3 minute read

Summerveld has been abuzz with talk about Saturday's Festival Of Speed meeting at Scottsville with the Mike de Kock yard holding a strong hand in the jackpot of Grade 1 features.

The clash between the De Kock-trained Welwitschia and the Glen Kotzen-trained superstar Princess Victoria in the SA Fillies Sprint is a highlight with both teams equally bullish.

Welwitschia was mightily impressive in her last start in the G2 Camelia Stakes over 1160m but a question mark remains about the quality of horses she beat.

On the other hand the going was clearly superior on the outside of the track on the day and yet, in a matter of strides, she overtook the field on their inside and went from last to first in the blink.

She has always been highly-rated by the De Kock camp and this was the first time she had run in a sprint since her debut.

De Kock said after that race that he was sometimes “too stubborn for his own good”, referring to how he had tried to make her stay further when she was probably always a sprinter.

The early betting has Ebony Flyer joint second favourites with Welwitschia behind Princess Victoria but Justin Snaith is not as confident as the Kotzen and De Kock yards and has emphasised that this would be a “prep run” for his class sprinter as she returns from a breathing operation.

Snaith said: "Ebony Flyer is doing fine, but this is a prep run for the Rising Sun Gold Challenge and whatever happens will be a bonus.

"There was not much else for her to run in besides this race. This is her first start after her breathing operation and we are not sure how she will handle the Scottsville downhill.”

Felix Coetzee described Ebony Flyer as a “different horse” to the one that won the G1 Majorca Stakes over 1600m on J&B Met day. The fact that she won while experiencing breathing problems showed just how good she is and it is not surprising that her connections are excited about what she might now achieve.

De Kock, who has won each of the Festival Of Speed G1s once in the past, will be attempting a single day grand slam on Saturday as he has one runner in each of the big races and all of them have been doing very well in their work.

His two-year-old colt Reign As Kings is the joint favourite with the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Cape Royal in the Tsogo Sun Medallion.

Reign As Kings has a big stride and the high cruising speed and ability to kick that are usually the hallmarks of G1 winners over the 1200m Scottsville sprint.

De Kock's two-year-old filly Lonesome Dove is a chance for the Allan Robertson after she won easily on debut over 1000m at Clairwood while the four-year-old Link Man is well in the market for the Golden Horse Casino Sprint despite coming off a layoff of nearly five months since finishing last and reported bleeding in the Queen's Plate.

His ability over the Scottsville course and distance is undoubted as won the Medallion two years ago when trained by Dennis Drier.

It is interesting to note that De Kock's previous win in the Golden Horse was with Kildonan, a similar sprinter miler who also won when returning from a six month break.

De Kock-trained sprinters are dangerous when running fresh and Link Man also has a handy 57kg, 3kgs less than the topweight What A Winter.

The Mike Bass-trained What A Winter finished well beaten in last year's Golden Horse Sprint, one of only two races in a glittering career that boasts eight victories that he has finished out of the money.

The Golden Horse Sprint is one of the few big races in KZN not won by Bass in his long and distinguished career and What A Winter is well primed after he finished third to last year's Golden Horse Sprint winner Shea Shea in last month's Computaform Sprint.

Bass has a good back-up in Castlethorpe. The Australian-bred gelding is effective over any trip and was most impressive in his Champions Season debut, beating a smart field in a Pinnacle Stakes event at Clairwood.

The Dominic Zaki-trained Deliver The Power showed top-class potential when reeling off five straight victories this season, and can improve on his fourth behind Shea Shea in the Computaform Sprint.

GOLDEN HORSE CASINO SPRINT (Grade 1) R600,000 1200m
1 – 6 WHAT A WINTER (M W Bass) B Fayd’Herbe 60.0 – 117
2 – 12 LINK MAN (M F De Kock) A Delpech 57.0 – 111
3 – 2 DELIVER THE POWER (D Zaki) B Lerena 56.5 – 113
4 – 1 ANTIOUS (H/F Brown/Robinson) K Latham 56.5 – 110
5 – 16 CASTLETHORPE (M W Bass) K Neisius 56.0 – 108
6 – 11 SNOWDON (O A Ferraris) P Strydom 55.5 – 108
7 – 15 RUSHING WIND (M W Bass) S Randolph 55.0 – 107
8 – 9 COPPER PARADE (J Ramsden) R Fourie 54.5 – 105
9 – 17 REBEL KNIGHT (G M Alexander) K Teetan 54.5 – 106
10 – 3 DELAGO DELUXE (C Laird) A Marcus 54.0 – 108
11 – 10 DEPARDIEU (D Kannemeyer) R Fradd 54.0 – 108
12 – 7 UNANNOUNCED (C Laird) R Danielson 54.0 – 108
13 – 13 MOROCCAN (W H Marwing) S Veale 53.0 – 103
14 – 8 TWO TONE (M G Azzie) C Orffer 53.0 – 103
15 – 5 SHADES OF INDIGO (J Ramsden) G Hatt 52.0 – 101
16 – 14 THE SHARK (D Kannemeyer) M Byleveld 52.0 – 100
Reserve Runners
17 – 4 MIKE’S CHOICE (M L Roberts)  Reserve 1 52.0 – 98
Same Trainer: (1,5,7) (8,15) (10,12) (11,16)

SOUTH AFRICAN FILLIES SPRINT (Grade 1) R500,000 1200m
1 – 3 WELWITSCHIA (M F De Kock) A Delpech 60.0 – 109
2 – 9 EBONY FLYER (J S Snaith) B Fayd’Herbe 60.0 – 107
3 – 2 STATE BLUE (J S Snaith) P Strydom 60.0 – 107
4 – 8 CHOCOLICIOUS (H/F Brown/Robinson) K Latham 60.0 – 102
5 – 6 ROMANTIC MOON (D C Howells) I Sturgeon 60.0 – 102
6 – 4 BARCELONA WINTER (Y Govender) S Veale 60.0 – 101
7 – 1 GIVE ME FIVE (S G Tarry) B Lerena 60.0 – 99
8 – 5 WISHFUL EYE (A Wright) A Forbes 60.0 – 98
9 – 12 JOLLY POPPINS (L W Goosen) C Maujean 60.0 – 90
10 – 13 TORRA BAY (D R Drier) K Shea 60.0 – 90
11 – 10 PRINCESS VICTORIA (G S Kotzen) S Cormack 58.5 – 109
12 – 11 SHE’S A STUNNER (D Visser) R Fradd 58.5 – 105
13 – 14 JACKODORE (S G Tarry) A Marcus 58.5 – 100
14 – 7 COMTESSE DUBOIS (J S Snaith) R Fourie 58.5 – 99
Same Trainer: (2,3,14) (7,13)

TSOGO SUN MEDALLION (Grade 1) R500,000 1200m
1 – 6 BLIZZARD OF OZZ (D R Drier) A Forbes 58.0 – 86
2 – 14 CAPE ROYAL (D Kannemeyer) K Neisius 58.0 – 94
3 – 1 CONTADOR (C Laird) A Marcus 58.0 – 91
4 – 9 DANESCO (W H Marwing) P Strydom 58.0 – 84
5 – 13 DONNIE BRASCO (P A Peter) C Little 58.0 – 84
6 – 8 FLY ME OVER (G S Kotzen) S Cormack 58.0 – 87
7 – 15 GO AGAIN (H/F Brown/Robinson) K Latham 58.0 – 85
8 – 11 LOVE STRUCK (P V Lafferty) K Teetan 58.0 – 88
9 – 3 MY JELLY BEAN (I S Moore) C Orffer 58.0 – 91
10 – 12 OTTIMO (I S Moore) S Randolph 58.0 – 92
11 – 7 PEANUTS (R R Magner) D David 58.0 – 79
12 – 4 POTENT POWER (D R Drier) K Shea 58.0 – 91
13 – 5 REIGN AS KINGS (M F De Kock) A Delpech 58.0 – 98
14 – 10 TWITTER (V H Marshall) M Byleveld 58.0 – 95
15 – 2 ZIPARANA (W H Marwing) R Fradd 58.0 – 98
16 – 16 STRAIGHT SET (C Spies) J P v’d Merwe 55.5 – 94
Same Trainer: (1,12) (4,15) (9,10)

ALLAN ROBERTSON CHAMPIONSHIP (Grade 1) R500,000 1200m
1 – 9 AL KINDI (M F De Kock) K Shea 58.0 – 88
2 – 8 ALL IS SECRET (V H Marshall) A Marcus 58.0 – 93
3 – 2 COUNTER RIDGE (H/F Brown/Robinson) K Latham 58.0 – 94
4 – 5 FRANNY (G H Van Zyl) R Fourie 58.0 – 97
5 – 10 KING’S TEMPTRESS (K Naidoo) K Teetan 58.0 – 100
6 – 3 LONSOME DOVE (M F De Kock) A Delpech 58.0 – 83
7 – 4 REBEL QUEEN (C Spies) R Danielson 58.0 – 1
8 – 7 SEA SHADOW (D Zaki) B Lerena 58.0 – 95
9 – 6 TRIP TO EDEN (C Spies) J P v’d Merwe 58.0 – 0
10 – 1 VALDIVIA (V H Marshall) M Byleveld 58.0 – 96
Same Trainer: (1,6) (2,10) (7,9)