Warren Lenferna
Racing lovers were treated to some sterling performances at the Country course yesterday, and three horses in particular made the headlines.
The third race, a competitive Progress Plate over 1250m, saw All The Rage strongly punched out to victory by Aldo Domeyer for trainer Candice Bass.
This smart, quality colt in the making was bred by Jan Mantell’s Millstream Farm. Mantell and all associated with this handsome son of Rafeef must be looking forward to the feature races ahead. He has the looks, the gears, and tons of ability. His victory was impressive, coming from the deepest draw. Domeyer never drew the stick, instead just powerfully punching him out to deny the Grade 1 winner, Good For You, a comeback win. Glen Kotzen’s talented gelding never went down without a tenacious fight.
Reet Petite was arguably the most impressive winner of the afternoon. She was drawn awkwardly, came from a way back, and had to switch up the straight, but when Richard Fourie asked for maximum effort, she absolutely took off like a rocket to win a tad cozily.
“She’s nice,” were the words of race commentator Alistair Cohen, and you could hear in the tone of his voice that he was, like all of us, super impressed with that performance. The attractive Rafeef filly is trained by James Crawford and owned in partnership by Ridgemont (Craig Kieswetter) and Devin Heffer. Follow her—she looks like the real deal.
It was time for Vercingetorix’s progeny to shine in Race 7 with the smart Viva’s Liberté from the Bass yard remaining unbeaten, now two-for-two. Serino Moodley caught the early flight out of Durban to fill his engagements in the Western Cape, and there is no doubt that this win would have been his highlight of the trip.
He was given a perfect ride from Moodley, who is clearly making the message of “have saddle, will travel” very clear. Viva’s Liberté was still a tad green up the lane, but when pressed and asked for maximum, he took it very seriously and went on to win well. He could be anything, and one cannot help but get excited by this progressive colt.
It will be interesting to see where these three horses are directed to next by their respective trainers, but all connected to All The Rage, Reet Petite, and Viva’s Liberté will surely have plenty to cheer about come the Western Cape season and the eventual return to Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
