Daily News 2000 Week

By D Thiselton

Jackson was given a light canter on the beach sand at Summerveld on Monday and is looking a picture ahead of the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 at Greyville on Saturday, while Ilha Bela, who will be one of the favourites for the Woolavington 2000, will only arrive at Summerveld from Johannesburg sometime during this week.



Brett Crawford said he had been very happy with Jackson’s Champions Season debut run in the KRA Guineas.



“He was beaten by a better horse (Variety Club) and was well clear of the third horse. His 400m to finish time was good, which showed he will have no problem with the course. The race has brought him on, so he is much fitter now and looks outstanding. He is drawn perfectly and is eight points higher than any other horse in the merit ratings. It is a horse race, but eight pounds is a lot to turn around.”



Jackson, who won the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby over 2000m at Kenilworth on J&B Met day, will also appreciate the step up in trip from 1600m to 2000m.



He is currently the favourite for the Vodacom Durban July, but Crawford said that the Daily News had always been his main mission.



Crawford runs the Grade 1 TBAQ Paddock Stakes winner Thunder Dance in the Woolavington 2000.



She suffered a minor setback before her last intended start and had to be scratched so hasn’t enjoyed an ideal preparation.



Crawford said, “She takes a lot of work and a lot of racing so we had planned to run her at least twice before the Woolavington, so the prep hasn’t been ideal. But she has responded very well and came out of her last race well so I am a lot happier than I was two weeks ago. She was only 4,5 lengths off them in that last race when needing it badly. But it’s still going to be a hard task as she will be up against horses that are match fit. Her prep was not as good as it was in Cape Town and to win Grade 1s you need good preps.”



Mike de Kock said that he had decided to prepare Ilha Bela out of Randjesfontein for the Woolavington as she had been doing well on the polytrack in her work.



Ilha Bela was an impressive 6,25 length winner of her last start, the Grade 2 SA Oaks over 2450m at Turffontein, and de Kock reckoned afterwards she was a pleasure to work with and was improving all the time.



He also made her a “big July runner” after her performance that day.



She has quite a tough draw on Saturday in a competitive field.



However, she will have no problem with Greyville as she won there impressively over 1400m towards the end of her two-year-old season when up against older horses.



She did subsequently disappoint when a well beaten favourite in the Grade 1 Thekwini over 1600m, but she has come on in leaps and bounds in her last few starts and looks set to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Ilha Da Vitoria, who had famous wins in the Grade 1 Summer Cup and Horse Chestnut Stakes, as well as the GommaGomma Challenge, in her last season.



De Kock said that his other Woolavington runner Viva Maria would “be stretched by the 2000m trip, but it was a Grade 1 so they had to try.”



He reckoned that his Daily News contender, Vettel, would prefer further.



“He’s a Derby, Gold Cup type of a horse.”



However, Vettel is an impressive specimen and caught the eye when slamming a good field in a Non-Black Type feature over 2500m at Clairwood recently.



It is interesting to note that the Gavin van Zyl-trained Shogunnar, a horse he beat by 2,5 lengths that day, was subsequently supplemented for the Daily News.



Vettel should definitely not be written off for Saturday’s big race.

No race for Jackson here.........the price is giving it away right? This horse ran a great race over 1600m and now is a lot sharper over his preferred distance. This will be a walk in the park for him. His July price will no doubt shorten in the upcoming days

Dennis Drier has already bagged three Grade 1s this Champions Season and has a chance of another on Saturday when his SA Fillies Classic winner Bambina Stripes lines up for the Woolavington 2000 at Greyville Racecourse.



Bambina Stripes started favourite in her last start in the KRA Fillies Guineas at Greyville on May 5.



However, in an unfortunate turn of events, she dislodged jockey Alec Forbes not far into the race after clipping heels and pecking badly.



On the brighter side she suffered no ill effects from the outing and was in fact the first horse back in the parade ring having pulled herself up promptly after the finishing line.



Bambina Stripes has been doing well in her work since then.



“You can never be overconfident, but she will be right there,” said Drier, who had no concerns about her suitability to the Greyville track.



Bambina Stripes took ages to get going in the SA Classic, despite the long Turffontein straight, but produced a devastating late finish to mow virtually the whole field down and catch Kalami on the line.



However, in her previous start at Greyville the big filly did not require the same amount of time to get going, and produced a tremendous finish over the too sharp 1400m, just failing to catch another Woolavington contender Felix The Cat, despite needing the run and giving the latter 1kg.



She will relish the 2000m journey and will be ridden by the experienced Kevin Shea, who knows a lot about winning Grade 1s at Greyville.



This trainer-jockey combination won a Grade 1 with Potent Power at Scottsville last Saturday and it would be no surprise to see them in the winner’s enclosure again.

By David Thiselton

Greg Ennion was pleased with Master Plan’s runner up finish in the Grade 2 Betting World 1900 last week and confident that he would run an improved race in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 on Saturday at Greyville.



His highflying Cape colleague Vaughan Marshall was also pleased with his charge Dubai Gina ahead of the Woolavington 2000.



Ennion, talking from his Clairwood Champions Season base on Tuesday, said, “The 1900 was the strongest race Master Plan’s ever run in, it was his first run beyond 1600m, his first time at Greyville, his first time under lights, he was drawn 15 out of 16 and he was short of a gallop.”



He was also full of admiration for the courage the Jet Master gelding had showed in that race.



“He was basically the pacemaker as Lion In Winter went about 15 lengths clear. They went past him and he came back again. He was very tired afterwards and I didn’t think he would recover as well as he has done so quickly. He looks good, is eating well and doing well. He can only improve on that last run.”



Master Plan had showed himself to be a horse with potential when finishing a 2,65 length fourth to the country’s best miler, Variety Club, in the Winter Guineas at Kenilworth in his last race before travelling to Durban.



He beat his higher rated stablemate Astro News in that race.



However, Master Plan will have to improve considerably on Saturday to be in the first three as the Betting World 1900 was a handicap where he carried bottom weight and he is now in a Grade 1 weight-for-age race against not only the country’s joint highest rated three-year-old, Jackson, but also the Grade 1 SA Derby dead-heaters, Pomodoro and Royal Bencher.



Ennion, when asked about Astro News, said the three-year-old Silvano gelding had looked as if he could win the Betting World 1900 when moving up well in the straight, but then suddenly shortened his stride.



That was explained when, upon checking him afterwards, an abscess on his foot popped out.



The foot problem has been sorted out and he is on track for the Grade 3 Cup Trial over 1800m at Clairwood on June 9.



Vaughan Marshall, who is also based at Clairwood for the Champions Season, confirmed that Dubai Gina had needed her last start in the Listed East Coast Handicap over 2000m at Clairwood on June 20.



She moved up well under a welter burden of 61,5kg against older horses in that race before finding no extra late.



“That was a very good run,” said Marshall, “and she didn’t finish far off them (2,05 lengths).”



That was the first time that the three-time winning Australian-bred filly by Dubai Destination had finished out of the frame in eight starts.



However, not only did she have a big weight, but it was also her first start since her facile win in the Sun Classique Handicap over 2400m at Kenilworth on January 14.



She showed in the Sun Classique that she has plenty of stamina and a fine turn of foot, while her 2,3 length fourth to Princess Victoria in the slow run Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas showed she has some speed too, so she should be a big runner on Saturday despite her wide draw of 13.

I rememebr Ill da Vittoria too some time to start winning the group races. Maybe her daughter is a late bloomer too and we have not seen the best of her. i think she is a huge runnner in the July and probably the most improved horse in the country!

Hollywood have done us a blog with trainer comments


if you scroll down to the bottom of the blog you will also see a link to winning form

The talk is that Ilha Bela is better than her current rating of 104,and that she was in fact treated leniently for her last win.Both these facts may be true,but personally I don't see how she can possibly justify odds of 9/20 for the Woolavington and 9/2 for the July at this stage.She may bolt in on Saturday,but imo there is massive value opposing her at these prices.I just don't see how Bambina Stripes can be 12 times her price and Dubai Gina 25 times her price for the Woolavington.

JAP, I am with you 100% plus Greyville is a very different course to the long run in at Turffontein. Other than the 1600m Classic the fillies times were seriously slower than the Colts and think the 9/20 and 9/2 July are ridiculous odds. Would rather take the 25/1 plus odds on Pomodoro and Royal Bencher. What did she beat in the Oaks field as well?

Maybe I will have egg on my face if she cruises in but 7/1 on Bambina Stripes will be my play.

Bambina is a bigger price 4 places than Ilha is to win.Just not possible.

Justanotherpunter Wrote:

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> Bambina is a bigger price 4 places than Ilha is to
> win.Just not possible.


Much better bet...(tu)

It's obvious i'm in the Ilha Bela camp for Saturday and the July. Her average losing margin for the Fillies Guineas and Fillies Classic equates to 0.15, for the sake of this discussion, let's assume she won the Triple Tiara, what do you guys think her MR would be going into the Woolavington, my guess, around 109? Yes, this is all hypothetical.

bayern Wrote:

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> It's obvious i'm in the Ilha Bela camp for
> Saturday and the July. Her average losing margin
> for the Fillies Guineas and Fillies Classic
> equates to 0.15, for the sake of this discussion,
> let's assume she won the Triple Tiara, what do you
> guys think her MR would be going into the
> Woolavington, my guess, around 109? Yes, this is
> all hypothetical.

The problem with your theory is that Bambina Stripes beat her in the Classic despite having had to travel back from Cape Town to Summerveld, then just have one warm up run at Greyville and then travel to Joburg. The form of Ilha Bela's Oaks win has not worked out well at all to date either so the 5-10 seems ridiculous.