BLUERIDGE MOUNTAIN SHOWS HER METTLE IN SCEPTRE STAKES

Click above to watch Blueridge Mountain winning the Sceptre Stakes (Grade 2)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

THE GRAHAM BECK MEMORIAL SCEPTRE STAKES (Grade 2)
Kenilworth, Turf, 1200m
19 January 2013

David Thiselton
Gold CircleThe Gary Alexander-trained Blueridge Mountain (ARG) (Giant’s Causeway (USA) - Skyline Drive View (USA)) proved her class in the Grade 2 Graham Beck Memorial Sceptre Stakes over 1200m at Kenilworth Saturday when beating a good field under a finely judged ride by jockey Glen Hatt.

The racemeeting was held in honour of the late great owner and breeder Graham Beck.

Blueridge Mountain, who is owned by Ingrid and Markus Jooste, is being taken care of in Cape Town by Joey Ramsden and he revealed that she had enjoyed a much better preparation than she had for her last start in the Grade 1 Avontuur Fillies Guineas, when running on from a wide draw. Hatt said the Argentinian-bred filly had always impressed the Ramsden yard and had “only really come right in the last two weeks.”

Her sire Giant’s Causeway, known as the “Iron Horse” in Europe due to his unbreakable courage, gets them to stay and Blueridge Mountain could be an interesting runner in the Grade 1 Majorca Stakes on J&B Met day now that she is back to her best.

The Vaughan Marshall-trained All Is Secret, last season’s Equus Two-Year-Old Champion female, vied for favouritism with the progressive Dennis Drier-trained Sunshine Rock, who was coming off a win in the Listed Laisserfaire Stakes over 1100m. They jumped off at 13-10 and 16-10 respectively. The Brett Crawford-trained Reflective Image, runner up in te Laisserfaire and third in the Grade 2 Southern Cross Stakes over 1 000m, was the only other horse in single figures at 15-2. Blueridge Mountain was allowed to go off at 14-1, despite Anton Marcus, who rode her to victory over 1200m at Clairwood on her debut, saying in an earlier post-race interview that he rated her a danger.

Sunshine Rock, drawn high, led from All Is Secret on her inside, while Blueridge Mountain was travelling comfortably in behind them. All Is Secret began getting the better of Sunshine Rock 200m from home, but Blueridge Mountain burst through late to beat her by 0,75 lengths. The Drier-trained 50-1 outsider Miss October, who has always been held in good regard, jumped well for the second time in succession, but this time she went through with her effort, unlike in the Laisserfaire, and ran on well to pip a running-on Reflective Image for third with Sunshine Rock next best.

Blueridge Mountain was consigned by Summerhill Stud to the 2011 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale where she fetched R2 million, the second top filly of the sale. Her career record now stands at 2 wins and 2 places from 5 starts for earnings of R223,425.

THE GRAHAM BECK MEMORIAL SCEPTRE STAKES (Grade 2)
Final Result

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	BLUERIDGE MOUNTAIN (ARG)	56.5	91	9	G Hatt	Gary Alexander
2	0.75	ALL IS SECRET	56.5	100	7	A Marcus	Vaughan Marshall
3	1.15	MISS OCTOBER	60.0	91	10	G Schlechter	Dennis Drier
4	1.25	REFLECTIVE IMAGE	60.0	92	5	K Teetan	Brett Crawford
5	1.75	SUNSHINE ROCK (AUS)	60.0	95	8	S Cormack	Dennis Drier
6	2.75	SWEET ARIA (IRE)	60.0	85	3	K Neisius	Brett Crawford
7	4.25	COMTESSE DUBOIS	60.0	99	6	M Yeni	Justin Snaith
8	5.50	MONEY SURGER	60.0	89	2	G van Niekerk	Piet Steyn
9	7.50	SUE FOR PEACE	60.0	93	4	M Byleveld	Dennis Drier
10	7.70	LAKE DRAWSKO	60.0	89	1	B Fayd’Herbe	Justin Snaith

Extract from Gold Circle

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

VARIETY CLUB LANDS L'ORMARINS QUEEN'S PLATE 2013

Click above to watch Variety Club winning the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (Grade 1)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : SuperSport)

L’ORMARINS QUEEN’S PLATE (Grade 1)
Kenilworth, Turf, 1600m
12 January 2013

Mike Moon
Tab NewsVariety Club underlined his reputation as South Africa’s best miler when he captured the R1-million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (Grade 1) over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday.

The Joey Ramsden-trained four-year-old colt - starting at 9-10 despite the disadvantage of the widest draw of 15 - triumphed emphatically by more than two lengths over Jackson (33-10), who short-headed Pomodoro (15-4).

While punters cheered the result, there will be much animated debate over an earlier false start to the race - and how the favourite benefited from it. The false start was declared when Variety Club, the last horse to load into the starting machine, backed out of his stall just as the starter hit the start button. All runners bar the favourite jumped away and commenced racing, only to be flagged down as the faux pas was noticed. It took jockeys some 400m to pull up the leading runners, although others were turned around a bit sooner. All returned to the start, were inspected by the vet and commenced loading once again. All the while, Variety Club walked calmly behind the stalls not having galloped a yard. Applying the adage that any horse who goes early through the pens can’t win, Variety Club was certain to triumph here. And so it proved, though there is no way of telling if the result would have been different had there been a faultless start.

When the field sprang away a second time, champion jockey Anton Marcus lost no time in immediately chasing Variety Club across from his wide stall to the head of affairs. Within seconds the draw bogey had been negated by a brilliant manoeuvre. Vodacom Durban July champion Pomodoro took up the second position in running, ahead of Martial Eagle, What A Winter, Jackson, Slumdogmillionaire and Fabiani in a stung-out field. Master Plan and Castlethorpe trailed some 20 lengths off the pace after jumping poorly.

In the straight, Variety Club galloped on tenaciously as the challenges came - from Pomodoro on the inside rail and Martial Eagle and Jackson down the centre. Just as it seemed that he might have hit the wall, South Africa’s reigning Horse of the Year found a little extra. The son of Var edged into the clear, and then gradually pulled away. Jackson and Pomodoro, a nostril apart at the line, ran brilliant preps for the J&B Met in three weeks time, which is obviously the main target for both of them.

Winning jockey Marcus commented afterwards: “As well as he won, it was never comfortable.” He explained that the colt had to be used to overcome his draw, did not corner very well and was under pressure at the top of the straight. But to racegoers it looked like a scintillating performance and they will be eager to see if he will run in the Met. There, of course, he will face tougher competition over 400m further. His connections provided little insight into their planning in their post-race interviews.

The surprise package of the Queen’s Plate was the Yogas Govender-trained Martial Eagle (150-1), who fought off the rest of the pack to claim fourth spot. Many would have reckoned the seven-year-old’s best days were behind him, but will now be factoring him into feature races to come.

Variety Club is owned by Ingrid and Markus Jooste and was bred by Beaumont Stud. This was his 12th victory in 17 starts. He has only been out of the money once and has amassed more than R3-million in prize money.

L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate (Grade 1)
Final Result

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	VARIETY CLUB	60.0	118	14	A Marcus	Joey Ramsden
2	2.25	JACKSON	60.0	116	13	K Teetan	Brett Crawford
3	2.30	POMODORO	60.0	112	7	P Strydom	Sean Tarry
4	2.35	MARTIAL EAGLE	60.0	106	9	A Domeyer	Yogas Govender
5	3.10	SLUMDOGMILLIONAIRE	60.0	109	1	B Lerena	Gavin van Zyl
6	3.50	MASTER PLAN	60.0	111	5	R Fradd	Greg Ennion
7	3.55	RUN FOR IT	60.0	109	4	S Cormack	Justin Snaith
8	3.75	BULSARA	60.0	102	2	M Odendaal	Gavin van Zyl
9	4.50	TRIBAL DANCE	60.0	107	11	M Byleveld	Vaughan Marshall
10	6.25	FABIANI	60.0	106	3	G van Niekerk	Glen Kotzen
11	6.30	BRAVURA	60.0	113	6	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
12	10.55	WHAT A WINTER	60.0	120	10	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
13	11.30	CASTLETHORPE (AUS)	60.0	110	12	A Delpech	Mike Bass
14	12.55	DEPARDIEU	60.0	107	8	K Neisius	Dean Kannemeyer

lqp.co.za

Extracts from Tab News

WAGNER SCORES SYMPHONIC SANSUI SUMMER CUP VICTORY

Click above to watch Wagner winning the Sansui Summer Cup (Gr1)
(Footage - Fometter : Image - Tab News)

SANSUI SUMMER CUP (Grade 1)
Turffontein, Turf, 2000m
1 December 2012

Punters were left stunned when 16-1 chance Wagner (Tiger Ridge) triumphed under leaden skies in the R2-million Grade 1 Sansui Summer Cup at Turffontein on Saturday.

Trained by Turffontein conditioner Joe Soma and brilliantly ridden by S’manga Khumalo, Wagner led from soon after the start and held off several challenges in the finishing stretch.

The 50-1 shot Shogunnar (Solskjaer) was less than a length adrift in second place, with Ilsanpietro (Brz) (Mark of Esteem) (35-1) in third and Astro News (Silvano) (28-1) running on for fourth.

With odds like that, it is little surprise that the Quartet paid a cool R 941,509.60, with a R6,480 carryover. The Trifecta yielded R26,316.00.

While the shock result and teeming rain took a smidgeon of festivity out of the large, pink-clad Turffontein crowd, there was much emotion and celebration in the winning enclosure. Soma is one of the most popular figures in racing, while there was added poignancy from the fact that the trainer’s wife passed away a few months ago.

Owners Ingrid and Markus Jooste’s silks were to the fore from the start, with their two runners, Wagner and Vettel (Know Heights), showing up as the field left the 2000m gates. Behind them came Ilha Bela (Fort Wood), Ilsanpietro, Whiteline Fever (Right Approach), Zambucca (Lundy’s Liability), Smanjemanje (Kahal), Brooks-Club (Strike Smartly) and Pierre Jourdan (Parade Leader).

Favourite Mujaarib (Nadeem) was some 10 lengths back coming off the bend and never looked like threatening for honours. Astro News was almost last throughout, only flying up late to claim fourth spot.

First Ilsanpietro threw out a challenge to the leader; then it was Shogunnar and Zambucca. But the flying Wagner and Khumalo dug down deep and prevailed.

This and some other big results saw the Pick 6 paying R1.7-million and the Place Accumulator R66,251.80. The Jackpot paid R4,654.90.

Sansui Summer Cup (Grade 1)
Final Results

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	WAGNER	52.5	96	11	S Khumalo	Joe Soma
2	0.50	SHOGUNNAR	54.0	99	1	M Odendaal	Gavin van Zyl
3	1.00	ILSANPIETRO (BRZ)	57.5	105	20	G Lerena	Mike de Kock
4	1.25	ASTRO NEWS	55.5	102	10	M Yeni	Brian Wiid
5	2.50	ZAMBUCCA	58.0	107	18	K Zechner	Saeed Mohideen
6	2.75	WHITELINE FEVER	59.0	109	14	B Fayd’Herbe	Sean Tarry
7	3.50	VETTEL (ARG)	57.0	105	5	A Marcus	Mike de Kock
8	3.75	PIERRE JOURDAN	58.0	106	13	P Strydom	Gary Alexander
9	5.00	SILENT PARTNER	52.0	94	12	R Danielson	Mike de Kock
10	5.50	SMANJEMANJE	59.0	108	3	G van Niekerk	Tyrone Zackey
11	6.00	SOUL MASTER	57.5	105	2	M Mienie	Geoff Woodruff
12	7.25	MUJAARIB (AUS)	53.5	98	8	G Hatt	Mike de Kock
13	7.50	ILHA BELA	54.5	100	19	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
14	10.00	KNOCK ON WOOD	55.0	100	16	S Brown	Ormond Ferraris
15	10.25	BROOKS-VLUB	55.0	101	7	R Fradd	Mike Azzie
16	17.50	SILVER FLYER	57.5	106	15	K Shea	Mike de Kock
17	17.75	CHESALON	60.0	110	9	G Schlechter	Mike Azzie
18	20.00	SAGE THRONE	57.5	105	6	S Cormack	Colin Scott
19	99.99	EMPANOSO HENN (ARG)	57.5	105	17	D David	Mike de Kock
20	99.99	GOLDEN CREST	56.0	103	4	M Van Rensburg	Geoff Woodruff

Extract from Tab News

www.sansuisummercup.co.za

THE CUP RUNNETH OVER

Northern Guest
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

SOUTH AFRICAN HORSERACING
Season 2011/2012

If you’ve been reading these columns, you already know the bursting pride with which Summerhill is celebrating its eighth consecutive Breeder’s Championship. This is a country with a rich tradition in horsemanship, and we are surrounded in the racing game with professionals whose talents match those of others across the world. We’ve often pointed to the achievements of our trainers in the international realm, and the fact that one of the most sought-after jockey’s titles, (Hong Kong), has been in South African hands for 19 of the past 20 years. It follows then, that back at home, you can expect matching achievements among those who ply their trade in South Africa, and there are several.

Lest he should be lost in the wash, the winningmost achiever is Northern Guest, Summerhill’s most famous resident of all-time. He clinched his tenth Broodmare Sires’ title this year, beating the modern day record of Mr. Prospector in the process.

Mike de Kock ascended to his seventh Trainer’s title, his third in a row, and to put these into perspective, remember, several of his best horses are abroad, yet his earnings this season were almost 50% better than his nearest pursuer.

Jet Master made it six Sires’ premierships, with five Group One winners - quite astounding! In any normal year, horses like Silvano and Var, who chalked up the most stakes winners with two champions respectively, would’ve been standouts; but they were relatively pale by comparison with Jet Master, who should finally be recognised as “the greatest stallion of all time”. We need to recall here that he was a R15,000 weanling, that there were no stakes winners in his first four dams (the family resided here, so we know it intimately), and that he has made it in the most competitive stallion environment in our history.

Markus and Ingrid Jooste have aspired to their fifth Owner’s title, and Anton Marcus, who contributed handsomely to that award, took the Jockey’s Championship for the second year running. Spare a thought here for young Gavin Lerena, who rode his heart out (and broke it in the process), in going down by one winner on the last day of the season. Both these fellows were exemplary in their professionalism, and both are grand ambassadors for the game. Lerena will have his day, and many of them to boot, but for now, Anton continues to be the standard by which our jockeys are measured, not only for his riding talents, but for elevating the profession from the perspective of his conduct, his gentlemanliness and the adage that there’s no substitute for hard work.

VARIETY CLUB WINS RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE

Variety Club wins the Rising Sun Gold Challenge (Grade 1)
(Photo : Gold Circle)

RISING SUN GOLD CHALLENGE (Grade 1)
Clairwood, Turf, 1600m
9 June 2012

Variety Club’s name is a misnomer. There’s little variety about the way he runs - he almost always wins, and in some style. His effort in the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m at Clairwood Saturday was no exception.

After making his own pace for much of the race, the three-year-old colt eased away from his four top-rated opponents under a hands and heels ride from Anton Marcus. Marcus said afterwards that the son of Var was “one of the better milers I’ve ridden”.

Trainer Joey Ramsden said that while Variety Club has done well over further, 1600m is his best trip. “When you’re good at something, stick with something.” Ramsden added: “We’ll sit down now and see where we are going with him.”

Derek Brugman, racing manager for owners Ingrid and Markus Jooste, said the colt will probably be rested from now until the Western Cape season at the end of the year. If the export protocol is relaxed, a campaign in Dubai and the East is possible.

Marcus said Variety Club did not emerge cleanly from the starting stalls, but the champion jockey quickly settled his charge, keeping him clear of the inside rail where Castlethorpe was racing very keenly. As the five runners entered the left-hand turn, Variety Club took charge of the tempo, leading by a length from Castlethorpe, Tales Of Bravery, What A Winter and Pierre Jourdan. In the closing stretch Marcus never had any need for his whip, pushing Variety Club clear to win with something in hand.

Castlethorpe (14-1) rallied gamely to claim second, while Pierre Jourdan (13-1) ran on well into third - obviously prepping for the Vodacom Durban July over a trip short of his best.

The win took Variety Club’s career record to nine wins from 14 starts. He has never been out of the prize money and the Gold Challenge cheque pushed his earning close to the R2.5-million mark.

Extract from Tab Online