With the SA Derby less than three weeks away many pundits are trying to fathom whether Louis The King can become only the second horse in South African racing history to win the SASCOC Triple Crown.
To land the crown is quite a training feat – you need both a top horse and an outstanding trainer. The owners of Louis The King can be satisfied they have both.
His only defeat came over 1400m, and that was probably a touch too short.
Trainer Geoff Woodruff has proven his ability time and time again, so the owners can sleep well, knowing their horse will be at his peak on the day.
In 2010 Pierre Jourdan was in the same position. He won the first two legs but the Derby proved to be a step too far and he went down to the Mike de Kock-trained Irish Flame.
It didn’t help his cause that the race was delayed for a week due to bad weather and the going on the day was very heavy.
Ironically, both Pierre Jourdan and Louis The King cost R60,000 as yearlings.
Many punters are looking for a horse to beat Louis The King but the Listed Derby Trial at Turffontein last Saturday did not leave anybody any wiser.
The De Kock stable won the race with Australian-bred Ilitshe who had to fight back on the line to get the better of Everest by a short head, with Leeuloop Jet another short head back in third.
On paper that form is in no way good enough to trouble Louis The King but the comments afterwards put a different complexion on the performance.
Jockey Anthony Delpech, who rode Ilitshe to his third consecutive victory, said he had to take the son of Fastnet Rock to the front at the start of the 2000m race because there was no pace.
“I hoped they would tackle me early because when he gets into the lead he starts looking around. They actually headed me just before the line and he fought back.
“He is very dumb but, when the penny drops, he is going to be a decent horse,” Delpech said.
Ilitshe only arrived from KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday so that adds to the quality of the run.
It is also not easy to lead from start to finish over 2000m on the Turffontein standside track.
De Kock has entered four runners for the Derby and it will be interesting to see which of them Delpech chooses to ride.
For the record, Woodruff said Louis The King had taken his win in the SA Classic very well and was given his first gallop on Friday after a short rest.
• THE Computaform Sprint is always exciting as it is unquestionably the quickest 1000m G1 race in the country.
At the moment, most people will be siding with Via Africa who as a three-year-old filly only found What A Winter too good last year.
She has already beaten Happy Forever in the Cape Flying Championship but the five-year-old son of Var could not have been more impressive when winning the G2 Senor Santa Handicap over 1160m.
He went very fast in the early stages and kept going to beat Here Comes Billy by 1.25 lengths with Chekilli another head back in third.
“This is really a testament to this horse’s courage as I believe he has been plagued with problems,” said jockey Anton Marcus.
“He’s not the easiest to work with, so obviously a big well done to Joey and his team. He is just a lovely horse to ride, he is as honest as the day is long and he just gives you right to the line.”
• The G2 Colorado King Stakes over 2000m was also seen as a pointer to the R2 million President’s Champions Challenge but it was run at a crawl and little could be gleaned from it.
Halve The Deficit ran on best to beat stablemate and favourite Cagiva by a length with Knock On Wood coming from last to finish a further neck back in third.
• The Listed Oaks Trial went to Woodruff-trained Touch The Sky) while Kinematic Countess repeated her victory of last year to win the G3 Sycamore Sprint over 1160m under S’manga Khumalo.
