Mollett,s World Wed 26th May

From RXP, well done Molly

David Mollett

Football coach, Jose Mourinho, likes to call himself “The Special One” and that’s exactly how racing fans felt about top sprinter J J The Jet Plane two years ago.
Trainer Lucky Houdalakis’ former star returns to the big time in Saturday’s Golden Horse Casino Sprint at Scottsville, and his supporters will be hoping the “no show” syndrome of other top performers returning from overseas doesn’t rear its head again.
“Yes, it has to be some sort of worry that nothing has bounced back,” said Lucky yesterday. “You can name a few - Narc, Lion’s Blood, Strategic News and Mythical Flight got beaten the other day.”
After spells with Mike De Kock and Richard Hannon in the UK, “JJ” returned to Lucky’s stable in early January. “He was hardly recognizable with his thick winter coat and - after two months in quarantine - he’d lost muscle tone.”
“Anyway, we clipped him and started up with him in February, but then we got the bad weather and it was stop go, stop go.”
“JJ” has progressed enough for Lucky to let him take his chance in Saturday’s big race, but warns that he’s facing a stiff task on his comeback run. “If he finishes in the first four, I’ll be more than happy.”
The plus factor is that “JJ” is an “easy traveller” and he’ll be tracked down to KZN on Friday night arriving early on Saturday morning.
Piere Strydom, who struck up a good partnership when “JJ” was in his prime will again be in the saddle on Saturday. “Don’t ask if he’s been to work him - you know the answer to that,” quipped Lucky.
Waiting to take on “JJ” in the 1200m sprint are some seasoned campaigners including Warm White Night, Tropical Empire and Mythical Flight.
Tropical Empire heads the weights with 60 kg as his merit-rating has now risen to 118, while Warm White Night and “JJ” race off the same rating of 114. The joker in the pack could be Captain Scott who is running over a distance short of his best. He could be a factor with just 53,5 kg on his back.
After failing to justify favouritism at Turffontein, Mythical Flight will also be attempting to roll back the years so plenty of questions will have been answered come Saturday night.
“All I can say is that “JJ” might be a little on the big side but he’s looking good. We’ll be a lot wiser after Saturday - let’s hope he’s still got it,” concluded Lucky.
It certainly is a magnificent card at Scottsville and - for me - the race of the meeting could be the clash between the unbeaten Val Da Ra and Gibraltar Blue in the SA Fillies Sprint.
Could we get the same outcome as the recent Krisflyer Sprint in Singapore? In that race, punters and pundits wouldn’t hear of defeat for Rocket Man and you could hear a pin drop when the favourite was beaten by Hong Kong raider, Green Birdie.
Bookmakers are certain to price up Val Da Ra at cramped odds, but the really interesting aspect will be the price they chalk up about Gibraltar Blue. She brings top-class overseas form into the race - something Denis Drier will be well aware of - and I fancy she just might collar Val Da Ra in the closing stages.
Val De Ra has a merit-rating of 106 against Gibraltar Blue’s 102 so - having to concede Mike De Kock runner a kilo - it will be revealing to see if these ratings are accurate.
Of course, it’s possible that one of the other established sprinters such as Captain’s Gal (merit-rating 108), Lady Windermere (106), Mochachino (105) or Purple Lake (104) will come to the rescue of the layers, but I doubt it. The two fillies should suffice in both the jackpot and Pick 6.
Another Mike De Kock inmate, Kavanagh, will be all the rage for the Gold Reef Resorts Medallion after making his rivals look second-rate on his debut at Turffontein.
Johnny Geroudis can hardly have had an easier ride as he guided the son of Tiger Ridge to a two and a half lengths win over another of that stallion’s progeny, The Raj. It was five lengths back to the third home, His Affidavit.
Interestingly, Kavangh stopped the clock in that 1160m race at 68,13 seconds - fractionally faster than Captain’s Gal recorded in the Camellia Stakes some 35 minutes later.
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We learnt something that most of old hacks knew already from last Friday’s Betting World 1900 at Greyville? Finding the winner of this so-called “July Trial” is as difficult as finding the Grand National winner for the simple reason that many of the runners are blowing away the cobwebs.
You could see in Mike De Kock’s interview with Laff that he was amazed that Bold Silvano had won, and Mike Bass had commented earlier in the week that he was no more than “hopeful” about the chance of Fort Vogue. Despite this, many tipsters still plumped for the J&B Met fourth.
Betting World certainly got magnificent mileage for their sponsorship with Greyville on-course presenters wearing their shirts, and one was also left for me for my studio stint at Tellytrack.
It’s worth pointing out that this isn’t the scenario overseas. I didn’t see anyone sporting Singapore Airlines apparel at Kranji, and it remains to be seen whether Investec can get John McCririck dolled up in their gear for the Epsom Derby a week on Saturday.
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Addition,

Respected former racing commentator and journalist Francois Wolfaardt - now happily retired in Plett - has announced the April winners of the BBR-sponsored media competition.
Congrats to Racing Express’ Nicci Garner who won one of the three R1500 prizes for her article on Diane De Kock’s initiative for the grooms at Randjesfontein to be tested for HIV Aids. Wolfaardt commented: “Nicci Garner’s report on the action is both enlightening and encouraging. It is indeed a credit to the often maligned industry that the initiative - like the workriders progrmme - would come from within its ranks and from leading racing personalities.”
Sporting Post columnist, Lance Benson, was also an April winner for his column on Julie Alexander. Wolfaardt commented: “In an excellent column, Benson takes a look at the “rise and fall” of much loved Tellytrack presenter, Julie Alexander. His assessment and report is quite frank and without malice about Alexander, and the industry she served and loved and the forces that contrived to her resignation. The column is an excellent example of free expression in an industry which, at times, has shown a tendency towards authoritarianism.”