Of The Turf, who beat Young Rake when winning the Grade 2 Gold Bowl, and Brutal Force, who won the Grade 2 Skeaping Trophy. Their current five-time winner Ration My Passion is also New Zealand-bred. The Alexanders’ first Gold Bowl winner Mosszao was Australian-bred and the race was a Grade 1 back then in 1996.

South African and Australasian friends of the brothers will be supporting their venture.

They might inherit a few horses from other yards in the beginning but will be attending the Sales to build up their string.

The presence of two South African ex-pat jockeys, Barend Vorster and Karl Zechner, will help them feel at home.

Vorster rides for South Australia’s leading yard, Tony and Calvin McEvoy, and is lying third on this season’s South Australia Jockeys Premiership table with 38 winners.  

Zechner is lying in 14th place with 16 winners.

South Australia has one established Metropolitan racecourse, Morphettville in Adelaide.

However, the new racecourse development, Murray Bridge, which is in Gifford Hill, will compliment Morphettville. This season Murray Bridge has been allocated two Saturday Metropolitan meetings among the 21 meetings in total.

The Alexanders will be based at Murray Bridge, which reportedly has world class, state of the art facilities.

The racecourses in Australia do not have false rails.

Gary said, “In all racecourses without false rails the pace is generally faster. The racing is also situated at the coast. But we are working with animals so we will just have to adjust to those changes and also to the tracks and to different riding styles.”

The control of racing is also very strict.

Gary and Dean will both be taking their families over.

Gary’s family consists of wife Danica and children Sasha and Johnmarc, who are aged 12 and nine respectively.

The children love being around animals and spend a lot of time at the yard.

Gary said, “I will support whatever my kids want to do when they get older but I would not have encouraged them to pursue a career in racing here in South Africa as much as I would overseas. It has been a struggle for the last twenty years over here and during the Covid period we have lost a number of horses and owners. Things are expensive in Australia but the stakes compared to costs are very good. Overseas if you get the breaks and are good at what you do I think you can do really well. I think trainers also get a lot more recognition overseas and are better respected in their countries than we are out here. It has not always been like that, in the old days the George Azzies and Syd Lairds were legends.”

Gary has previously applied to train in Hong Kong and Singapore but nothing materialised.

He said, “I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity especially at my age and I am very excited and looking forward to the challenge. It is God’s will and we will do it.”

Gary estimated they would depart for Australia in April.