David thiselton
The Natal Carbineers Racemeeting was well attended at Scottsville yesterday and it proved a good day for favourite backers despite soft going conditions.
The official penetrometer reading was 28.
There was drama in the main race of the day, the Umthombothi Handicap over 2 000m, as Stuart Randolph, the rider of the second-placed Duncan Howells-trained Wood Be Magic, objected against the winner, the Kumaran Naidoo-trained Tres Forte, on the grounds of interference, intimidation and being struck on the head in the final stages.
Randolph initially switched towards the inside rail when coming off the false rail but then, after feeling that the going was not suitable there, drifted him outward. He then came together with Tres Forte with Muzi Yeni up. After an initial bump the pair moved inward and Wood Be Magic ended up right on the rail.
Randolph felt his horse had hated being carried over into what he felt was worse going, had changed legs and been struck twice on the snout which had stopped him as he was fighting back.
Yeni felt he always had plenty of horse underneath him and had tried to straighten his mount by hitting him on the shoulder. He did not agree that he had struck Wood Be Magic on the head and felt that at no stage did Randolph have to stop riding.
The video evidence tended to support Yeni as Wood Be Magic only changed legs about a stride before the line and there was no evidence of any strikes to the head slowing his run. The stipendiary stewards decided to overrule the objection.
Tres Forte went into the race 4.5kg under sufferance but was still supported into 5-1 and gave Naidoo his third winner of the day and Yeni his second. The Glen Kotzen-trained pair, Shipwreck and Mr. Esplendid, finished third and fourth respectively. Tres Forte is a lightly-raced five-year old gelding by Jallad and was only having his eighth outing for his third win. He is owned by C Loganathan, M Chetty, S Munisami, D Munthree, S Munthree and Naidoo himself and was bred by The Alchemy.
In the meeting’s opening event, a workrider’s Maiden for Fillies and Mares over 1 200m, Kumaran Naidoo's assistant trainer, Janine Noordman, rode her first ever winner aboard the stable's 8-1 shot Cielito, a three-year-old Woodborough filly. Later, in the third, a Maiden over 2400m, Yeni gave the Naidoo-trained Summer Dot Com a copybook ride from pole position.
In the second, a Maiden Juvenile Plate for Fillies over 1 200m, the Gavin van Zyl-trained Almushtarak filly, Yaskawa, won by a length under Aldo Domeyer.
The Mike de Kock-trained Brazilian-bred Intercontinental went off as 18-10 favourite in the fourth, a Maiden over 1 400m, and Anthony Delpech gave the stalwart international trainer a birthday present by bringing him home to a one length win. Another promising sort, the Herman Brown-trained Absolute Heretic, won the fifth, a Novice Plate over 1 600m.
This three-year-old Australian-bred Galileo colt has a very good action and managed to wear down the Colin Scott-trained Charles Greig to win by 0,5 lengths.
In the sixth, an Apprentice Handicap over 1200m, Victor Morake brought the Paddy Lunn-trained National Appeal with a resolute finish along the inside rail to get up to win by 1,25 lengths from the Gavin van Zyl-trained Catcha Call.
In the seventh, also an Apprentice Handicap over 1200m, Gold Game, from the Dylan Cunha yard bounced back to winning form. Hennie Greyling notched his third career win in this race.
In the eighth, a Merit Rated 89 Handicap over 1200m, one of the day's main attractions, the unbeaten Purple Lake from the Kumaran Naidoo yard, started 14-10 favourite, but ended third. Te Lake Conistion four-year-old filly had never been headed before, but on this occasion the Gavin van Zyl-trained Onehundredacrewood stormed past her at the 200m mark under Domeyer before holding off a late challenge from the Glen Kotzen-trained Mia Joshua.
The last race saw favourite backers go home smiling as the Corinne Bestel-trained Swinging Dancer waltzed clear to win by 2,25 lengths under Alec Forbes.
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