It took nearly two years for Paul Gadsby to win his argument with the handicappers, a long time if you are the owner paying keep, but persistence has paid off as Miss Varlicious registered her second win on the bounce at Greyville yesterday.
Down from a merit rating high of 103 to 72 before her penultimate start, Miss Varlicious finally managed another victory and thanks to four kilo claiming apprentice Khanya Sakayi, Miss Varlicious managed one more win.
It was a close-run thing as Sakayi had to fight off Anton Marcus aboard Victory Trip who may have even headed the youngster. But persistence and his claim eventually carried the day.
Miss Varlicious (Candiese Marnewick)
This win may well be Miss Varlicious’s swan song as far as the winner’s enclosure is concerned as the handicappers are sure to add a few more pounds to her rating in spite of her possibly being at her limit.
Jockey Mandla Ntuli operates below the radar for much of the time but Tony Rivalland, Mark Dixon and Michael Roberts often make use of his services and Ntuli has done particularly well for Rivalland and came up trumps in the second when making most of the running on Tommaso.
Stepped up to a mile for the first time, Tammaso, with the blinkers removed, kept on finding to get the better of a charging Aim For The Stars.
The tribulations in the Howell’s stable are well documented and the virus that has plagued many of the Ashburton yards appears to be dormant. Dawn Calling relieved the pressure somewhat on Sunday and Roy’s Vogue opened the valve a little further yesterday as Marcus drove her to a hard-fought win over the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Orelia.
Keagan de Melo does not enjoy the high profile of riders such as Delpech, Marcus and Strydom but he is years younger and has plenty of talent as he showed when getting the Pat Lunn-trained Stockade home in the sixth.
In a driving finish where all of six horses were in with a shout, De Melo first switched in only to have the gap shut in his face, before switching to the outside rail to get home late.
Backed in from 20-1 to 4-1 at her previous start, Stockade found Victory Trip, a close second to the useful Miss Varlicious two runs earlier, too smart but those punters who were not catching an afternoon siesta will have quickly cottoned on, especially when given the heads-up by television presenter and race analyst Dees Dayanand.
Only an act of god or injury will deny Anthony Delpech a consecutive National Jockey’s Championship. Another double, with Shantytown adding a welcome second to Garth Puller’s tally for the afternoon increased Delpech’s lead in the championship to 44 – Muzi Yeni his nearest challenger, 127 to 83.
By Andrew Harrison
