Racing Round Up…
By Mark van Deventer
Tony Peter’s lightly weighted 3YO,
Perfect Miracle s/s 99 won the
G3 Sycamore Sprint at Turffontein on Saturday to confirm the promise showed as a juvenile. She was chased in by consistent mare,
Frozen Fantasy s/s 98 with
Rachel Wall s/s 95 next.
Perfect Miracle is sired by
Hawwaam, who has been making an impact lately. She is now the winner of three of eight starts and has the potential to run even higher numbers as she matures.
Sean Tarry’s
Turn it Up s/s 90 + is a talented juvenile. A son of
Querari bred to be quick, he earned a smart figure for a youngster down the sprint track. He got beat on debut by
Heath House in an 800m dash, and has won his next two starts, showing real zip.
Candice Bass trained
What a Fortune s/s 98 and
Masterofthedeserrt s/s 97 in a stable exacta at Durbanville. They earned the day’s best speed scores in what was a successful afternoon for the Milnerton-based conditioner.
Bass’
Fortune One s/s 82 ++ shed his Maiden (the stable came second there too with
Love from Afar) and
King’s Quest controlled things from the front in a false paced race to easily win himself another Class 4.
In overseas action,
Invincible Ibis s/s 110 took out the prestigious Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin on Sunday. He finished better than long time leader,
Numbers s/s 107 and made his move at the optimal time to keep the late running
Stormy Grove s/s 107 + at bay, too.
As a sentimental aside, legendary mare,
Makybe Diva passed away in Australia at the end of February, aged 26. She won three
Melbourne Cups in a row (2003 – 2005) when raced by Croatian immigrant tuna fisherman, Tony Santic and became a turf legend in Oz.
Not only is her owner quite an irrepressible fishing character who swung from bankruptcy to tycoon status, but it is well worth reading up on her back story (unsold when not meeting her reserve as a foal at foot in the UK.)
The adventures of her original trainer David Hall (left for Hong Kong after training her to win the Cup in 2003), charismatic winning jockey, Glen Boss and her “replacement” trainer with the gift of the gab, Lee Fredman all makes for an entertaining yarn.
Bio: Mark van Deventer has been refining his speed figures for thoroughbred racehorses over three decades. A full-time racing journalist since 2013, he’s known for his integrity and imaginative handicapping, adapting the principles of Andrew Beyer’s figures to South African racecourses.
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