Whilst there were no Stakes races over the weekend, that did not preclude some Graded quality performances on the speed numbers.
Unzen was backed into odds on favourite to win a Pinnacle Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday and went pretty much all the way to score an easy victory. Robbie Sage’s charge is deadly over 1400m and ran a fine speed score of 106.
Mercantour (s/s 102) gamely chased him home, as Zinovi faded away after making a mild bid midway up the straight.
Cruise Control has tangled with the best sprinters around on forays to other centers but does most of his racing in the Eastern Cape. He too justified odds on when scorching away from Blue Holly (s/s 99) in a Fairview Sprint on Friday. He earned a figure of 108 which is excellent and makes him a contender in Graded sprints should trainer Gavin Smith chose to “play away” from home again.
Questioning (s/s 104) started his seasonal campaign in some style with a burst of acceleration getting him a victory at Durbanville. He was backed from 5/1 into 9/4 and duly justified market strength by relegating Silver Falcon into second spot. Vaughan Marshall must be excited about the progressive four-year old’s prospects.
SA speedball, Isivunguvungu made a winning debut in America, just lasting home in the 1100m Da Hoss Sprint at Colonial Downs. The son of What a Winter trained by Graham Motion got a perfect rail hugging trip, seized control at the top of the stretch but was all out to hold the advantage into the final panel.
He is now eligible for a dip at the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Isivunguvungu repeatedly ran speed scores in the band between 109 – 112 in South Africa over the minimum 1000m trip. Anything even slightly further than that makes him vulnerable to the rallies of determined stretch runners.