The exacta returning R711 for the Greyville 1900 featured two horses that had finished stone last at their most recent starts – nobody said this is an easy game! Ten Gun Salute (s/s 106) galloped into the July picture at Greyville, quickening up smartly from the top of the straight. This was a massive turnaround after pulling a back muscle in the Drill Hall Stakes 12 days ago. Suddenly revived up after that misfire, the son of Henrythenavigator blew them away. He ran to a score 105 in last year’s July so must have some sort of squeak if making further improvement and he clearly enjoys the track having won four from eight there.
He was chased home by the talented but unreliable three year old, Tilbury Fort (s/s 104) reported as not striding out and making a respiratory noise in the SA Classic. Top weight It’s My Turn (s/s 103) and Mr Winsome (s/s 103) were next best. One of the main July fancies, Elusive Silva (s/s 102) was a tad disappointing, finishing just out of the placings and he will need to boost his figs to make an impact in the big race.
Alexa also put a last start flop behind her when winning the listed Syringa Handicap at Turffontein on Saturday over 1600m. She attained a figure of 94 coming back after a two month freshening to maintain the neat strike rate of trainer Geoff Woodruff. It was a close run thing however – she only nabbed front running Kilauea in the final jump.