Mission accomplished as In a dominant display of sheer class and power, Jackson threw down the gauntlet, when he left a field of Vodacom Durban July contenders in his dust, to win the R1 million, Group 1 Daily News 2000 over 2000m at Greyville on Saturday night.
Photo by Liesl King
The beautiful, near black colt, trained by Brett Crawford, had arrived in Durban for the Champions Season with a large reputation, after easily winning the Group 1, Investec Cape Derby over 2000m in January.
But after his Champions Season debut in the Group 2 KRA Guineas(1600m), where he finished second to champion miler, Variety Club, many considered him to be an overrated Vodacom Durban July favourite.
Despite linger doubts, Jackson started a short priced favourite at 1/3 in the Daily News.
From barrier seven, Anthony Delpech on Vettel(ARG) charged around the field to take the lead in the early stages, with Karis Teetan slotting Jackson in behind him on the rail. Zambucca moved up to join Vettel and the pair led the field along the back straight and all the way into the home straight.
With Vettel and Zambucca still fighting for the lead, Teetan was content to bowl along quietly on Jackson, two lengths behind. At the 300m mark, Vettel, Whiteline Fever, Shogunnar and Masterplan all mounted challenges as the field spread out across the track and it looked as if Teetan on Jackson had left it too late.
Teetan, however, knew exactly what he had underneath him. He simply eased his hold on the reins and sent Jackson forward. Within a matter of strides the burly colt had passed the leaders, putting daylight between himself and the chasing field.
Glancing back over his shoulder, Teetan confirmed the inevitable, before he began patting his mount. Jackson crossed the line 3.75L in front easing up in a time of 2.00.02, with Vettel staying on for second and Shogunnar in third, a further 0.5L back.
A relieved Crawford confirmed that the Daily News had been Jackson's main aim and that the team would now look at the weights before deciding whether he would start in the Vodacom Durban July on July 7th.
Jackson by Dynasty out of the Cozzene mare, Moonlit Prairie(USA), delighted owners Ian Longmore and Jack Mitchell with his fifth victory from seven starts, taking his earnings to R1 256 205.
