| There were four Grade 1 races at Scottsville – all 1200m sprints down the straight. The juvenile contests were run in virtually the same time (68.30 and 68.34), and both the SA Fillies Sprint (67.81) and Tsogo Sun (67.72) for older horses were also run in comparable times. The track seemed fair enough with runners able to shape from any draw, though the pack honed in on the centre of the course. After crunching the numbers and working out a track variant, here are the speed figures for each race:
Allan Robertson – Brave Mary (s/s 99) Green Plains (s/s 95) Neptune’s Rain (s/s 88)
Gold Medallion – Sand and Sea (s/s 98 + ) Varallo (s/s 92) Al Mariarchi (s/s 92)
SA Fillies Sprint – Carry On Alice (s/s 106 +) Just Sensual (s/s 104) The Secret is Out (s/s 101)
Tsogo Sun Sprint – Bull Valley (s/s 107) Search Party (s/s 103) Barbosa (s/s 101)
Brave Mary was originally bought for just 40K by Green Street Bloodstock, proof yet again that you don’t need huge bucks to luck into quality thoroughbreds. Sand and Sea was mightily impressive, coming from far back to win convincingly, maintaining the stranglehold that trainer Dennis Drier has on this valuable juvenile event.
Carry on Alice has provided her connections with infinite pleasure, running big figures of up to 113 throughout a highly productive career. She has been tough and durable, trucking around the country and winning multiple races at the highest level. She is slated to go off to stud now in Oz – where her progeny could fetch serious money if the Aussies like what they see, taken together with her proven track record.
Bull Valley has been sparingly campaigned due to soundness concerns. He’d paired fine figs of 105 far apart in April and November last year, to confirm his raw talent. Coming off just one run this year he blew them away in the Tsogo Sun – marking another fine training achievement by champion conditioner, Sean Tarry. |
