As the Vodacom Durban July contenders take a well deserved break, the Golden Horse Casino Sprint race day at Scottsville in Pietermaritzburg celebrates its 50th year on Saturday with the running of the R600 000, Group 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint (1200m).
Also on the card is the R500 000, Group 1 WFA South African Fillies Sprint(1200m), the R500 000, Group 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion(1200m) for two-year-olds and the R500 000, Group 1 Allan Robertson Championship(1200m) for two-year-old fillies.
The four Group 1 races draw the best South African sprinters to Pietermaritzburg where the toughest challenge, the uphill finish of Scottsville's 1200m straight turf track awaits them.
The day may very well belong to the females as the first Group 1 on the card, the Allan Robertson Championship, promises a mouth-watering contest with Valdivia, King's Temptress, Franny and All Is Secret set to clash inthe first juvenile Group 1 of the season.
Vaughan Marshall saddles Valdivia, the unbeaten daughter of European sprint champion Var, who won her first three starts by a combined margin of 16 lengths. It is however well known that Marshall's other runner, All Is Secret, regularly beats her stable companion at home.
Franny, a daughter of freshman sire Trippi, appeared unbeatable when winning her first two starts with contemptuous ease, until her colours were lowered by Kumaran Naidoo's first timer, Kings Temptress, in the R400 000, Group 2 SA Nursery over 1160m at Turffontein on April 28th.
The SA Fillies Sprint for fillies and mares pits the top mares headed by Welwitschia(GB), Ebony Flyer and State Blue against the best of the younger generation headed by the brilliant Princess Victoria.
Princess Victoria won the Allan Robertson in 2011 by 3.25L and went on to take the title of Equus Champion Two-year-old Filly. Her three-year-old career saw her victorious in the R750 000, Group 1 Cape Fillies Guineas over 1600m, before a gallant third against the colts in the R1 million Group 1 Cape Guineas, also over 1600m.
The Glen Kotzen trained daughter of Victory Moon made a smart Champions Season debut at Clairwood recently beating the classy Beach Beauty in the R150 000, Group 3 Poinsettia Stakes over 1200m at Clairwood on April 29th.
Justin Snaith saddles star mare Ebony Flyer, who despite a breathing problem, won the R500 000, Group 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m at Kenilworth in January. She has since had a second operation, which appears to have solved the problem.
The juvenile colts line up in the Tsogo Sun Medallion where the Mike de Kock trained Reign As Kings is joint favourite at 33/10 with the Dean Kannemeyer trained Cape Royal.
Reign As Kings has won four of his five starts, while Cape Royal won his only start by 6.25L. The race is by no means quite as clear-cut as there are two debut winning juveniles in the field, the Kotzen trained course and distance winner,Fly Me Over, and the Weiho Marwing trained Danesco.
Other course and distance winners include Potent Power, Go Again, Love Struck, My Jelly Bean, Ottimo(AUS) and the only filly in the race, the Corne Spies trained Straight Set.
The Group 1 programme culminates in the Golden Horse Casino Sprint, a race that J J The Jetplane won in 2008 and again in 2010. This year the race is a wide-open affair with any number of horses capable of walking off with the spoils.
Cape raiders include the talented What A Winter, who finished third in the R1 million, Group 1 WFA Computaform Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein on April 28th. According to trainer Mike Bass the colt is more suited to 1200m and will have come on from that run.
Bass also saddles the versatile Castlethorpe(AUS), who is a Vodacom Durban July entrant, but whose last two victories were both over 1200m. The gelding, by Not A Single Doubt, is effective over any trip from a sprint to a middle distance, but was very impressive in his Champions Season debut, when beating a smart field in a Pinnacle Stakes race over 1200m at Clairwood by three.
The Dominic Zaki-trained Deliver The Power reeled off five straight victories this season before finishing fourth behind Shea Shea in the Computaform Sprint, while Link Man and Delago Deluxe both won the Tsogo Sun Medallion in their year proving they are up to the tough challenge of the Scottsville 1200m.
