DEAN ALEXANDER DISCUSSES PLAN FOR PIERRE JOURDAN

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to Charl Pretorius’ interview with Dean Alexander

GAUTENG GUINEAS NEXT FOR PIERRE JOURDAN

Charl Pretorius RacingwebSpeaking Thursday morning on a Racingweb podcast, Dean Alexander said that the Gary Alexander Racing stable believe their smart three-year-old, Pierre Jourdan, will stay over more ground as he matures. There have been a few debates in the online forums about Pierre Jourdan’s future, as he franked his form very well with a good win in Tuesday night’s Grade 3 Tony Ruffel Handicap at Turffontein, among some topsy-turvy three-year-old performances of late.

The win proved that while Pierre Jourdan is perhaps a narrow leader of the Gauteng three-year-old pack, they’re all more or less on a par. Curved Ball, considered by some unbeatable after his excellent Dingaans win, and his stablemate Galileo’s Galaxy, were both beaten in the Tony Ruffel Stakes. Galileo’s Galaxy’s form points to Cape-based star Noordhoek Flyer and by implication to Cape Derby winner Bravura, arguably the best of the bunch at this early stage.

This has the further implication that all this seaon’s three-year-old classics are up for the taking, no clear-cut champions have emerged and much will depend on preparation and well-being on the classic race days.

But Pierre Jourdan, interestingly only beaten once (by last week’s disappointing Havasha who now comes unexpectedly back into the picture), will stand his ground in the classics. Alexander said: “Pierre Jourdan is really decent, he’s a good horse with a beautiful action and we’ll go for the Guineas next. He gets going late in his races and on the way he moves, we have little doubt that he will see out more ground as he matures.”

Certainly on his pedigree, he’s a son of recently top–performing sire Parade Leader, Pierre Jourdan looks a leading early contender for the Highveld classics and the winter classics in Durban.

Extract from www.racingweb.co.za

PIERRE JOURDAN : TOP OF THE CLASS

Click above to watch the Tony Ruffel Stakes (Gr3)
(Footage : Tellytrack)

TONY RUFFEL STAKES (Gr3)
TURFFONTEIN 1400m
9 FEBRUARY 2010

There’s been a lot of conjecture in the press and on the airwaves about the current class of three year old colts. Many are of the view that we’re dealing with a vintage crop, some are reserving judgement. There are those that point to Havasha’s indifferent performance on the sodden turf at Turffontein on Saturday against his elders, as a possible exposure of the crop, while others believe it was a below-par performance, that a line should be drawn through it.

Back in the class though, Tuesday saw a clash of all the other top three year olds in Gauteng, including the Dingaans (Gr.2) winner, Curved Ball; Graham Beck (Gr.3), Bulsara, and impressive Cape Guineas (Gr.1) runner-up, Galileo’s Galaxy. In receipt of a good pull at the weights, the latter started a short-priced favourite for Tuesday’s renewal of the Tony Ruffell Stakes (Gr.3) over 1400m, while the collateral form with Havasha saw R60 000 Emperors Palace Ready To Run graduate, Pierre Jourdan, drifting out to 4/1 from an opening call of 15/10.

In the end though, despite stuttering through “greenness” and forgetting he was in a race till the last hundred metres, when the jets fired, Pierre Jourdan won his race with an electrifying burst, getting up by what probably amounted to a neck from Galileo’s Galaxy (in receipt of 2kgs). For the time being, it would seem the National Three Year Old log is headed up by this one, (now four from five for Gary Alexander), Investec Cape Derby (Gr.1) hero Bravura, and Cape Guineas winner, Noordhoek Flyer. We’ll have to wait for the Durban season to see if Pierre Jourdan is the best in his class, but right now, as a R60 000 buy from the Summerhill draft at the 2008 Ready To Run sale, he’s a veritable bargain, having bankrolled over R1 million (that’s R200k per start!) for Gary Alexander and Summerhill patron, Emilio Baserio. Bred in a joint venture by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and Summerhill Stud, he’s a fine advert for his mother Vin Fizz, a Graded Stakes placed daughter of Qui Danzig.

In other news from the weekend, Imbongi made an impressive debut for the Dubai season, when he came from halfway back to get within two lengths of the winner in the $150 000 Jaguar XJ Trophy, spotting the latter 7kgs in the process. At levels, this was a five length winning performance, and given that he’d been off the track for almost eight months, it augers well for his chances later in the season. Mike de Kock tells us he was more than pleased with the effort, and he has a Graded Stakes event for $250 000 lined up for him in a few weeks. Another one carrying Sheikh Mohammed’s stamp.

TONY RUFFEL STAKES (Gr3)
RESULT

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	PIERRE JOURDAN	56.0	100	3	D David	Gary Alexander
2	0.25	GALILEO’S GALAXY (Aus)	54.0	103	7	A Marcus	Charles Laird
3	0.75	ECHOHAWK	56.0	95	5	G Lerena	Dominic Zaki
4	2.00	CURVED BALL (Aus)	58.0	107	8	A Delpech	Charles Laird
5	3.50	BULSARA	55.0	104	9	M Odendaal	Gavin van Zyl
6	4.75	POWERFUL GIFT	54.0	84	6	B Smith	Alec Laird
7	9.00	DREAM ISLAND	56.0	92	1	M Van Rensberg	Stuart Pettigrew
8	9.50	CASEY’S GUEST	54.0	87	4	*D Mansour	Luck Houdalakis
9	12.25	FLYBYME (Aus)	54.0	88	2	P Strydom	Geoff Woodruff

5 RUNNERS... 5 WEEKS... 5 BLACK TYPE PERFORMERS...

Nyakatho
(Photo : JC Photographics)

ONE ADDRESS…
THE SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN PROGRAMME.

Merchants Stakes (Gr2)	1st ARABIAN MIST for Gary Alexander
Memorial Mile Stakes (Listed)	1st VANGELIS for Gavin Smith
Sea Cottage Stakes (Listed)	2nd (1/2 length) NYAKATHO to sensation, Curved Ball for Ernie Anderson
Secretariat Stakes (Listed)	3rd (3/4 lengths) DANSE TO DESTINY for Charles Laird
Silver Stakes (Listed)	3rd ONEHUNDREDACREWOOD for Gavin van Zyl

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

or contact

Kerry Jack +27 (0) 82 782 7297

Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982

HAVASHA AND PIERRE JOURDAN DO BATTLE

Click above to watch Havasha and Pierre Jourdan battle…
(Footage : TellyTrack)

RACING EXPRESS FACT FILE ALLOWANCE PLATE 1450m
TURFFONTEIN RACECOURSE
16 JANUARY 2010

“It’s good to see the good horses fight it out…” were the words of jockey Anthony Delpech following the “Race of the Weekend” at Turffontein on Saturday where hot favourite Pierre Jourdan tasted defeat for the first time in his short career when beaten a whisker by challenger Havasha.

Nicci Garner writes for Racing Express that both horses looked a picture in the parade ring but Pierre Jourdan had beaten Havasha on Turffontein’s standside track in last November’s R1,5 million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1400m and, having won twice over the course and distance before that, was fancied to confirm the form.

Havasha had not raised a gallop in the Dingaans in his previous start, but that run was obviously not a true reflection of his ability. Added to that, the son of Kahal was a little better drawn than in the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup and was meeting Pierre Jourdan on 2.5kg better terms.

Flybyme and Echohawk were the other runners expected to perform.

“Bionic Man” Donovan Habib bounced Echohawk to an immediate lead from Flybyme, who Piere Strydom battled to restrain in the early stages. Danse To Destiny and Pierre Jourdan disputed third place with Havasha making up ground, racing three wide before being edged in front of the leader. Another Storm and Powerful Gift raced ahead of Forestation and Calpurnius.

Echohawk, who pulled a good couple of lengths clear of Flybyme as the runners cornered, was still in full cry halfway down the straight where Havasha had started making up ground and Pierre Jourdan had still not turned it on.

The race was wide open 250m from the line with Echohawk still holding a narrow advantage over Havasha and Pierre Jourdan pulling alongside them. Soon after that, though, the pacemaker tired under pressure and veered away from Havasha, hampering Powerful Gift on the rail.

A hundred metres later, Havasha and Pierre Jourdan had started to draw clear and they fought out an exciting finish with Havasha reaching the post a short head in front of the favourite. Another Storm finished powerfully for third, 2.20 lengths further back, as Flybyme and Echohawk ran out of steam close to home.

Anthony Delpech said afterwards: “I don’t know what went wrong last time (in the Dingaans). He’s always been one of our better three-year-old colts - I always rated him highly. I was a bit concerned about the (No 9) draw because he can travel a bit keenly. But even without cover, he relaxed nicely. And he ran a very good race. I think both he and the second horse needed the run a little bit. It’ll be a nice race when they meet again.”

Congratulation to trainer Mike de Kock and owners Tony Moodley, John Finlayson, Karel and Kiki Miedema and Charl Pretorius (Freeracer Syndicate).

Havasha’s merit rating has been raised to 98 from 94 and he is likely to bump heads with Pierre Jourdan again in next months’ Gauteng Guineas, the first leg of the Triple Crown. They could clash with such names as the country’s top-rated three-year-old Curved Ball, who won the 1600m Dingaans and followed up over 1800m next time out, as well as his stable companion Galileo’s Galaxy.

RESULTS

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	HAVASHA	55.5	94	9	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
2	PIERRE JOURDAN	58.0	100	7	S Cormack	Gary Alexander
3	ANOTHER STORM (Aus)	53.0	88	2	P Whitmore	Charles Laird
4	FLYBYME (Aus)	55.0	88	3	P Strydom	Geoff Woodruff
5	ECHOHAWK	58.0	95	5	D Habib	Dominic Zaki
6	DANSE TO DESTINY	55.5	88	1	J Geroudis	Charles Laird
7	POWERFUL GIFT	53.0	84	6	B Smith	Alec Laird
8	FORESTATION	53.0	87	4	G Figueroa	Robbie Sage
9	CALPURNIUS	53.0	81	8	S Khumalo	Dianne Stenger

SIZZLING SUMMER CUP DAY FOR VUMA-FED HORSES

Aslan - Sansui Summer Cup Gr1
(Photo : JC Photographics)

THEY RUN SO GOOD, COZ’ THEY EAT SO GOOD

For some years now, Vuma-fed horses have dominated virtually every major meeting at the Spring and Autumn festivals on the Highveld, as well as the KZN winter season. Saturday was no exception, where the ones that mattered most were the Sansui Summer Cup (Gr.1), the Vodacom Dingaans (Gr.2) and the GommaGomma Fillies Mile (Gr.3). Vuma was there when it mattered most, the murderous last 400 metres of the Turffontein straight.

GommaGomma Fillies Mile (Gr.3)

1^st Sidera for Mike de Kock
2^nd Generous Anna for Charles Laird
4^th Fisani for Mike de Kock

Vodacom Dingaans (Gr.2)

1^st Curved Ball for Charles Laird
2^nd Galileo’s Galaxy for Charles Laird
4^th Fort Petersburg for Dominic Zaki

Sansui Summer Cup (Gr.1)

1^st Aslan for Sean Tarry
3^rd Meet At Malamala for Mike de Kock

The whole Summerhill team joins me, not only in saluting the connections, but especially the fellows at Vuma. From one Champion team to another, well done.

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www.vumafeed.co.za