SHEA SHEA WINS GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT

Click above to watch Shea Shea winning the Golden Horse Casino Sprint (Gr1)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT (Grade 1)
Scottsville, Turf, 1200m
28 May 2011

David Thiselton
Gold CircleThe Golden Horse Casino Sprint day at Scottsville was held in fine weather Saturday and was enjoyed by a festive crowd, while punters had a good day with fancied horses winning all four of the Grade 1 1200m features on the card. The penetrometer reading for the day was a good 22, but the inside draws appeared to hold an advantage.

The Geoff Woodruff-trained three-year-old National Emblem colt, Shea Shea, won the feature race, the Golden Horse Casino Sprint, a handicap race, under jockey Anthony Delpech, who, wary of horses diving for the inside, kept Shea Shea away from the rail and rode a patient race, delivering him late. He responded superbly and went past August Rush who had found the inside rail and finished a fine 0,75 length second. The bottom weight Polar Moon, drawn three, finished just 0,25 lengths further back in third. Winking Jack set the pace alone on the outside, hanging on for fourth ahead of Gaultier. The 13-20 favourite What A Winter took a bump early and from a draw of 11 was always going to battle to make up the ground.

Woodruff said the team had been left a bit deflated after the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint in which they were always chasing the lightning fast Val De Ra, before finishing third, but he revealed that Delpech believed Shea Shea would win the Golden Horse. Shea Shea is owned by Brian Joffe and Myron Berzack and was bred by Klawervlei Stud. The horse is named after Joffe’s grandson, Shea. Woodruff also won the Golden Horse two years ago with Earl Of Surrey.

GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT (Gr1)
Final Results

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	SHEA SHEA	58.0	110	4	A Delpech	Geoff Woodruff
2	0.75	AUGUST RUSH	57.0	105	6	B Fayd’Herbe	Neil Bruss
3	1.00	POLAR MOON	53.5	98	2	M V’Rensburg	Sean Tarry
4	1.10	WINKING JACK	56.0	103	13	G Lerena	Lance Wiid
5	2.35	GAULTIER	57.5	106	7	S Randolph	Mike Bass
6	2.85	WHAT A WINTER	59.5	113	10	K Neisius	Mike Bass
7	3.60	SPLASH GOLD	57.5	109	12	A Fortune	Dean Kannemeyer
8	4.10	BUSH PIRATE	57.5	106	9	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
9	4.85	ELUSIVE RIVER (AUS)	54.0	102	5	A Marcus	Charles Laird
10	5.35	ARABIAN MIST	58.5	108	8	D David	Gary Alexander
11	5.60	RUSHING WIND	58.5	108	15	A Domeyer	Mike Bass
12	6.35	DANCE WITH AL	55.5	102	11	F Coetzee	Justin Snaith
13	7.10	RABATTACHE	60.0	111	3	I Sturgeon	Glen Puller
14	8.10	TWO TONE	58.0	107	1	* JP v’d Merwe	Mike Azzie
15	8.60	KAVANAGH	56.0	106	14	K Shea	Mike de Kock
16	14.85	GOOD THING	59.5	110	16	M Mienie	Wendy Whitehead

Extract from Gold Circle

TOP SPRINTERS LINE UP FOR POST MERCHANTS

Noble Heir - Computaform Sprint (Grade 1)
(Photo : JC Photographics / Summerhill Stud)

POST MERCHANTS (Grade 2)
Greyville, 1200m, 18 June 2010 

Winter has arrived with a vengeance in sub-tropical KwaZulu-Natal, but tonight’s racing action at Greyville promises to be sizzling hot. A full field of tip top sprinters go head to head in the Grade 2 Post Merchants, where Dennis Bosch’s grey Noble Heir (Kahal) will attempt to add her name to those of Sunera (1986) and Marie Galante (1992) as only the third filly in the past 25 years to capture this 1200m sprint.

The race had its first running back in 1936 and was won in that year by one of the all time greats of the South African turf, the Syd Garrett-trained Moonlit, who won the Met in both 1936 and 1938, carrying 145Ib (65,77kg) in the latter. Two other great horses that won the Merchants were 1952 July winner Mowgli and 1968 Met winner William Penn.

The 1979 July runner up, Sun Tonic, 1987 SA Guineas winner, Sloop, and the 1970 Cape Guineas winner, Shah Abbas, are three other versatile types to have won the Merchants. In fact even last year’s winner, Sharks Bay, could be considered a sprint-miler having finished third in last season’s Grade 2 KRA Guineas.

A noted frontrunner, who has recorded all eight of her wins over the minimum trip, Noble Heir came from off the pace to beat the boys in the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint, which suggests that the extra 200m should be well within her scope. She has won twice at the track and on current form, has strong claims to add a third Graded win to her record.

Kitalpha gelding Moroccan caught many by surprise when third to JJ The Jet Plane in the Grade 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint last time out and a repeat of that effort could bring him right into the picture. Despite a wide draw, Moroccan is not without a chance.

Former Champion Sprinter Mythical Flight (Jet Master) has yet to visit the winner’s box since his return from an overseas campaign. He showed his customary pace in the Golden Horse Casino Sprint before running out of steam in the closing stages to finish about seven lengths off the winner.

Amazingly, this will be Mythical Flight’s first run at the Durban track, but he is well drawn and always merits respect.

FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
2	GAULTIER	60.0	109	4	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
3	THUNDER KEY	60.0	109	5	I Sturgeon	Glen Kotzen
4	CASEY COOL	59.5	108	9	K Shea	Darryl Hodgson
5	EXTINCT	59.5	108	13	M Yeni	Colin Scott
6	INTELLECTUAL	59.5	108	8	R Danielson	Herman Brown
7	IVORY TRAIL	59.5	108	12	P Botha	Joey Ramsden
8	MYTHICAL FLIGHT	59.0	107	2	G Lerena	Sean Tarry
9	NOBLE HEIR	59.0	107	3	A Delpech	Dennis Bosch
10	RED FLYER	58.0	105	18	S Randolph	Alistair Gordon
11	CYBER CASE	57.0	103	10	A Marcus	Charles Llaird
12	CLEARLY SILVER	56.5	104	15	A Forbes	Dennis Drier
13	BUSH PIRATE	56.5	102	14	K Teetan	Joey Ramsden
14	MOROCCAN (ZIM)	56.0	101	16	F Coetzee	Weiho Marwing
15	GALANTHUS	54.5	100	7	*D Mansour	Tyrone Zackey
16	MR TOP (ARG)	53.5	96	1	K Zechner	Sean Tarry
17	TWO TONE	53.0	97	11	-	Wendy Whitehead
	Late Scratchings
1	FORT VOGUE	60.0	109	17	* Domeyer	Mike Bass
	Reserve Runners
18	COOL SPENDER	52.5	94	6	Reserve 2	Sean Tarry

2010 GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT : VIDEO AND RESULTS

Click above to watch JJ The Jet Plane winning the Golden Horse Casino Sprint (Gr1)
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

JJ THE JET PLANE
R600,000 GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT (Grade 1)
Scottsville, 1200m, Turf
29 May 2010

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	JJ THE JET PLANE	58.0	114	6	P Strydom	Lucky Houdalakis
2	2.00	RUSHING WIND	52.5	103	15	*A Domeyer	Mike Bass
3	3.25	MOROCCAN (ZIM)	52.0	101	14	F Coetzee	Weiho Marwing
4	4.25	BLUE TIGER	57.0	112	5	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
5	5.00	TROPICAL EMPIRE (AUS)	60.0	118	16	S Randolph	Duncan Howells
6	5.25	IMPERIAL GESTURE	56.5	111	12	G Figueroa	Charles Laird
7	5.50	CAPTAIN SCOTT	53.5	105	2	B Smith	Alec Laird
8	5.75	CASEY COOL	55.0	108	13	G Schelchter	Darryl Hodgson
9	6.50	NOCTURNAL AFFAIR	52.0	104	1	M Yeni	Greg Ennion
10	6.75	MYTHICAL FLIGHT	56.0	110	11	J Geroudis	Sean Tarry
11	6.75	INTELLECTUAL	56.0	110	9	A Delpech	Herman Brown
12	7.75	WARM WHITE NIGHT	58.0	114	4	A Marcus	Charles Laird
13	7.80	RED FLYER	54.0	106	10	M Byleveld	Alistair Gordon
14	9.55	THUNDER KEY	56.5	111	7	B Lerena	Glen Kotzen
15	12.80	GAULTIER	55.5	109	3	K Neisius	Mike Bass
16	22.80	JAMAICAN DREAM	55.0	108	8	D David	Yogas Govender

BIG NAMES FOR GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT

Golden Horse Casino Sprint
(Photo : Gold Circle / Golden Horse Casino) 

GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT (Grade 1)
Scottsville, Turf, 1200m
29 May 2010 

David ThiseltonJJ The Jet Plane, one of South Africa’s most popular horses, will be travelling through the night on the eve of his attempt to become the first horse since Dambuster in 1984 to recapture the Golden Horse Casino Sprint crown at Scottsville on Saturday.

JJ, now back with his Vaal-based trainer Lucky Houdalakis, was unable to defend his crown last season as he was campaigning in England under Mike de Kock where he ran fourth and third in two Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot and Newmarket respectively.

The former Equus Champion Sprinter by Champion Sire Jet Master had earlier won a place in the hearts of the horse-mad British public, partly due to a superb performance in winning a Listed race at Windsor and partly due to being the namesake of a popular children’s storybook character. JJ, who was purchased for a mere R70,000 due to his Charlie Chaplin-like front feet, had the first gallop after his overseas journeys only a few weeks ago and unseasonal rain has also hindered the efforts to get him fit in time. “He will not be at his peak,” said Houdalakis. “He is about 85% fit and all we can do his hold thumbs.” Houdalakis said earlier this month that only the race would tell whether he retained his former ability as he had never been a good work horse and always worked on his own. He was happy with his draw of six. JJ The Jet Plane will arrive at Scottsville on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Duncan Howells said that topweight Tropical Empire’s preparation had gone very well and “more than according to plan”. He said the same for his unbeaten two-year-old filly Romantic Moon, who contests the Allan Robertson Championship. Tropical Empire, despite being a seven-year-old, produced a probable career best performance in the Grade 2 Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m at Greyville in his last start and was unlucky in the Golden Horse two years ago when having to be snatched up at a time he was travelling very well. Howells said of his draw of seventeen, “It’s not good on paper, but I don’t want to go that route, it’s the way the cookie crumbles. I hope we have luck in running.” Howells said last week that he had done his job and would now leave it to jockey Stuart Randolph. He felt that his Silvano filly, Romantic Moon, could be something special. “She has never come off the bit,” he said. “She improved by a whole second in her last start and has improved again since.” Romantic Moon has won both her starts over the Scottsville 1200m course and distance of the Allan Robertson.

Alec Laird was a couple of hours away from Summerveld yesterday with his Golden Horse contender, Captain Scott. “We’ve come down earlier than normal as I want to get Jet Trail settled in before her run in the Woolavington,” he said. “Captain Scott didn’t enjoy the soft in the Champions Challenge. It’s not ideal coming down from 2,000m to a sprint. But he’s showed us speed before and we’re putting half-cup blinkers on too. “We’re hoping for a surprise. If Moroccan is fancied he must have a chance.” Captain Scott finished just 0,5 lengths behind Moroccan at level weights in an Allowance Plate over 1 160m at Turffontein in February and the latter went on to win the Grade 2 Senor Santa over that same course and distance. However, Captain Scott will now have to give Moroccan 1,5kg.

Moroccan, could make it two in a row for Zimbabwean-breds in the Golden Horse. He is a four-year-old by Kitalpha and has won five of his last six starts. Trainer Weiho Marwing said he was “fit and well” and would be travelling down on Friday.

Yogas Govender’s Jamaican Dream drops down in trip and the yard said that a line could be drawn through his last start when finishing last in the Drill Hall. Byron Forster, the yard’s Summerveld assistant trainer, said, “That last start was all wrong, he bolted down to the start. The stiff 1200m should suit him. We are hoping that he gets run off his feet early as he is a keen sort and that will help him settle. “He is drawn in eight which will give him the option of going left or right. There is some speed around him which will help.”

Extract from Gold Circle

FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	TROPICAL EMPIRE (AUS)	60.0	118	17	S Randolph	Duncan Howells
2	JJ THE JET PLANE	58.0	114	6	P Strydom	Lucky Houdalakis
3	WARM WHITE NIGHT	58.0	114	4	A Marcus	Charles Laird
4	BLUE TIGER	57.0	112	5	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
5	IMPERIAL GESTURE	56.5	111	12	G Figueroa	Charles Laird
6	THUNDER KEY	56.5	111	7	B Lerena	Glen Kotzen
7	INTELLECTUAL	56.0	110	9	A Delpech	Herman Brown
8	MYTHICAL FLIGHT	56.0	110	11	J Geroudis	Sean Tarry
9	GAULTIER	55.5	109	3	K Neisius	Mike Bass
10	CASEY COOL	55.0	108	14	G Schlechter	Darryl Hodgson
11	JAMAICAN DREAM	55.0	108	8	D David	Yogas Govender
12	RED FLYER	54.0	106	10	M Byleveld	Alistair Gordon
13	CAPTAIN SCOTT	53.5	105	2	B Smith	Alec Laird
14	RUSHING WIND	52.5	103	16	*A Domeyer	Mike Bass
15	NOCTURNAL AFFAIR	52.0	101	1	R Danielson	Greg Ennion
16	MOROCCAN (ZIM)	52.0	101	15	F Coetzee	Weiho Marwing
	Reserve Runner
17	CLEARLY SILVER	52.0	101	13	Reserve 1	Dennis Drier

THIS CAT’S COOKIN’, BABE

Cataloochee
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

CATALOOCHEE

In a land in which speed is king, he was the Emperor. Whether it was Turffontein, Newmarket, the Vaal or Scottsville, once Cataloochee hit the front, no horse ever passed him.

On his way, he ran the fastest 1000 metres in recorded history. In the 1200 metres of the Golden Horse Casino Sprint, he ran faster than any horse had ever run. To understand what that means, you have to visit the Honour Roll. 

And now, it seems, his progeny have come to understand their heritage. Thus far four runners; one winner (Ms Loochee by five); one runner-up on debut (Ikeechobee); and two third (Zee Cat and Jeanre), also on debut.

Those that watched the Emperors Palace Ready To Run gallops at Summerhill, will remember our predictions. All the sadder, that we’re talking of the dead. It’s the way of the world, we’re afraid, but the old Cat’s up there somewhere, and he’s doubtless talkin’ up a storm about his babies.