Greyville Saturday-Trainer Comments

DailyNews 2000 -

Mike Bass has the second favourite in the Daily News 2000 on Saturday, the Grade 1 SA Classic winner English Garden, while Sean Tarry has two runners closer to the bottom of the boards than the top but whom have plenty of ability.


English Garden showed a tremendous turn of foot when coming from a long way back to win the SA Classic over the tough Turffontein 1800m.


He was very unlucky in the subsequent SA Derby at Turffontein over 2450m when having to be eased back at a time he was in the process of scything through the field in the same manner. He did very well to pick up again and share second place.


English Garden has always been highly rated by the Bass yard.


In fact in the early part of the Champions Season last year, before he had ever run, they predicted he would win a Grade 1 race one day and nicknamed him “Little Pocket” due to similar points in his physique to the mighty Pocket Power, especially his big “barrel” (girth area).


The Johannesburg altitude and climate appeared to suit English Garden and while there has been nothing wrong with his coastal form it has not been quite as impressive to date.


However, in Johannesburg he was also benefitting from gelding.


Bass summed it up by saying, “He is doing okay. If he runs as well on the coast as he did on the Highveld he will be a big runner.”


However, he felt that the draw of 12 was a disadvantage as it probably meant he would have to be at the back of the field whether they liked it or not.
He does tend to come from near the back though, so the draw shouldn’t be a major hurdle.


Tarry runs Gold Onyx and Roman Wall.


Gold Onyx hasn’t won a race since that Premier’s Champion Stakes win, but Tarry has been expecting a big Champions Season as gelding has solved a problem he had haemo-concentrating.


“His blood is now fine,” he said. “He is a horse who has always been better at the races than at home. He is very honest.”


Gold Onyx was one of the worst victims of the KRA Guineas debacle, when Ridethebreeze ducked badly across the track, and the run can be completely ignored.


That was his Champions Season pipe opener and he had found some support from 33-1 into 15-1.


He then ran a 2,25 length second to Daily News contender M’Lords Throat, to whom he gave 2,5kg.


Tarry said, “We were expecting the same good pace that Iron Wood had set in his previous start, but it turned out to be slow and then a sprint for home, which didn’t suit him.”


Gold Onyx also gave Roman Wall 2,5kg in that race and beat him by 3,25 lengths, but Tarry said that the experiment of running the latter in blinkers has not worked and they will be discarded.


“Both horses would have come on from that run,” said Tarry. “However, with a fast pace we will learn more. Both horses are capable of turning it on in the straight as long as the pace is fast. Gold Onyx turned it on in his Premier’s win last season at Greyville, but they went like the clappers that day. Roman Wall has a very big action so if they canter and then quicken it works against him.”


However, Tarry was worried where the pace would come from with no obvious front-runners in the field.


Comparing his pair he said, “As highly as I rate Roman Wall he has only won one race, while Gold Onyx is a Grade 1 winner. This will be the race where Roman Wall is judged and if he disappoints again we might have to geld him.”



Tarry felt that Justin Snaith’s pair, Solo Traveller and Run For It, held the aces, although in his opinion Run For It would need a good pace, while Solo Traveller wouldn’t need a pace and had a good draw.



Joey Ramsden was thrilled with his Galileo gelding Il Saggiatore’s Champions Season pipe-opener at Clairwood, a preparation run for his Daily News 2000 bid at Greyville this Saturday, while Mike de Kock has high regard for his contender Empenoso Henn.



Il Saggiatore has already proved his class finishing a head second in the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby over 2000m at Kenilworth on J&B Met day in late January.



That last run at Clairwood, when finishing 3,8 lengths behind his impressive stable-mate Bravura, was the Australian-bred’s first run since then.



He is not a big horse but has a fine turn of foot and in the Cape Derby, as in most of his runs, he came from near the back of the field.



He looked the winner, having caught M’Lords Throat just before the line, but Top Seller flew up late to deny him.



Considering his style, his draw of 10 shouldn’t be a concern, and he has been doing well at home since his last run.



Empenoso Henn, an Argentinean-bred gelding by Hennessy, was off for nine months after rearing, falling over and damaging his whither.



He had won on debut over 1200m at Clairwood in late August and in his latest start at Greyville he won a MR79 Handicap over 1600m in good style beating the promising Charles Laird-trained Australian-bred West Coast Swing by a head.



De Kock said, “I think he is a very nice horse and has a lot of potential. He has been a bit problematic, so I am throwing him into the deep end. I would have normally taken him through the divisions, but I need to know whether he is good enough to go to Dubai. This will be a good test for him. It is a competitive field and with his lack of experience it will be tough to win, but it is not inconceivable that he could finish third or fourth.”



Empenoso Henn has shortened from 14-1 into 12-1 with Betting World, while Il Saggiatore has been steady at 7-1.

Black Wing to beat M'Lords Throat, Run for it and English garden...

On M' Lords throat at 14/1 antepost looking for a nice run..

ModelManFan Wrote:

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> Black Wing to beat M'Lords Throat, Run for it and
> English garden...

By David Thiselton

Trainer Paul Gadsby and owners Clive and Patrick Murphy stand on the cusp of a fairytale win with their contender, in Saturday’s Daily News 2000 at Greyville, the rags-to-riches Black Wing.



The Kahal three-year-old gelding will be ridden by Ian Sturgeon after regular jockey Sean Veale fractured a cheek bone after a fall at Scottsville last Saturday.



For Clive Murphy, who has had his colours since 1985, it will be the realisation of a lifelong dream to have a Grade 1 winner, while it will provide Gadsby with an incredible re-entry into the training ranks.



Murphy has had some good horses such as five-in-a-row winner Double Harmony, Natal Breeders Stakes third-placed Incredulous and one or two others, but this will be his first Grade 1 runner.



His brother Patrick has had his colours for about 15 years and is equally excited.



Gadsby, a former jockey, took out his license again after a gap of more than a decade just last year and currently only has 18 horses in his yard.



He trained the versatile 15-time winner San Carlos in the early 1990s, the victor of the Grade 1 Star Sprint among other Graded wins, and a runner in such races as the Vodacom Durban July and J&B Met.



He reckons Black Wing still has time to match if not overtake San Carlos as the best horse he’s ever trained.



Black Wing has won his last four starts, all at Greyville and all of them in impressive fashion.



After an unlucky second over 1400m in his third start in late November at Greyville, Gadsby decided he was a horse of some potential and looked for a permanent rider to accompany him in a mapped out program.



He identified Veale who was at the time stable jockey to fellow Ashburton trainer Duncan Howells.



On February 1 Black Wing was entered in a Maiden at Greyville over 1600m and left the field in his wake, sauntering to a 3,75 lengths win.



But it was not just the style of the win that impressed.



Gadsby said, “I’ve never seen a horse that goes down so well. He floats down. Garth Puller ran to me after he’d gone down that night and said, wow, you have a good horse.”



Black Wing then won a MR74-78 Handicap over 1600m, coming from well back and passing the rest of the field effortlessly to win by 2,25 lengths.



Veale was unavailable that night due to a commitment to Howells and Sturgeon picked up the ride.



“It was at that stage that Deez Dayanand said to me ‘have you noticed the times your horse is running’. I compared them to the top three-year-olds in the country and realized he must be something.”



Gadsby was also aware that on pedigree Black Wing was looking for further.



In a 2000m event in late March Veale rode a fine race.



His weighing room colleagues continually kept him out wide and he made a split-second decision to take Black Wing to the front, “What’re they going to do now?,” he later told Gadsby, adding that he knew how much horse he had underneath him.



Black Wing held on for a comfortable 1,5 length win.



Gadsby was away at the Sales in the week before his last run on April 19 and his wife Beth was concerned as rain had interrupted his work program.



“She told me that he was underdone and must not be let go too early,” he recalled. “So when Sean let him go at the top of the straight I nearly had a heart attack!”



However, Black Wing proved not only his ability, but his courage, beating the Mike de Kock-trained four-year-old Esteco by 0,5 lengths despite giving him 3kg.



Esteco was also said to need the run, but Gadsby reckoned on his parade ring appearance he looked primed.



Esteco went on to beat a strong field that included the promising Charles Laird-trained Ice Axe, from whom he only received 1kg, over 1900m at Greyville in facile fashion and he was subsequently supplemented for the Vodacom Durban July.



This has been a constant theme of Black Wing’s wins, for although he has won off-season non-feature events, his form has always stood up very well indeed.



Gadsby’s program had worked perfectly up to that time, but there was then a blip as he drew wide in the KRA Guineas, wide in other suitable races and would have had to concede too much weight to M’Lords Throat in a Progress Plate.



“We decided instead upon a gallop, which he had at Greyville last week on Tuesday over 1700m with Sean Veale aboard. It went very well and we have never had him fitter.”



However, he added, “With his recent bad luck with draws I couldn’t believe it when he drew 20 out of 20 for the Daily News. From draw 13 on Saturday we are already at a two lengths disadvantage.”



One gets the impression, though, that the Gadsby’s are quietly confident.



Paul first spotted Black Wing on a visit to Summerhill Stud last year.



“Kahal’s one of my favourite stallions and I like the nick with Rambo Dancer. He turned in, so was passed by at every Sale, but had very good bone so I asked Jessica Goslett to come and ride him. I’d noticed he was a bit hot so told her to just leave him if he spins around. She did so and he was then fine. She got off after the gallop and said he ‘felt nice and will definitely win some races’.



Gadsby bought him for just R57,000 and Murphy is grateful, not to mention impressed, that he was persuaded to buy him before he had ever seen him.



The Gadsby’s too are grateful and “feel blessed” to have such a promising horse in their new venture.



Saturday will be the acid test for Black Wing and it will not only be the Gadsby’s and the Murphy’s who will be on tenterhooks at 17:20 but also his growing number of KZN followers.

My humble opinion:

1 = English Garden
2 = Run For It
3 = Solo Traveller
4 = The Apache

Justin Snaith holds the aces in Saturday’s Daily News 2000 at Greyville with the two favourites Solo Traveller and Run For It.



The pair had separate grass gallops over 800 metres each on Monday at their Clairwood base and Snaith said, “It’s all good, no problems.”



He reckoned that both horses are the best possible examples of their respective sires.



“Solo Traveller is the perfect example of a Western Winter and Run For It is the perfect example of a Dynasty.”



Solo Traveller, the Grade 1 Bloodstock SA Cape Guineas and Grade 2 KRA Guineas winner, has stamina doubts hanging over his head. He failed at odds-on in the Investec Cape Derby over 2000m at Kenilworth, while his full-sister Strawberry Ice was a useful sprint-miler who never raced beyond a mile.



However, Snaith is confident that he will see out the trip.



“He was haemo-concentrating at the time of the Derby and that’s why he didn’t stay. Gelding has done him a world of good. Also good horses can stretch their trip and give everything you ask of them, especially against their own age group. In the July against the older horses it will be tougher.”



He added, “Solo Traveller’s temperament can win him a race like this. Nothing phases or intimidates him. He is a strong, hard horse and he does the intimidating.”



Run For It, who is the current Vodacom Durban July second favourite, has no stamina doubts.



He has proved himself over the trip with an excellent third in the J&B Met, while Dynasty’s progeny tend to be effective over a mile but get better with each step up in trip from there.



Some people have questioned whether Run For It will be suited to Greyville, but Snaith is confident he will be.



“He has a very good turn of foot and it will be especially effective over this trip. Felix (Coetzee) said he was coming up the hill cantering in the KRA Guineas. It was the first time he’d ever cruised into the straight and he had just passed Link Man when he got T-boned. But take nothing away from Solo Traveller. Nothing was going to beat him that night.”



Solo Traveller has an excellent draw of five, while Run For It is out at eight.



Snaith said, “Run For It has been very unlucky with his draws and eight is still a bit wide. The first five draws would be ideal where we could just come out and sit immediately but as always we are going to have to place him.”



Run For It does relax in the running though, which means the draw is not too much of a disadvantage.



After the KRA Guineas debacle, in which Run For it was completely taken out of the race by the ducking Ridethebreeze, Snaith’s main wish for Saturday is a clean run race.



“This is a very important race. We have been waiting for it the whole year and all I want for them are clean runs so they can show their potential. If they are not good enough, so be it, and if they are the July will just be a bonus.”



Snaith was not concerned about what pace the race would be run at and regarding the dangers said, “If our pair run badly anything in the race can win it”.

Trainer Comments- Woolavinton 2000

by David Thiselton


The Vodacom Durban July favourite, Igugu, is in good shape ahead of this Saturday’s Woolavington 2000 at Greyville, while her stable companion Berry Blaze is getting bigger and stronger by the day and looks to be her only danger.



Mike de Kock said on Monday that Igugu had been freshened up after her Triple Tiara win.



“It was necessary, so she won’t be quite at 100%”, he said.



However, de Kock is reputed to turn out some of the world’s fittest horses, so this should have no bearing on her performance.



De Kock added that he felt she would take to any track.



Her only previous experience of a tight right hand track was when winning the weight-for-age Grade 3 Joburg Spring Challenge on the Turffontein Inside track over 1450m by a comfortable 2,75 lengths, beating such good horses as Headstrong, Miss Turbulence and Alderry.



Igugu didn’t beat strong fields in any of the Gauteng Fillies Guineas, SA Fillies Classic over 1800m and SA Oaks over 2450m.



However, she won those races by a sum total of 20 lengths and her times over her preferred trips in the Fillies Classic and Oaks were better than the subsequent male events on the same day.



Berry Blaze was beaten 11,5 lengths by Igugu in the SA Fillies Classic, but as de Kock said this Irish-bred filly is six months younger than her contemporaries and is improving rapidly.



She has a great presence, being a big, imposing sort and has impressed in her two runs at Greyville.

In the first of them she beat a competitive field in a Progress Plate over 1400m in very soft going by a comfortable 2,25 lengths.



Then she lost a couple of lengths at the start in the KRA Fillies Guineas and after rounding the field came with a withering finishing run, failing by just 0,5 lengths to get to the classy Beach Beauty, despite first hanging right and then hanging left away from the stick.



On pedigree she should love this extra distance.



Dennis Drier has opted to avoid the Woolavington with Beach Beauty.



He said that she was a small filly, while he himself liked to race to win not just for cheques, so to run her over 2000m and then bring her back to 1600m for the Garden Province would not be the best route for her.



James Goodman’s Las Ramblas finished second in the SA Fillies Classic, beaten 10,25 lengths by Igugu, and was 1,25 lengths clear of Berry Blaze.



He admitted that Berry Blaze had improved a lot since and went as far as saying that he wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one to beat, although he regarded Igugu as high class.



He said Las Ramblas is as well as she was before the SA Fillies Classic.



Her jockey on Saturday, Ian Sturgeon, reported that he had been very happy with her work yesterday.



Goodman felt that Las Ramblas would take to any going and the form pointed to her being in the money again.



Her KZN form shows narrow losses to Safwan over 1600m at Greyville and Lady Magpie over 1750m at Scottsville and both of those horses went on to win Graded features with Safwan winning his, the Grade 2 Betting World 1900, at Greyville.



Glen Kotzen said that Six Blue Notes was crying out for this trip according to jockey reports, so they were taking a chance.



“She was Grade 1 placed twice as a two-year-old and then went a bit off but her last two starts in KZN have been very nice (close up places over 1400m). It is a very strong field, but if she stays she is the type that can quicken, so Greyville suits her.”



Cherry On The Cake, who is still a one-time winner, finished fourth in the Grade 1 Durban Thekwini Stakes over the Greyville 1600m last season, but in her only meeting with Igugu, in the SA Oaks, she was beaten 27,5 lengths.



Van Zyl said, “She is doing well and we hope to see improvement with blinkers.”

Summerveld comments

Supporters of the Gavin van Zyl-trained The Apache had mixed feelings after his run in the KRA Guineas, but the yard are happy with his preparation for the Daily News 2000 at Greyville this Saturday, while Glen Kotzen is bullish about the chances of M’Lords Throat.



The Apache showed an excellent turn of foot when winning the Grade 2 Dingaans over 1600m at Turffontein last November, creeping up from a long way back in the straight, before finding another gear as he reached the heels of the leaders.



Some of his supporters were therefore a bit disappointed to see him just keeping on at one pace in the latter stages of the KRA Guineas.



However, van Zyl pointed out that he had been too handy and had over raced, while his big race jockey Raymond Danielson added, “He was still able to turn it on at the top of the straight despite over racing. It was his first run for six months and he got a bit tired in the last bit. I think he’s got a shout on Saturday.”



Van Zyl said that the Mogok colt was not a good track horse, so it was difficult to evaluate his workouts, and added, “We are expecting him to enjoy this trip.”



Kotzen said about M’Lords Throat, “He is on track and this is his third run after a rest. It’s a very competitive field but he has a liking for Greyville as he can quicken.”



In the Investec Cape Derby he found an excellent handy position on the rail from a wide draw and quickened into the lead at the top of the straight, opening up a two length lead. He was only caught very late by Il Saggiatore and the winner Top Seller, finishing a 0,2 length third.



The Kenilworth straight is 600m long compared to the 450m of the Greyville straight, so, as Kotzen said, his style should suit this track.



He is drawn very well in barrier four, so should be able to find the rail for free.



Sometimes the inside horses over this trip at Greyville have to be used to a certain extent to keep their positions, but M’Lords Throat has good early pace, as he proved when finding a handy position from a good draw in the Grade 2 Peninsula Handicap over 1800m.



M’Lords Throat also has the advantage of having had a run at the course, winning an Allowance Plate over 1900m on May 20 by 2,25 lengths when giving 2,5kg to Daily News and Vodacom Durban July contender Gold Onyx.



Alyson Wright has entered A King Is Born, who made his debut in December before winning impressively second time out at Scottsville over 1600m.



He won a Novice Plate over 2000m at Greyville next time out in March and wasn’t disgraced last time when fourth over the Greyville 1900m in a strong field, although he will battle to beat Black Wing on Saturday on a line through the winner of the latter race, Esteco.



The Wright yard said, “It’s a bit of a test for him, but finishing fifth or sixth will be a good trial for the Derby which will be a better race for him.”



Saturday’s race is one of best pointers to the Vodacom Durban July as the last two running’s have proved.



The 2009 winner Big City Life, went on to win the Vodacom, while the one-two last year, Irish Flame and Bold Silvano, were also the one-two in the Vodacom albeit the other way round.



Only three of the field, A King Is Born, Empenoso Henn and Wealthy And Wise, are not entered in the Vodacom.