SPORTING POST DIGEST • Thursday 6 juNE 2019 1 Thursday 6 june 2019 FAIRVIEW Friday Best Roving Banker: R2-(4) Calandra(12/10) GREYVILLE Saturday Best Roving Banker: R2-(3) What You Are (2/1) KENILWORTH Saturday Best Roving Banker: R5-(3) Kalahari Ninja(3/1) TURFFONTEIN Sunday Best Roving Banker: R2-(6) Victoria Paige (7/1) Saturday 1 June Kenilworth – race 4 Sporting Post Best Handicapped The Perfect Wave Over the years, stayers have dropped to the bottom of the food chain WON 5/1 in the SA horseracing hierarchy. Few breed them. Less buy them - and nobody is incentivising them. We are not alone, it seems. But it’s a great pity re- thoroughbred gene pool. They resolved to sit down ally as staying races are great crowd favourites and and come up with a plan to incentivise and encourage often spectacles that mirror life itself. behavioural change relating to the breeding, buying, The gradual decline of our own Gold Cup, run at owning and training of stamina horses. Greyville since 1921, and for decades the bench- They put the decline in the quality of their stayers mark of our staying excellence - but now a modest over the past two decades in very simple terms - down Gr3 event - is the ultimate indictment that some- to a shift in commercial breeding patters and reactive thing is not the way it should be. changes to their racing programme. Our issues are the The British horseracing authority recently acknowl- same and we can’t blame breeders – they are, after edged that staying horses often become public all, catering for the market. favourites due to their lengthier careers, courage The Bha did some interesting conscience prodding and durability, and are an important cog in the and called on the industry at large to stand up and SPORTING POST DIGEST • Thursday 6 juNE 2019 2 IN FOR THE LONGHAUL? WEEKEND RACING demonstrate a collective responsibility to protecting, encouraging and investing in stamina bloodlines. Gold – Always The Standard! But patriotic calls and bold talk are cheap, so they also Gr1 Gold Challenge Greyville Saturday came up with a plan to improve the racing programme While it will be difficult to match the Hawwaam hype of last weekend, as an incentive. the R1 million Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge looks likely to produce a During 2018, 2019 and 2020, the Bha Development far more closely contested spectacle than anything we saw on Saturday fund have allocated and invested close to the equivalent at Greyville. of R36 million in stamina races, with individual jurisdic- The defending champion and recent Drill tions supplementing incremental increases. hall Stakes winner undercover agent takes Since 2016, several similar improvements were intro- on the 2018 july winner Do It again and Sun duced in Ireland, France and Germany for stayers, which Met star Rainbow Bridge. and we haven’t was a demonstration of the commitment to the concept mentioned the young guns Soqrat and Cirillo, from the European Pattern Committee. the star filly Lady In Black – or the Greyville So who will take the lead here in our own backyard – or specialist Matdaor Man, who will keep the do we have more pressing issues distracting us? whole lot honest and on their toes. Saturday’s R250 000 Gr3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup, won by Soqrat | JC Photos Saturday’s weight-for-age mile looks set to be the out-of-sorts former Summer Cup winner Liege racing the defining moment in the gallop to 2019 off a rating of 95, was the first of thea S Champion Sea- Vodacom Durban july glory with Rainbow Bridge and Do It again – sepa- son staying features. rated by under a length in the Sun Met – renewing rivalry in preparation for the big date on 6 july. On Saturday 22 june the unique ‘open’ R250 000 apiece KZN Derby and Oaks will be run at Scottsville. Gold Race fitness must surely give Sun Met winner Rainbow Bridge the edge Circle made the bold move in 2014 to open these two here after his scintillating late dash second in the Drill hall Stakes. That contests to all ages on weight-for-age terms. They leant exploratory run behind him, he looks the one to beat. on international precedent offered by similar amend- Beaten 0,75 lengths by Rainbow Bridge in the Sun Met, Do It again has his ments to the Irish St Leger and the yorkshire Oaks. first outing on the East Coast this season. The son of Twice Over had one The coastal racing operator’s move, while innovative, public gallop, which according to the stable was franked when his partner was really just a local means to an end and addressed Made To Conquer ran third in the WSB 1900. symptoms more than the core problems. It was based The 2018 winner undercover agent has his penultimate start before on the rationale that the chief focus of 3yo’s during the going to stud and will be a tricky customer from his 1 draw. The Drill hall Sa Champions Season is the Guineas, the Daily News Stakes winner will be super fit after his outstanding fourth behind Chimi- 2000, the Woolavington Stakes and the Vodacom Dur- churi Run in the Tsogo Sun Sprint. ban july. Soqrat was left with too much work to do in the KRa Guineas, whereafter Further justification for the move was seen in the fact Mike de Kock decreed that he would never that there are no weight-for-age races in South africa Gr1 Gold Challenge run his horses from wide barrier gates over the distance and it was hoped that the overall past winners at the ‘goat track’ in future. Ridden with programme for stayers would actually benefit from the 2016 more imagination, Soqrat could be surprise change. Five years on, it was clearly just a drop in the 1 Mac de Lago 60.0 ( 6) 9/2 on his best form. 2 Trip To Heaven 60.0 ( 4) 20/1 ocean. 3 French Navy 60.0 ( 9) 3/1 Greyville specialist Matador Man is proba- 2017 The champions season staying division is rounded off by 1 Captain America 60.0 (10) 5/1 bly outgunned on these weight terms but 2 Trip To Heaven 60.0 ( 3) 61/10 the R500 000 Gr3 Gold Vase run over 3000m on july Day 3 Bela-Bela 57.5 ( 5) 72/10 can be relied upon to run his usual honest and the R1,25 million Gr3 Gold Cup on Super Saturday. 2018 race at this track. he looks a nice back end 1 Undercover Agent 58.5 ( 2) 10/3 That’s it. 2 Snowdance 56.0 ( 3) 13/10 of the quartet, kicker. 3 Sail South 60.0 ( 1) 15/1 South africa’s highest ranked staying race is the R400 The top-class 4yo filly Lady In Black was 000 Gr2 Reserve Stayers, run over 2800m on Met Day, fourth and just over START PA5/PICK SIX4/JACKPOT3 2 lengths back in the and won earlier this year by Snaith’s Magnificent Seven. 3:20PM Gr1 RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE - 1600M Our richest race over a trip is the 2450m R2 million Gr1 GREYVILLE 7 SAME TRAINER:(4-7) Drill hall Stakes but Sa Derby, restricted to 3yo’s, and which was won by Twice Over 1 DO IT AGAIN(J Snaith) R Fourie ....................... 5 60.0 is 3 kgs worse off Ideal World 2 RAINBOW BRIDGE(AE Sands) A Marcus ........ 7 60.0 with the top two and longshot Samurai Warrior, who was the only horse to Captain Al 3 UNDERCOVER AGENT(BJ Crawford) C Orffer .... 1 60.0 Toreador 4 MATADOR MAN(SG Tarry) L J Ferraris ............ 2 60.0 has her work cut out have actually run over ground in the field. he earned a Right Approach 5 NEW CALEDONIA(GV Woodruff) G Lerena ...... 8 60.0 rating of 105, but sadly died weeks later. Epaulette 6 SOQRAT(MF de Kock) R Simons ........................ 4 58.5 to challenge. Pomodoro 7 CIRILLO(SG Tarry) L Hewitson ........................... 6 58.5 Who is going to get the ball rolling? Dynasty 8 LadY IN BLACK(DR Drier) S Veale .................. 3 57.5 Cirillo ran a cracking can be purchased here SPORTING POST DIGEST • Thursday 6 juNE 2019 3 WEEKEND RACING third behind undercover agent and Rainbow Bridge in the Drill hall Stakes but comes in 3,5kgs worse off here and will need Howells Can Break Drought every ounce of luck on his side. Lyle hewitson bids for the double Gr2 Tibouchina Stakes Greyville Saturday after riding undercover agent to victory in 2018. The Cape raiders enjoy a historical stranglehold on the Geoff Woodruff’s New Caledonia looks to be boxing a notch or R400 000 Gr2 Tibouchina Stakes. They are back in force again three out of his division, but ran two decent races in the Cape but the locals have a serious chance of bucking the trend in the summer and is a big hearted sort who slogs away. he ran a fair fifth 2019 renewal on Saturday. behind stablemate Zouaves in the hawaii Stakes last time – but will The feature is framed at weight-for- need to be at the top of his game and beyond, to challenge. age plus penalties with Gr1 victories Rainbow Bridge looks all set to record his first victory in KZN and attracting a premium of 3kgs, and he is the narrow choice to hold undercover agent, with Do It Gr2 wins half of that. again flying at them late. Over a year without a win, Duncan Matador Man could round off the quartet.