The saying “things happen in threes” had unusual relevance in the 2020 Gold Cup when the three longest shots in a full field ran 1-2-3 around the Greyville circuit and held that order right to the finish, triggering a record quartet dividend of over 700K!
Paths of Victory (traded at 100/1 on Interbet) went all the way to stave off Paybackthemoney (40/1) and Flichity by Farr (66/1) in a bomb result that pole-axed most punters. None of the fancied entries picked up their feet with on- pace runners dominating the outcome.
Pace is always a major factor in racing and sometimes the draw bias has a disproportionate influence on results, too. Greyville can play that way when the track is like a conveyor belt and that was the case in the G1 Mercury Sprint where Van Halen (speed figure 108), Warrior’s Rest and Fabian who were drawn 1 – 2 – 3, finished in that precise sequence. Clear top handicapped rivals on official ratings, Kasimir, Chimichuri Run and Russet Air (drawn in the three outside posts) failed to hit the frame.
The G1 Champions Cup produced a great finish as Golden Ducat (s/s 110 ++) deposed his older half- boet Rainbow Bridge in the final jump with a very game Cirillo (s/s 109) and Do It Again close by. This was a deserved reward for the Cape Derby winning son of Philanthropist who had been placed in the Guineas, Daily News and July. In coming from some way back he was one of the few horses to shape against the track profile so deserves an upgrade for a sterling effort.
Young horses are apt to improve sharply between starts making it confusing for punters who mistakenly draw static conclusions from the form book. Sentbydestiny has been developing steadily and she boosted her figure to 90 + when beating male foes in the G1 Premiers Champion Stakes, justifying astute support from 40’s into 10/1.
Anything Goes (s/s 93 +) stayed perfect when winning the G1 Thekwini Stakes. She made a decisive rails’’ move with enough energy left to ward off the lunging challenge of War of Athena (s/s 92), who was the only one to get close at the wire.
Earlier G2’s over 1200m for newly turned three year- old’s fell to Ecstatic Green (s/s 100) and Erik the Red. The former was most impressive, racing handy and proving much too strong in the Debutante, whilst Erik the Red (s/s 98) overcame an awkward draw before narrowly out-pointing Garrulous for the Umkhomazi Stakes.
To round off a quality card, Running Brave (s/s 104) employed perfect stalk and pounce tactics to win the Gold Bracelet. This 30K bargain buy filly absolutely loves the Greyville bends, trouncing the opposition here by three convincing lengths. Perfect Air (s/s 100) followed her in.