BAMBINA STRIPES STEALS SA FILLIES CLASSIC

Click above to watch Bambina Stripes winning the SA Fillies Classic…
(Image and Footage : Tellytrack)

SA FILLIES CLASSIC (Grade 1)
Turffontein, Turf, 1800m
31 March 2012

David Thisleton
Gold CircleBambina Stripes, the Argentinian-bred daughter of Equal Stripes, was forced to race three-wide in the running after jumping from gate 12 in the SA Fillies Classic over 1800m at Turffontein on Saturday.

She appeared to be battling to quicken in the straight off the slow pace but just as her supporters were beginning to write her off, she finally found her big stride under hard-driving from jockey Alec Forbes. Bambina Stripes then mowed down most the field, before just getting up in time to beat the Robbie Sage-trained Kalami (SAF) (Daylami) by a head. The Mike de Kock-trained Ilha Bela (SAF) (Fort Wood), a daughter of the great race mare Ilha Da Vitoria, finished another neck back in third with the Tyrone Zackey-trained Katy’s Lane (SAF) (Tamburlaine) a half-a-length further back in fourth.

Knut Haug, owner of Bambina Stripes, was delighted with the win and said, “Wins like this is what owners dream of.”

Bambina Stripes looks to still have plenty of scope for improvement and the distance of the Grade 1 Woolavington over 2000m at Greyville in early June should be right up her alley just as should the distance of the Daily News 2000 suit Slumdogmillionaire on the same day.

Bambina Stripes has raced in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg in her five starts to date for three wins, showing that this win was a fine training feat by the KwaZulu-Natal-based Dennis Drier yard.

Extract from Gold Circle

BEACH BEAUTY WINS KRA FILLIES GUINEAS

Click above to watch Beach Beauty winning the KRA Fillies Guineas (Gr2)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

KOREAN RACING AUTHORITY
FILLIES GUINEAS (Gr2)
Greyville, 1600m, Turf
13 May 2011

RACE RESULT :

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	BEACH BEAUTY	58.0	97	3	A Forbes	Dennis Drier
2	0.50	BERRY BLAZE (IRE)	58.0	92	6	K Shea	Mike de Kock
3	1.25	LEGAL ACCOUNT	58.0	89	4	R Danielson	Paul Lafferty
4	5.00	MISS ZUMMERUDD	58.0	87	1	S Veale	Dennis Drier
5	5.10	SAUNA’S ROSE	58.0	87	8	D Mansour	Duncan Howells
6	5.85	HAPPY ARCHER (AUS)	58.0	95	7	K Neisius	Sean Tarry
7	5.95	SILENT NIGHTS (AUS)	58.0	90	2	S Randolph	Dennis Drier
8	6.70	EMERALD COVE	58.0	106	11	F Coetzee	Justin Snaith
9	7.45	CAREY’S QUI	58.0	97	12	M Yeni	Alec Laird
10	11.70	ENCHANTED KINGDOM	58.0	85	5	I Sturgeon	Paul Peter
11	14.70	ZIRE SPECIAL	58.0	80	10	A Marcus	Kumaran Naidoo
12	24.20	IMPERIAL IMAGE	58.0	81	9	A Delpech	Jeff Freedman

HEAR THE DRUMS : PERSONALITY OF GOLD

Hear The Drums - Win Number 34
(Photo : Wally Strydom)

“HE’S LIKE A THREE-YEAR-OLD…
HE COMES OFF THE TRACK FULL OF BEANS”

Hear The Drums, who holds the South African record for number of wins in a career, will not be heading to the Western Cape to run in next month’s Cape Flying Championship for a fourth time, according to his trainer Des McLachlan.

Hear The Drums racked up the 34th win of his illustrious career in the Glendore Sprint at Arlington on Friday last week, proving that his trainer’s decision to keep him in training as an eight-year-old was the right one.

“I was over the moon with the victory. It was nice that he could prove the people who said he was leg weary wrong,” said McLachlan. “When he’s tired, I’ll retire him. But right now he’s like a three-year-old. He comes off the track full of beans.”

Hear The Drums, given a break from August to October, was badly in need of his comeback run. He blitzed early before compounding badly to finish last in the Cradock Place Stakes over 1200m. McLachlan then took a decision to take the blinkers off his stable star in a Fairview Pinnacle Stakes, saying : “It’s pointless him always doing it the hard way.”

Unfortunately, jockey Alec Forbes was dislodged in a scrimmage shortly after the start, so the reasoning was not put to the test immediately. The additional equipment was left off again last Friday and jockey Marco van Rensburg was able to hold Hear The Drums up, just off early leaders Bermuda Prince and Bandol. When he asked for an effort, Hear The Drums kicked strongly to lead 200m out and win well.

“He doesn’t tug that hard without the blinkers and the way he responded from just off them was pleasing,” said McLachlan. “I don’t think we’ll ever get him to settle completely. Fortunately on Friday there was a blistering pace up front.”

Hear The Drums has run in the Grade 1 Cape Flying Championship at Kenilworth three times and has not been beaten by far. However, McLachlan says he plans to keep the Gold Press gelding at home next year.

“He doesn’t travel well and has problems with his shoes. He doesn’t have the best of feet and comes in so quick from behind that he takes the shoes off. Also, the moment the grass gets long or the sand track gets heavy, off they come, so I always send another horse out to test the track before him and if it’s heavy, I do less with him.

“As he gets older, I don’t want the setbacks,” added McLachlan. “So we’ll take the rest of his career as it comes. There are a couple of Pinnacle Stakes he can run in.”

McLachlan continued : “It’s a pleasure being around Hear The Drums. He’s got such personality and he’s so laid back, which has helped his career enormously because if he was a tearaway or difficult, I wouldn’t have been able to keep him going for so long.

“He’s also a humble horse. The day he threw Alec he got back to the stables in a really bad mood - he knew something had gone wrong.”

The gelding’s many fans in South Africa will be looking forward to seeing more of this imposing gelding - and Hear The Drums is certainly willing to oblige.

Extract from The Citizen Racing Express

BELATED CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR DENNIS DRIER YARD

Dance At Daylight
(Photo : Gold Circle)

DANCE AT DAYLIGHT
CHRISTMAS HANDICAP (GR3) 2009

The Dennis Drier yard received a belated Christmas gift at Clairwood on Boxing Day when Dance At Daylight took victory in the Christmas Handicap (Grade 3) over 1600m.

Jumping from gate 15, jockey Alec Forbes positioned the son of Rambo Dancer a few lengths off the pace in sixth. Forced to race three-wide thoughout, and without cover for most of the trip, Forbes held off for as long as possible before asking Dance At Daylight for his best effort in the straight. The response came in abundance with the gelding quickening clear to win comfortably by two from Select The Star, Lion’s Blood and Dynamite Mike.

Assistant trainer Stuart Ferry was complimentary of the ride and acknowledged that Alec Forbes had built a good relationship with Dance At Daylight, knowing exactly what to do in the straight.

This victory takes Dance At Daylight’s race tally to 5 wins and 6 places from 17 starts and his earning to R424,880.

The five-year-old is one of 19 South African stakes winners sired by the Northern Dancer stallion Rambo Dancer, who commenced his stallion career in Britain before taking up stud duties here at Summerhill in 1996. Best known as the sire of Gr.1 hero Pick Six, Rambo Dancer died in 2005.

Dance At Daylight is the first foal of Norse Woman (Northern Guest), a winning half-sister to Warning Zone (Elliodor), the Equus champion juvenile filly of 2002, who subsequently became a stakes winner in the US. The mare’s last foal is a yearling filly by Kahal.

Grandam, War Women, who produced six winners from eight runners, is a half-sister to triple Gr.1 hero Record Edge (Sunny North) and to Gr.1 Gold Bowl victor Golden Peak (Peacetime). This is a branch of the Birch Brothers’ famed Drohsky family, from which descend the tough Cape Guineas hero Ocean City, Two Cities (Gr.2 Bull Brand International) and Tammany Hall (Gr.3 Republic Day Handicap).

Congratulations must go to Dance At Daylight’s breeder, Chris Saunders from Invermooi Stud, as well as to owners Miles Dally and Gary Harris. Credit must also be paid to War Woman’s breeders, retired High Court Judge Alan Magid and Benji Jonsson.