THE READY TO RUN AND THE CANON GOLD CUP

Winning Leap
(Photos : Summerhill Stud) 

THE CANON GOLD CUP
26 June 2010 

The events of this past week, and the anticipation of next weekend’s national stayers championship, the Canon Gold Cup (Gr.1) are a poignant reminder of the potency of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale. No fewer than nine graduates of the sale occupied racing’s most valuable piece of real estate, the Number One box between Monday and Sunday, including a four-timer at the Vaal, and a stunning debut by Ridethebreeze for Joey Ramsden. For some, that’s a six month tally, yet it happened in a week here, and all from a single sale (we’ve listed them at the bottom of this note).

They may have rescheduled the Gold Cup to a spot with which this historic event is completely unfamiliar (26^th June, as opposed to the first Saturday in August), and while that may have played some havoc with the programmes of a number of entries, its nonetheless quite a field, headed up by last year’s Champion Stayer, Mokaro. He’s not at the top of the boards though, as that honour belongs to Santa at 3-1, followed by three joint favourites, Ancestral Fore, Thanks John, and the three year old Summerhill-consigned Ready To Run graduate, Winning Leap.

Not too many three year olds are entered for these marathon events, yet this fellow already has the Gold Bowl (Gr.2) on his C.V, which he won as long ago as the first weekend in April. But here, in the Gold Cup, he’s bidding to rewrite the history books, as the first and only three year old to win the event. No doubt, the bookmakers know that history is against him; otherwise he could well be clear at the top of the boards, given his recent record. What they seem to have forgotten, is where he came from!

Winning Leap was an R85,000 graduate of the 2008 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale, a somewhat angular, gawky individual at the time, but a horse with an immaculate pedigree and his father, Labeeb’s economy of movement, as well as his style.

There’s no doubt he has the stamina: the question is, the 55.5 kgs he has to carry against the nation’s best stamina runners. Can it be realistically expected of a three year old, that he can lump such an impost to victory?

We’ll bring you more news of Winning Leap’s march to the Gold in the course of the week.

Winners Monday 14 June 2010 - Sunday 20 June 2010

#	Horse	Trainer
1st	BELLAGIO	Mark Dixon
1st	UBIZO	Glen Kotzen
1st	RIDETHEBREEZE	Joey Ramsden
1st	KRUGER GOLD	Heather Adamson
1st	MANNEQUIN	Paul Matchett
1st	WATCHFUL	Michael Azzie
1st	MYSTIC	Sean Tarry
1st	ETERNAL GLORY	David Niewenhuizen
1st	CHEN YIN HO	Coerie Lensley

Comments

[Alan M.]

There's little difference, for the purpose of the discussion of horses' ages, between a race run on 26 June & one run on the first Saturday in August, which could easily be 1st August, the birthday of Southern Hemisphere-bred thoroughbreds. Surely the reason there's never previously been a 3 year-old winner of the Gold Cup (as you say - & I have no reason to doubt you) is that no owner or trainer worth his salt would contemplate running one over 2 miles in the first week in August, when he or she has just left the 2 year-old ranks. I would actually be surprised if the rules of racing allowed it.
It is true that the traditional date for the Cup is the 1st Saturday in August, but I have a vague idea that I remember a July when there were 5 Saturdays,with the result that the Gold Cup was run on the last Saturday in July. Right or wrong? The point is that if the race has in fact always been run on the 1st Saturday in August there's probably never been a 3 year-old runner, let alone a winner.