Summerveld trainer Alyson Wright had her big Western Winter gelding Warcraft on a float to her home country of Zimbabwe a day or two after he had galloped the field into the ground under apprentice Tristan Godden in a handicap over 1900m on the Greyville polytrack on Saturday, and on May 16 he will attempt to land a third Castle Tankard trophy for the yard in the space of four years.

The Gr 1 US$50,000 Castle Tankard over 2000m, run at Harare’s world class Borrowdale racecourse,  is  Zimbabwe’s most prestigious horserace and the Wright’s went within 0,5 lengths of claiming hattrick of wins in the big race last year. They won it with Code Rock, ridden by Francois Herholdt, in 2012 and A King Is Born, by a facile four lengths under Deon Sampson, in 2013. A King Is Born failed by half-a-length to repeat his win last year.

A feature of all three of the aforementioned runs was that the horse came in with bottom weight of  52kg and of them only Code Rock was under sufferance and then only by 1kg. The Wrights have gone one better this year as the weights were published before Warcraft’s win on Saturday and according to the official merit ratings he should be carrying 1,5kg more than his bottom weight of 52kg.

Borrowdale is at high altitude, so a lot will depend on how well Warcraft travels. He followed the same travel plan as Code Rock did in 2012 and arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday (Wednesday).

He will be taken care of by Alyson’s mother Penny Fisher, a fine trainer in her own right, and her brother Alistair Fisher.

Alyson’s husband and assistant trainer Kevin, a many-times Zimbabwean champion jockey, said, “Too many cooks spoil the broth so we leave it to Penny and Alistair.”

Kevin is happy with the draw of nine, “It’s a big course and has a long back straight, so there is a lot of time to get over and Athandiwe (Mgudlwa) knows how to ride him.”

Warcraft is a galloping type and Kevin said he should love the course, “as long as he’s handy.”

– By David Thiselton

Piere “Striker” Strydom closed within three victories of his 5000^th winner in South Africa at the Vaal on Tuesday with a typically brilliant ride on the 14/1 shot Stairway To Heaven. He would like to achieve the milestone on his home base of the Highveld and has a chance of doing it today on the Vaal sand, where he has six fancied rides in a weak meeting.

Strydom became the first South African to ride 5000 career winners when booting home the country’s highest rated three-year-old colt, Act Of War, in the Gr 2 Selangor Cup at Kenilworth on November 22 last year. However, 72 of his winners were ridden overseas, so his next goal was 5000 winners in South Africa.

He summed up today’s meeting, “I am not confident of riding the necessary three winners, but it is a possibility.”

Anything does look possible with this truly great jockey as evidenced by his winner on Tuesday. In running bookmakers would have probably offered at least 20/1 on the formless Stairway to Heaven entering the final 50m of the 1000m event, but the never say die Strydom had noticed the 1/3 favourite Winter Al beginning to wobble and his vigorously driven mount surged past to win on the line.

Strydom is one of the Vaal sand’s fiercest critics and hasn’t changed his opinion.

He said, “A horse should never have to go in that deep, we should be racing on racing surfaces. You can’t be too far back because it is a bit like running on the dry sand at the beach, it is deep and loose and it is very difficult to catch someone, whereas on the firmer, wet sand near the water’s edge you can. So you have to be handy on the Vaal sand, but if you try and jump and go the sand is loose and the horse can slip and stumble, so it’s a catch 22 situation.”

His first ride today is on Fiesta De Espana from draw 3 in the 2^nd race over 1000m. He said that the middle to outside draws tend to be favourable over this trip and he was not sure what to expect from a filly that ran second over course and distance last month but ran poorly over 1000m on the turf on Tuesday.

He said about his ride on the 1/5 shot Movie Man in the third over 1200m, “On current turf form he is the horse to beat. He has run on the sand before and didn’t do well, but the form of this race is weak.”

He rides Lizzie’s Legs over 1200m in the next and said, “She has very bad sand form and the only thing in her favour is her draw, but that doesn’t say she will be able to win.” The Rebel King filly is priced up favourite at 2/1 in this weak race as she is well bred for the course and distance and a couple of winners have come out of both of her sand runs over 1000m and 1450m respectively.

He rides the 5/1 joint-favourite Wishful Heart in the sixth over 1450m and said, “He is drawn badly and Louis (Goosen) said he would need the run (second run after a six month layoff).”

In race 7 over 1600m he is on second favourite Spellbound and said, “She might prefer further but  has a chance.”

In the last over 1800m he is on second favourite Dakiwe and said, “He has won on the sand before and is not without a chance.”

– David Thiselton

Picture: Piere Strydom winning on Act Of War (Liesl King)

National Champion Trainer elect Sean Tarry will be taking a different approach to the Champions Season this year and also to the Vodacom Durban July.

He will prepare his horses from Johannesburg for their first Champions Season runs and play it by ear from there and he might also run his horses fresh in the July, depending on how safe their place in the field is according to the July log.

He said that his Gr 1 SA Derby winner Legal Eagle would with 90% certainty miss the Gr 1 Daily News 2000.

Legal Eagle and other colts and geldings have hardly any July preparation opportunities on the Highveld and on that point Tarry was shocked to find that there was a Pinnacle Plate at the end of May and one in June both over sprint distances but none over 1600m and beyond for July horses. Therefore, the Gr3 Jubilee Handicap over 1800m on June 14 looks to be the only possibility of a July preparation on the Highveld for Legal Eagle.

Siren’s Call might have a July pipe opener in a Pinnacle Plate over 1400m in early June.

Tarry, considering the importance of draws at both Greyville and down the Scottsville straight, lamented the spacing of some of the big Champions Season races as it didn’t allow the opportunity to see where a horse was drawn in both. If drawing badly in the first of the races one either had to take one’s chances or hope for a better draw in the second.

His options for the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint runner up Carry On Alice would be either the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint or the Gr 2 Tibouchina and either the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes or the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint.

Former SA Nursery and Dingaans winner Willow Magic will have either the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint or the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge as his first Champions Season run.

Impressive six length Gr 2 Camellia Stakes winner Bichette is entered in both the Tsogo Sun Sprint and City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint and promising three-year-old colt Zambezi River is a Tsogo Sun Sprint entry.

Debut winner Donny G is entered in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold medallion and Tarry said, “He was quite impressive but he’s got a lot to learn.”

Six length debut winner Swift Sarah is entered in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship.

Gr 1 SA Classic winner French Navy will go for the Gr 1 for Daily News 2000 and Trophy Wife and Tamaanee will go for the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000.

Tarry was pleased with Trophy Wife’s 4,1 length seventh in the GR 2 RA Fillies Guineas on Saturday and said, “She ran a very good race, she only got into the race late and took off in the last 100m, although I haven’t seen the 400m to finish times.”

Tarry has eleven horses in total entered in the July and he will decide their routes upon seeing the first July log. He said that he had learnt that “by prepping horses you can unqualify yourself”, so some of his incumbents in the top 18 might go into the big race fresh.

– By David Thiselton

The first Vodacom Durban July log was out yesterday and some will claim that it contained one or two surprises while others will be happy. But as usual it is sure to draw a lot of discussion.

The recent Gr 1 winners are packed at the top of the log and include the three most fancied runners Majmu, Futura and Wylie Hall.

Legal Eagle will attempt to become the third SA Derby winner this century to win the July and is the highest placed three-year-old male on the log in fifth, one behind the highest placed three-year-old filly Majmu. There are six three-year-old fillies in the top 20 on the log, which must be a record, although it is not surprising as this could be the best three-year-old fillies crop ever seen in the country.

Three-year-old The Conglomerate was an impressive winner of the KRA Guineas last Saturday and not only was his merit rating raised to 108, but he has joined last year’s July winner Legislate on a price of 8/1 in the betting. He is one of five three-year-old males in the top 20 and finds himself in position 13, one behind the oldest horse in the top 20, the seven-year-old gelding Gold Onyx, who is known as a Greyville specialist. Gold Onyx has a history of being omitted from the July at the eleventh hour, but might now finally get his first chance to run in the big race since finishing a 2,65 length seventh in 2012.

The Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge was the only race in South Africa to make it onto the IFHA’s recent top 100 races in the world list, but the winner of this race last year, the 113 merit rated-King Of Pain, finds himself outside of the top 20 too. He finished a 1,75 length second to the log number one Futura in last season’s Gr 1 Champions Cup over 1800m despite carrying joint topweight, so the grounds for his omission from the top 20 can only have to do with his relative inactivity since then, having had only two more runs, including a lacklustre performance in the Gr 2 Drill Hall Stakes over1400m on Saturday.

Another possible surprise is the omission of the Joey Soma-trained Athina from the top 20 as she flew up for a head second in the prestigious Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m. The reason might be that her only performance against the boys in a Gr 1 saw her well beaten in the SANSUI Summer Cup.

The twice-placed Triple Tiara bridesmaid Trophy Wife, who also finished runner up to Majmu in the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes, is not in the top 25, which could be counted as another surprise considering she comes from a vintage crop, whereas Deputy Jud, coming from a relatively disappointing crop of male three-year-olds, finds himself in position 15 on the log after Triple Crown third and second-place finishes. The reason could be that Deputy Jud has proved his stamina reserves by finishing runner up in the SA Derby.

– By David Thiselton

Picture: Wylie Hall (Nkosi Hlophe)

Following his consecutive Grade 1 wins in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and J&B Met at Kenilworth in January 2015, Futura tops the 2015 Vodacom Durban July Log as issued by Gold Circle today.

It is important to note that the maximum field size has been increased this year from 16 to 18 runners, thus allowing 18 runners to face the starter for the 2015 Vodacom Durban July and today’s initial log reflects the composition of the field as if the race were to be run at this point in time. The panel has also selected two reserve runners in order of preference and the next five favoured horses in alphabetical order.

The next Log will be issued on Tuesday, 2 June 2015