Gladatorian (s/s 112 +) rushed through to nab The Real Prince (s/s 111) two lunges before the line and win the Gr 1 HKJC Champions Cup at Greyville over 1800m. He has been a remarkably consistent performer at the highest level in S.A. and is adept over a range of distances.
Stuart Ferrie, who took over when legend Dennis Drier retired, is the winning trainer. Sean Veale delivered his mount with impeccable timing to swoop as The Real Prince (who’d made what seemed to be a race-winning rails run) swerved out to the centre of the course.
3rd placed, See It Again (s/s 110) showed he still retains excellent ability but the horse to take out of the race is youngster, Fire Attack (s/s 108+). He made up plenty of ground to get fourth against the prevailing track bias, having trailed the field for much of the race.
The track seemed to have been “souped” up, if official sectionals are taken at face value. The tail wind was clearly a significant factor on the day, with Fire Attack closing in 22.08 second for the final 400m.
And nearly all the juvenile winners in the early Group races finished in similar fractions – Princess of Gaul (s/s 90 +, 22.21 second closing sectional) Zalatoris (s/s 87 +, 22.2s closing fraction) whilst Jan van Goyen’s (s/s 88++, come home time was an even more remarkable, lighting fast 21.6 seconds.) Unfortunately, there were no fractions available before going to press for Golden Palm’s (s/s 90 ++) victory.
Older horses, Buffalo Storm Cody (s/s 101+, 21.8 last 400m in the Mercury Sprint) and Rainbow Lorikeet (s/s 103, with an ideal box seat position and 21.69 second dash in the Gold Bracelet) took tactical advantage of relatively slow early paces on a quick surface by racing handy, then dashing clear. It was practically impossible for horses to come from further behind and get past them.
Therefore, keen race watchers and pace analysts may choose to treat some of Sunday’s results with a tinge of skepticism. These are fine performances sure, and credit is due to the winners who will be decorated for taking the spoils in prestigious Group races.
But when the track surface is running aberrantly fast, yet the early tempo is slow, results can get scrambled. Nearly all the finishing ratios came up at 107% – 109% of the final time, if not greater. In an extreme example, Jan van Goyen’s clocked in at 113% of final time – indicative of a slow early, then very swift late, race shape.
Fastest come home sectional of all came courtesy of Future Variety (s/s 108, 20.56 seconds 400- finish, which is 112% of final time) in the 1000m Umgeni Handicap which closed out the top notch meet.
It looked like Outlaw King (s/s 107) had timed his burst just right to get past Un Bel Di (s/s 104) only for Future Variety to swoop for a sterling win. He is a crack sprinter on his day.