Justin Snaith issued a heartfelt plea for more leniency in the handicapping of Cape Town stayers after Strathdon gave him his third consecutive Woolavington at Durbanville on Saturday.
He said: “I have Krambambuli and Ovidio sitting at home because I can’t run them until Met day as they are handicapped out of it in the staying races. Strathdon will hopefully go through the weights but, if he does, he will get nailed and go into the Gold Cup with top weight while some Jo’burg horse will come along with 52kg.”
Justin Snaith
Interfering with handicapping can end up causing more difficulties than it solves but turning at least one of the Cape Town long-distance triumvirate (Kenilworth Cup, Summer Stayers and Chairman’s Cup) into a conditions race could be the solution to the no-opportunities problem.
Punters got it right with Strathdon who went off 17-10 favourite whereas Red Peril was allowed to start at 4-1 despite his runaway Settlers win. Wes Marwing again tried to build up an unassailable lead and, while he turned for home almost three lengths clear, he was soon sending out distress signals like a drowning man. His mount managed only fifth in a time, a little puzzlingly, more than three seconds slower than his course record.
Richard Fourie also scored a convincing win for Snaith on Fifty Cents in the 1 400m handicap but the former champion trainer is still miffed that he was unable to run the gelding on July day.
He said: “At Scottsville a fortnight beforehand he reared up in the gates and the saddle slipped. After he was resaddled he went straight in yet they took his ticket away.”
Ronnie Sheehan celebrated his 81st birthday four weeks late when 8-1 shot Over Again survived an objection from Corne Orffer on 18-10 favourite Honey Suite after the Tabonline Handicap. The runner-up was pushed wide and was only beaten a fifth of a length.
But Grant van Neikerk pulled his whip through in the closing stages and kept the race. The way he emerged from the boardroom, bounding down the steps three at a time, told the result well before the official announcement!
Val Niekerk is on fire at the moment and made it six winners from two meetings when rounding off a Snaith treble on Dynamic Diana in the last.
Strathdon (Liesl King)
Orffer had better luck for boss Brett Crawford when leading throughout on White River in the Betting World Handicap but the day’s riding honours surely belonged to Louis Burke who doubled his score with his first double.
Burke, 22 but in only his first year of race-riding, showed the coolness of real talent on the Mike Stewart-trained Al Wahed and 40 minutes later followed up on Ostinato for Glen Kotzen and a Green Street partnership.
Harold Crawford shrewdly had a few rand on 16-1 newcomer Ready Steady Go in the first and Grant Behr’s mount just held on to give his trainer some compensation for the problems he causes at home.
Crawford explained: “The horse has shown ability but he is a monster to look after. He is fine in his box but outside it he wants to kill everything and he doesn’t want to work.”
It was a hot day, at least by recent standards, and a number of jockeys came back sweating profusely. Aldo Domeyer lost more than the permitted half kilo on fifth-placed Sassy Lady in race six and the filly was disqualified.
By Michael Clower
