VAAL TODAY

Well done RS very impressive!!!

Great Emerald Cup finish by Alimony for the king of sand, Gray.
Believe thats 6 from 6 for Rolands Song. Different class !

Great stuff for St John Gray - Well done Alimony and Devin

Brilliant win, could not see the horse win where it was at the bend, well done St John Gray and Devin for keeping your cool.

Plus a mention to Rolands Song, who I am sure also had a HUGE day.

scotia

Firstly, congrats to St John on winning the Cup (and to RS for tipping a straight line Pick Six - he can definitely have my place in the Hollywood competition)

Let me also state that although Elvis and myself are partners in other horses, I am not writing this on his behalf, and the following is my own take on the matter.

Who actually deserved the Cup? Comparing the times of the Consolation race to the Cup, it is clear to me that the selection committee made a mustake in their selection process; Red Mist ran a faster time carrying 60 kg's than did Alimony carrying 52 kgs'; two out of the three challengers from out of province ran downfield in the Cup; I know hindsight is an exact science, but in my view all of Halie's Sword, Red Mist and Candy Bar should have been in the Cup field.

I don't have any problem with out of province horses taking part; I do however have a problem with horses unproven on the surface getting preference to capabable horses proven on the track; surely there is something not right here -Halie's Sword earned close to R300 000 LESS in winning the Consolation as opposed to winning the Cup - and the times certainly suggest that he would have won the Cup if he had been given the opportunity to contest the race.

Frodo Wrote:

---

> Firstly, congrats to St John on winning the Cup
> (and to RS for tipping a straight line Pick Six -
> he can definitely have my place in the Hollywood
> competition)
>
> Let me also state that although Elvis and myself
> are partners in other horses, I am not writing
> this on his behalf, and the following is my own
> take on the matter.
>
> Who actually deserved the Cup? Comparing the times
> of the Consolation race to the Cup, it is clear to
> me that the selection committee made a mustake in
> their selection process; Red Mist ran a faster
> time carrying 60 kg's than did Alimony carrying 52
> kgs'; two out of the three challengers from out of
> province ran downfield in the Cup; I know
> hindsight is an exact science, but in my view all
> of Halie's Sword, Red Mist and Candy Bar should
> have been in the Cup field.
>
> I don't have any problem with out of province
> horses taking part; I do however have a problem
> with horses unproven on the surface getting
> preference to capabable horses proven on the
> track; surely there is something not right here
> -Halie's Sword earned close to R300 000 LESS in
> winning the Consolation as opposed to winning the
> Cup - and the times certainly suggest that he
> would have won the Cup if he had been given the
> opportunity to contest the race.

Frodo we appear to be posting simultaneously but I have got to have my say on this one, cause I've just discovered from tabgold the folloing.

ALIMONY time 90.59
HALIES'S SWORD 90.5
RED MIST 90.55
RENEGADE 90.73

I'm not taking anything away from St.J.GRAY, it was a win full of merit, & he came from a hopeless position - but I've just discovered from the TABGOLD site that both Halie's Sword & Red Mist had a faster time than Alimony !

Isn't it funny how history repeats itself - SCRUTINIZE HAD A FASTER TIME THAN NARC LAST YEAR.

The difference is that SCRUTINIZE made it into the final field this year.

I am not saying that Red Mist would have won, but he did carry 60 kgs s to the 52 kgs HE WOULD HAVE CARRIED IN THE EMERALD - so I do believe he would have been in the money ( BIG MONEY IN EMERALD CUP RACE )

Oh well, not to be. The powers that be decided to include 3 NON SAND horses from KZN & CPT plus Dynamite Mike with poor form for this year - instead f local TRIED & TESTED RUNNERS.

History sure does have a way of repeating itself ! Third time lucky ? let's wait and see.

..