EL PICHA GALLOPS INTO CHARITY TURF CHALLENGE LEAD

It was third time lucky for Pocket Power (Jet Master) this weekend when he comfortably beat home the opposition in the Gr.1 Gold Challenge at Clairwood last Saturday, earning 40 points for those Charity Turf Challenge entrants that favoured him. The big bay gave notice in no uncertain terms that he will be the horse to beat in the Vodacom Durban July.



One of those entrants was ‘El Picha’ who shot into the lead with the bonus points garnered by the Pocket rocket. ‘El Picha’ has also secured the second spot on the leader board.



Other point scorers in the Gold Challenge were Kapil (Jallad), who finished strongly for second and secured himself a run in the Vodacom Durban July and River Jetez (Jet Master), who again showed her class by finishing third. It will certainly be history in the making if the two full siblings should face the judge together on July day.



Sparkling Gem (Joshua Dancer) made her presence felt when she won the Gr. 2 Tibouchina Stakes earlier in the afternoon, beating home a very game Prestic (Strike Smartly) and in doing so earned 10 points for her followers.



The only other horse to add points for the Charity Turf Challenge on Saturday was Generous Anna (General Nediym), who scored 2 points for winning the Devon Air Stakes.



On Friday last week Lt Samson (National Emblem) scored 2 points for his followers by winning a Juvenile Plate in Port Elizabeth .



Annet Becker and Otto van Tonder were the lucky draw winners this past weekend and will receive a R500-00 betting voucher from bookmakers David van der Vyver and Trevor Fourie respectively.



For the complete leader board of all entrants, log on to www.racingsa.com .



The Top 20 Leader Board at 15 June 2009 is:





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“El Picha” will be resting easily this weekend with limited number of qualifiers in action.



Tonight’s feature race from Greyville, the Gr.2 Post Merchants, carries the most points on offer but even a win won’t be enough to trouble the leaders as the competition draws closer to the crucial Vodacom Durban July stage on Saturday, 4 July.



Entrants will be closely following the outcome of South Africa’s biggest raceday as Racing South Africa has put up a stand alone prize worth R10 000 for the entry (s) earning the most points on the 12-race programme. The key, as usual, is cracking the 25 bonus points awarded to the winner of the July.



This weekend’s list of qualifiers is as follows:



Greyville Racecourse, Friday 19 June:

Race 8 – Gr.2 Post Merchants:

2. Extinct

5. Lightening Lecture

6. Alvaro

9. Drayton

16. Lady Bequick



Turffontein Racecourse, Saturday 20 June:

Race 5 – Racing Association MR 94:

1. Flintlock

3. Sealed With A Kiss



Kenilworth Racecourse, Saturday 20 June:

Race 7 – Betting World MR 96:

1. Hurricane Silver



Race 8 – LR Ladies Mile:

1. Nania



The Leader Boards will be updated on Monday, 22 June.

Racing South Africa

19 June 2009

Distributed on behalf of Racing South Africa



PRESS RELEASE MONDAY - 22 JUNE 2009



None of the Charity Turf Challenge qualifiers in the Gr.2 Post Merchants managed to find the placings last Friday night, the race going to the improving 3yr old gelding, Shark’s Bay, from the in-form Dennis Drier yard.



Only one qualifier managed to score points this weekend and that was Sealed With A Kiss (Jallad) who earned two points for his followers when he won a 94 merit-rated handicap at Turffontein on Saturday. The result was that “El Picha” remains leader of the pack at the half-way stage of the competition.



Tellytrack’s Neil Pretorius and Jainthy Kasiram won this weekend’s Charity Turf Challenge spot prizes courtesy of the kind sponsorship of Clive Unsworth (Shelley Beach Tattersalls) and Grant Felix (Hillcrest Tattersalls) respectively. Racing South Africa will contact both prize winners to arrange for their R500 betting vouchers to be collected. Every weekend, spot prizes are drawn randomly from either the top 20 leader board or the entire list of entrants so watch the press for details.



There are no qualifiers at any of the mid-week meetings but this coming weekend could see the leader board change with the running of the Gr.2 KZN Derby and KZN Oaks at Clairwood Park Racecourse. As usual the full list of qualifiers will be published before the end of the week.



To view the full leader board, log in to www.racingsouthafrica.com and click on the Charity Turf Challenge poster. That leads to the Charity Turf Challenge web page, where there is a button for “leader board all entrants” that will display the full leader board.

Racing South Africa

22 June 2009



Gill Simpkins
Public Relations Manager