naresh Wrote:
> Tipster Wrote:
>
>
> > Is there "zilch" news as Naresh says or do
> people
> > just not know where to look? So far this week
> my
> > colleagues and I have written about eight
> articles
> > on last weekend's racing. Should I send them to
> > you Hibs?
>
>
> Im not having a go at you or any other racing
> journalist. Besides covering articles on the
> results and their chance preceding that, Im
> looking for other interesting news. Yesterday, for
> example on bloodhorse.com they had close to 20
> articles on all range of topics. Like for example,
> an article why Craig Zackey has been moved,
> instead of the racing public making their own
> assumptions. Santa Carolina win yesterday at
> Turffontein. The article could have been well
> dissected from the breeding perspective to
> impressive tun of foot after being baulked.
> Hangman's poor performance could have been an
> another article.
Gold Circle Publishing:
There were some eyecatching performances at the Turffontein meeting on Tuesday night and the Mike de Kock-trained Tiger Ridge filly Santa Carolina, a daughter of the top race mare Ilha da Vitoria, stole the show.
Ilha da Vitoria, who won all of the Summer Cup, Horse Chestnut Stakes and Champion Challenge in her final season as a five-year-old, is proving to be just as good a broodmare.
With just four foals to have raced so far, the small but strongly built grey has produced four winners, including Listed winner Ilha Grande (Tiger Ridge) and Grade 2 SA Oaks winner Ilha Bela (Fort Wood).
Interestingly her three best progeny to date are all grey fillies, while her most disappointing foal, Pemba by Tiger Ridge, is a chestnut colt.
Santa Carolina is so far following in the footsteps of her half-sister Ilha Bela, having won her first two races.
However, she has probably done even better as she faced a useful field of older horses in her second start on Tuesday night and it followed a five month layoff.
In the MR 88 Handicap over 1400m for fillies and mares over 1400m Santa Carolina’s chances appeared to have been ruined when she was squeezed out at the 400m mark, just as she was making a forward move from near last.
She had to be snatched up and was now in last place, so many of her supporters must have thrown their tickets away at that stage.
However, Marco van Rensburg fortunately never gave up on her and after giving her about three cracks she first picked up well before turning it on like and express train in the final 100m to win by 0,25 lengths from the four-year-old Kahal filly Euphoria.
She was running off a merit rating of 83, so should be well handicapped in her next start, considering the amount of ground the interference cost her.
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