DANCEWITHTHEDEVIL BEATS THE BOYS IN GOLD CHALLENGE

Click above to watch Dancewiththedevil winning the Rising Sun Gold Challenge (Gr1)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE (Grade 1)
Clairwood, Turf, 1600m
13 June 2011

Michael Clower
Racing PostDancewiththedevil, trained by St John Gray and piloted by jockey Gavin Lerena won her third Grade 1 over 1600m inside 12 weeks, when coming from last to first in the final two furlongs to beat Bravura by a head.

The four-year-old was taken out of the Vodacom Durban July at last week’s forfeit stage but her owner-breeder-trainer St John Gray had no regrets.

He said: “I know some people are a bit disappointed but it was quite clear from her last run over the tough 2000 metres at Turffontein that she doesn’t have the same finish over the longer stretch so we will keep her to a mile. Hopefully next year she will see out the 2000 metres.”

Gavin Lerena, explaining his exaggerated waiting tactics - he was 14 lengths off the pace turning for home - said: “Mr Gray told me that you can’t bustle heralong. You’ve just got to let her do what she wants, and I was three lengths behind the second-last horse. But she is a phenomenal filly - every time I asked her for an effort she gave it to me.”

Gray added: “The only thing worrying me was that it looked a moderate pace - but clearly it wasn’t.”

Bravura was the only one of the leading Vodacom Durban July candidates to boost his cause.

Past Master, who started 5-2 favourite here, was in trouble turning for home and finished ninth, over nine lengths behind the winner. Big City Life fared even worse, finishing last.

RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE (Gr1)
Final Result

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	DANCEWITHTHEDEVIL	57.5	113	7	G Lerena	St John Gray
2	0.15	BRAVURA	60.0	110	1	A Marcus	Joey Ramsden
3	3.15	BULSARA	60.0	105	3	R Danielson	Gavin van Zyl
4	3.20	CASTLETHORPE (AUS)	58.5	105	6	K Neisius	Mike Bass
5	3.25	BUY AND SELL	60.0	110	9	S Khumalo	Sean Tarry
6	3.30	BLUE TIGER	60.0	107	4	A Domeyer	Mike Bass
7	3.40	LION IN WINTER	60.0	108	10	G Hatt	Joey Ramdsen
8	6.15	RUSHING WIND	60.0	107	2	M Odendaal	Mike Bass
9	9.40	PAST MASTER	60.0	115	8	G Schlechter	Darryl Hodgson
10	10.40	CAPTAIN’S WILD	60.0	108	12	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
11	15.65	KAVANAGH	58.5	106	11	K Shea	Mike de Kock
12	15.90	BIG CITY LIFE	60.0	114	5	A Fortune	Glen Kotzen

Extract from Racing Post

RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE 2010 : VIDEO AND RESULT

Click above to watch the 2010 Rising Sun Gold Challenge (Gr1)
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

R750,000 RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE (Grade 1)
Clairwood, 1600m, Turf
12 June 2010

RACE RESULT :

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	BIG CITY LIFE	60.0	114	5	P Strydom	Glen Kotzen
2	0.25	BLUE TIGER	60.0	110	2	*A Domeyer	Mike Bass
3	2.25	POCKET POWER	60.0	120	10	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
4	2.30	SMART BANKER	60.0	116	7	A Marcus	Charles Laird
5	5.30	RUDRA	60.0	116	4	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
6	6.80	REGAL RANSOM	60.0	112	1	B Lerena	Sean Tarry
7	6.95	KAPIL	60.0	117	6	M Byleveld	Stan Elley
8	7.05	FABIANI	60.0	111	3	D Daniels	Glen Kotzen
9	9.30	TROPICAL EMPIRE (AUS)	60.0	118	8	S Randolph	Duncan Howells
10	18.30	MOTHER RUSSIA	57.5	109	9	K Shea	Mike de Kock

THE J&B MET : FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

THE J&B MET
KENILWORTH RACECOURSE
30 JANUARY 2010

Cape Town is rife with talk that Pocket Power’s shot at a fourth consecutive J&B Met will witness his come-uppance. Mike Bass, genius horseman that he is, won’t hear of it. He says the 7-year-old has never been better, and expects him to whistle past the R10 million earnings mark.

We purposely postponed this posting so we could get the very latest thoughts from the innermost minds of the best of the opposition. Looking at the betting, there’s no better man to talk to than Champion trainer, Charles Laird, who’s been second to Pocket Power in two of his three victories to date. Laird’s view is typically simple.

In Dan De Lago and Oracy, he has a brace of horses he rates better than both his previous runners-up, if Pocket Power’s colours are to be lowered, he believes it is most likely to come from his charges.

Stan Elley’s Kapil, a contemporary of the favourite, has never been better, though 2000 metres at the weights could find him out, despite a 2kg “pull” in his L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate second. Pace will, as always, play a big role, so if “dark” horse, Red Rake (also quietly fancied at 12-1), doesn’t cut it, Bass will have the contingency of Blue Tiger to provide it. For sure, the “Pocket” will need a pace to be at his best.

And then, of course, you can never discount a “July” hero in a race like this. Big City Life hasn’t quite shown his sophomore form of late, but he’s now supposedly back at his peak, and if his wide draw costs him, Glen Kotzen will still have Fabiani in reserve.

The last J&B Met winner from the rank outside draw, as far as we can remember, was Summerhill-raised, Angus, but without a contender in 2010, we’ve left the event to the gods!

FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	POCKET POWER	58.0	119	2	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
2	SMART BANKER	58.8	110	16	F Coetzee	Charles Laird
3	STRATEGIC NEWS	58.0	107	11	P Cosgrave	Dylan Cunha
4	BIG CITY LIFE	57.5	111	14	*K Teetan	Glen Kotzen
5	FOREST PATH	57.5	107	13	G Schlechter	Stephen Page
6	KAPIL	56.0	115	3	M Byleveld	Stan Elley
7	SURFIN’ USA	56.0	111	12	W Kennedy	Jacques Strydom
8	BLUE TIGER	56.0	108	10	S Randolph	Mike Bass
9	RED RAKE	56.0	105	1	S Cormack	Basil Marcus
10	THUNDERING JET	56.0	101	15	M Yeni	Paul Lafferty
11	DIAMOND QUEST	56.0	98	7	K Jupp	Mike Bass
12	LION’S BLOOD	56.0	98	6	R Danielson	Herman Brown
13	ORACY (NZ)	55.5	110	17	P Strydom	Charles Laird
14	DAN DE LAGO (AUS)	55.5	108	8	A Marcus	Charles Laird
15	FABIANI	55.5	108	5	R Fourie	Glen Kotzen
16	FORT VOGUE	55.5	101	4	K Neisius	Mike Bass
17	MOTHER RUSSIA	55.0	106	18	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
18	RIVER JETEZ	53.5	104	9	G Hatt	Mike Bass

BETTING

#	Horse	Current	Opening
1	POCKET POWER	16/10	18/10
14	DAN DE LAGO	4/1	4/1
13	ORACY	7/1	11/2
4	BIG CITY LIFE	12/1	7/1
6	KAPIL	12/1	16/1
9	RED RAKE	12/1	16/1
18	RIVER JETEZ	12/1	16/1
15	FABIANI	16/1	20/1
17	MOTHER RUSSIA	20/1	12/1
2	SMART BANKER	33/1	33/1
16	FORT VOGUE	50/1	33/1
5	FOREST PATH	66/1	50/1
3	STRATEGIC NEWS	66/1	50/1
7	SURFIN’ USA	66/1	50/1
8	BLUE TIGER	100/1	100/1
11	DIAMOND QUEST	125/1	50/1
10	THUNDERING JET	125/1	100/1
12	LION’S BLOOD	150/1	66/1

BETTING COURTESY OF BETTING WORLD AS AT 5AM 30 JANUARY 2010

POCKET POWER GUNNING FOR L'ORMARINS NUMBER FOUR

Pocket Power
(Photo : Gold Circle)

L’ORMARINS QUEEN’S PLATE (GRADE 1) 1600m
KENILWORTH 9 JANUARY 2009

The Mother City’s social scene will awaken Saturday to South Africa’s most prestigious annual horseracing event, the 149th renewal of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, an event which is set to transform Kenilworth racecourse into a setting where haute couture fashion, vintage cars, fine wine and the country’s greatest thoroughbreds take centre stage.

The tongues are already wagging in anticipation of Pocket Power shattering the history books once again by scoring a fourth consecutive victory in the R1million showdown.

Nicci Garner writes for Tab Online that trainer Mike Bass believes without a doubt that Pocket Power is a Champion and that puts him in a different league to the other nine runners in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate.

Mike Bass explains, “There’s a difference between really good horses, like Big City Life, and Champions. Pocket Power is in the Champions league.’’ He continues, “I don’t knock Big City Life. I respect him. He’s a very good horse and will mature. But in the July, without taking anything away from him, he beat the filly, Zirconeum (a 55-1 shot), and Forest Path (100-1) - and Pocket Power (who finished fifth) raced at the back of the field and was desperately unlucky.’’

Although Pocket Power has not had the same kind of preparation that saw him win the last three L’Ormarins Queen’s Plates, Mike Bass believes his supporters will not be disappointed with his star’s wellbeing.

Pocket Power has had just one run since getting beaten on the line by fast-finishing Ivory Trail in the Champions Challenge at the end of July. He was deep in the red for the 1500m Pinnacle Plate at Kenilworth last month and awed even his trainer in scoring in facile fashion by 0.75 lengths from Big City Life.

“I’m very happy with the progress he’s made. He’s done very well. Physically he looks great. He was quite fit in that 1500 preparatory run and has had one gallop since. I didn’t run him again because he was ahead of schedule and didn’t need another race. I gave him a good gallop instead and think he’s pretty much at his best. He’s come well and I’m happy that he’ll do his very best. No matter what happens on Saturday, there will be no excuses. Now it’s up to him. I’m quietly confident that Pocket Power is very hard to beat.’’

Pocket Power is unbeaten beyond 1400m at Kenilworth and many believe, while he is a star anywhere else in the country, he reserves his very best efforts for Kenilworth. Mike Bass still disputes that view, saying that, if the KwaZulu-Natal season was switched to the summer, we’d all see a different Pocket Power in Durban. “He doesn’t winter that well. He benefits from the summer climate during the Cape season. You should see his coat now!’’

Bass does not even want to contemplate the fact that Pocket Power is bidding to win the Grade 1 race for the fourth year running. “Only when it’s all done can you think it’s possible to win a race - especially one of this stature - four times in a row. Dare we hope?’’

FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	POCKET POWER	58	119	1	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
2	KAPIL	58	115	3	M Byleveld	Stan Elley
3	BIG CITY LIFE	58	111	10	K Teetan	Glen Kotzen
4	IVORY TRAIL	58	111	5	R Danielson	Joey Ramsden
5	BLUE TIGER	58	109	9	K Neisius	Mike Bass
6	FOREST PATH	58	107	7	G Schlechter	Stephen Page
7	GAULTIER	58	107	6	G Hatt	Mike Bass
8	STRATEGIC NEWS	58	107	8	P Cosgrave	Dylan Cunha
9	THUNDER KEY	58	106	4	S Cormack	Glen Kotzen
10	FABIANI	58	103	2	R Fourie	Glen Kotzen

So who will win the Vodacom Durban July

 

“David Thiselton lays down his Vodacom Durban July selections”

With July Fever building to what promises to be a massive crescendo come Vodacom Durban July Raceday tomorrow; trainers, jockey and owners alike will be feeling the “butterflies”.

Top turf writer David Thiselton reports that Mike Bass, the experienced three-time July winning trainer of the great Pocket Power, who is ruling favourite, would probably have slept well, knowing he has done all he can, while the Fayd’Herbe brothers, jockey Bernard and assistant trainer Robert, will be united in spirit as they approach the final hurdle of the mighty horse’s winter campaign.

The Bass yard has two strings to its bow this July as Pocket Power’s full-sister, River Jetez, is said by the trainer to be twice the horse she was last year.

Pocket Power has had a better preparation than ever for this year’s big race and seems to be as good as ever despite his age. He and his sister could well fight out the finish, although River Jetez’s draw of 15 is a concern for supporters.

Big City Life has been described by his trainer Glen Kotzen as a “freak”, who gets better and better all the time.

Big City Life is a three-year-old and is 1,5kg under sufferance, but the form of his only meeting with Pocket Power suggests he has a great chance.

Kapil can beat Pocket Power too if the form of their last meeting is taken literally, although there is a question mark over whether he will stay the 2 200m. It should also be borne in mind that Pocket Power usually does just enough to win no matter the weight he’s carrying.

Our Giant also has a stamina doubt, but with that doubt in mind could not have asked for a better draw than two.

Tropical Empire is trained by Duncan Howells, whose knowledge of big race preparations was influenced by the great trainer, David Payne.

Duncan Howells has won two Grade 1 races with similarly priced horses and Tropical Empire’s draw of one is ideal for his style of running, which is to come with a flying finish.

Thandolwami is a similar type of horse to Tropical Empire and has also drawn well, so he should be running on strongly at the finish.

However, with both Tropical Empire and Thandolwami, it should be borne in mind that only the top six numbered horses are in the handicap i.e. fairly weighted according to their merit rating. The rest are under sufferance.

Smart Banker showed at the July gallops that he will be suited to Greyville. He has improved tremendously this season and is a definite contender, although Charles Laird’s stable jockey, Anton Marcus, switched to Our Giant after Smart Banker was allocated a wide draw.

Ruling champion trainer Mike De Kock has three youngsters in the race.

Zirconeum and Forest Path have stamina doubts and their very wide draws won’t help. Bouquet-Garni will need a strong pace as he is a big, galloping type and might not have the turn of foot required off a slower pace.

Outcome has won ten times at Greyville. Any rainfall will be bad news for her. She looks capable of staying the distance and her form makes her one of the best outsiders.

Likeithot has popped up at big prices in big races before and his July gallop last week suggested he should peak at the right time for this race.

Buy And Sell is loaded with ability but is not too reliable and his form appears to be declining slightly.

Catmandu is capable of producing a devastating finish so could be an outside contender if close enough at the top of the straight.

London Guest enjoys this track and does just enough when he wins, so there is some hope for him in his first attempt in this company.

Aluminium has been supported in the betting but as a resolute galloper does not look suited to Greyville.

The rest can’t be fancied on form.

The selection is Pocket Power to beat home Big City Life and River Jetez, with Kapil and Our Giant next best.