Vihaan’s Pie (speed score 100) was a surprising and, arguably fortuitous winner of the Grade 3 Pointsettia Stakes as a side-stepping Favorita seemed to cost herself victory in this 1200m dash for fillies and mares at Scottsville on Sunday.

This was nevertheless a career best by the improving three year old daughter of Futura who upped her previous peak of 93 recorded in early March. Vihaan’s Pie is trained by Kumaran Naidoo and was safely handled by Warren Kennedy.

The second horse found traffic problems but looked to have overcome those hindrances when getting into the clear only to duck sharply when challenging Vihaan’s Pie. Given that the margin was only half a length at the wire, Favorita (s/s 99, has run 102) suffered a tough beat. Such is racing!

Excellent race-mare Siren’s Call has a daughter by top sire, Trippi called Sound of Warning who is bred to be special. She is now two from two after romping in the G3 Strelitzia Stakes where she moved up with a minimum of bother in the centre of the track to easily keep Captain’s Run (s/s 93) at bay. Her speed score of 97 is a fine effort for a juvenile making only her second start, suggesting she is imbued with loads of natural talent.

Good Traveller attained the same notable figure of 97 in the Godolphin Barb Stakes (G3) to also keep his unbeaten juvenile record. Cosmic Highway and Safe Return received most of the market support on Interbet but neither got in a blow as Grant van Niekerk steered Glen Kotzen’s Visionaire gelding to a fluent win.

Vihaan’s Pie was not the only 25/1 longshot to ruffle the majority of punters. Earlier, Ishnana, at a similar price, was another disregarded outsider to bely his odds. Garth Puller has been cranking out winners lately and he continues to do well with this consistent gelding who repeatedly runs figures of 100. That proved good enough in a competitive In Full Flight Stakes over 1100m – Good Rhythm (s/s 98) and Winter Smoke (s/s 98) were his closest challengers.

Favoured, Speed Machine misfired badly and never looked likely on a torrid day for punters. He was just one of many market fancies to get toppled – in fact, with not a single favourite arriving across the sequence the P6 returned close to R1.2 million, with nearly half a bar carried forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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