SPARKLING WATER WILL HAVE IT TOUGHER IN SUMMER CUP

SPARKLING WATER WILL HAVE IT TOUGHER IN SUMMER CUP

By David Thiselton

Mike de Kock's fine form continued at Turffontein. Standside on Saturday when his filly Sparkling Water converted her "best weighted" status into victory in the Grade 3 Victory Moon Stakes over 1800m, ridden by Kabelo Matsunyane.

However, the probable best trial for the Grade 1 Gauteng Summer Cup was put up earlier in the day by her female four-year-old contemporary War Of Athena.

The Victory Moon Stakes is run on merit rated band conditions with penalties for Graded wins and a 2.5kg allowance for females.

Sparkling Water, a 109 merit rated Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein Stud homebred by Silvano, had to carry only 50kg and Matsunyane gave her a peach of a ride.

Jumping from draw 9 in the 12 horse field he angled inward from the off and managed to slot her into midfield. She was one wide with cover and about four back in the running as Running Brave led at a fair pace.
In the straight Matsunyane allowed her to creep up steadily before getting to work at the 300m mark by which stage she needed to make up about three lengths on Golden Pheasant, who had sat second in the running and was being challenged by last weekend's Grade 2 Allied Steelrode-Onamission Mile runner up Astrix. Sparkling Water ran all the way to the line and got up in the final stride to deny Golden Pheasant by a head. Astrix who had sat behind Golden Pheasant in the running finished a head further back in third.
Flying Carpet, who sat behind the winner in the running ran on in eye-catching style to finish a
2,50 length fourth and there was a gaping 4.5 length gap back to fifth-place Second Base.

Sparkling Water is unlikely to get much of a merit rated raise, if any, as she was well weighted.

However, she will have it a lot tougher in the Grade 1 Gauteng Summer Cup because the bottom weight for Johannesburg's most prestigious race has been changed from 52kg to 54kg meaning, as things stand and presuming she stays on 109, she will be 3kg under sufferance. Flying Carpet will also be 3kg under sufferance, while Golden Pheasant, if he stays on 111, will be 1.5kg under sufferance and Astrix will be 1kg under sufferance.

In the other feature on the day, the Listed Gardenia Stakes over 1000m, the former Cape-based mare Hello Winter Hello made a fine debut for the Johan Janse van Vuuren Yard to beat the best weighted horse, Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint winner Singforafa, by a comfortable two lengths under Warren Kennedy.

Kennedy thus scored a treble as he also won a Progress Plate aboard the talented Paul Peter-trained Winter Stories having scored earlier on the Peter-trained Fromheretoeternity.

Earlier, Wilgerbosdrift SA Triple Crown heroine War Of Athena cruised to her tenth victory in her 17th start. The small Paul Matchett-trained daughter of Act Of War surprisingly drifted out to 2/1 presumably because she had to give Rain In Holland 10kg, which at this time of the year meant she was 4kg worse off than weight for age with the latter. However, on official merit ratings she was 4.5kg better off with Rain In Holland than she would have been in a handicap. The latter was going for her sixth win in succession but was always going to find 1400m too sharp whereas War Of Athena has true class having proven before she can beat the best sprinters around at their game and reign supreme at a mile and beyond. War Of Athena bounced out and found herself one out and one back and one of her three stablemates, Queen Bomi, then provided her with cover. She used her fine turn of turn in the straight to quickly nullify pacemaker Magical Flight's big lead while Rain In Holland as usual took a long time to get going. The latter was making late inroads but could only manage third as War Of Athena won easing up by 1,25 lengths from Magical Flight. Yeni could afford to give War Of Athena a few congratulatory pats before the line and he used only hands and heels throughout. She was still carrying a bit of condition so could well become the second successive female to win the Summer Cup following Summer Pudding's win last year.

Matchett and Yeni later won a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1160m with Grade 1 Golden Horse Sprint winner Battle Force. It was his first run since disappointing around the turn in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint and he was 3kg under sufferance with the best weighted horse Celestial Love but he loves this course and distance and after showing fine gatespeed never looked in danger of defeat, beating Bartholdi by a length. Celestial Love was eased out of the race after the jockey felt something amiss but the veterinarian could not detect any obvious problem.

Yeni scored a treble on the day having also won aboard the Robbie Sage-trained Coral Dawn.

Picture: SPARKLING WATER just gets up in the Victory Moon (JC Photos).

War of Athena has obviously shortened for Summer Cup and is a very competitive race and we might need a few in the pick 6 but WOA is my top selection. 👌