On Saturday, Scottsville was the scene of four G1 sprints down a 1200m straight course. Most of SA’s best sprinters across age and gender categories converged in ‘’Maritzburg for these coveted Stakes.
The prestigious Golden Horse Sprint went to well punted second favourite, Alesian Chief, in a special triumph for the “underdog”. He is trained by ex-Kimberley journeyman, Corrie Lensley for whom this was his first G1 in a lengthy career.
Winning Jockey Muzi Yeni said, “I got a flyer on Alesian Chief and controlled the race.” Indeed, it was a dominant performance by the Vercingetorix colt who went all the way. This was worthy of an excellent speed score of 112 – notable too was that the flashy three-year-old chestnut carried a burden of 58,5kg’s.
Bartholdi (s/s 111) chased hard in a top-notch effort but could not run down the victor. He fell a half-length shy at the wire, confirming the form of their key Turffontein clash in November 2021. Following his sterling try in the Drill Hall Stakes, three-year-old Smorgasbord (s/s 108) emerged with credit in the trifecta slot with stalwart sprinter, Chimichuri Run (s/s 107) closing into fourth.
Captain’s Ransom (s/s 104 +) confirmed yet again that she is freaky good when accelerating past the best sprinting fillies in SA. No matter how hard the placed horses True to Life, Sound of Warning and Big Burn tried, they could not match the closing burst of this truly exceptional Captain Al filly.
Captain’s Ransom has now won 11 of 13 starts, including multiple Grade 1’s over a variety of distances. She is trained by Justin Snaith, who deserves accolades for getting her to run at a peak 126 days since relocating from the Cape to KZN. She was ridden by her devoted and super-confident jock, Richard Fourie who has consistently extolled her virtues.
Sweet Pepper (s/s 95) finished best to edge out Glittering Girl (s/s 94) in the Allan Robertson. The winner is by Trippi and was especially well conditioned by patient trainer Sean Tarry, given that she has required physiotherapy on strained muscles, so her races have been appropriately spaced apart. She is now a perfect three from three. Calvin Habib did the steering.
The same Tarry/Habib duo won the following juvenile Grade 1 feature, the Gold Medallion with stylish looking Rafeef colt, Thunderstruck (s/s 96) who raced prominently on the outer, then drifted towards the inside but still had plenty in hand over his pursuers.
Longshot Now I Got You (s/s 91) made good late progress to snatch second place from Ocean Time and Captain Bombshell. This was a race where there was plenty of scrimmaging back in the ruck with inevitable tough beat stories. Thunderstruck stayed away from all the drama and made his own luck with his pace-pressing style.