New champ jockey could head for Japan with hatful of wins

Lyle Hewitson is poised to bid farewell to his homeland in style on Saturday. Newly crowned champion jockey for a third time, the young master flies out on Monday for a three-month stint in Japan and will be hoping to arrive there carrying a suitcase of victories from Turffontein.

Hewitson has good opportunities throughout the card but will feel most confidence about his ride on Supreme Quest in one of two feature events on the card, the Bloodstock SA Sales Cup for fillies (Race 6).

This R400,000 non-black type event is restricted to horses bought at the 2020 Two Year Old Sale. These exclusive races can end up with moderate fields, but that is not the case here.

Corne Spies-trained Supreme Quest went down narrowly in the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes at Greyville last Saturday after being forced to swerve, getting bumped and having the jockey lose hold of the rein. Hewitson knows a bit about that race as he somehow got winner Rain In Holland over the line in a three-way, photo-finish thriller – after getting caught out of his ground at the top of the straight.

Hewitson had nothing to do with Supreme Quest’s woes, though. Indeed, his efforts in winning the race have been hailed as the “ride of the year”.

The new champ knows Supreme Quest well, having won on her at Greyville at the beginning of July.

The filly has won twice and finished third four times in six outings and her efforts have been noticed by the handicapper, who has lumped her with a merit rating of 102.

The beauty of this race, however, is that all runners carry 60kg – which means Supreme Quest is handicapped to win by a wide margin. Nothing is certain with young fillies, but Spies’s charge is clearly the best bet on the card.

Hewitson and Spies team up again in Race 7, the male equivalent sales race, with the promising William Robertson, a colt by sire-of-the-moment Rafeef.

This race has an even stronger line-up than the fillies’ contest and just about any one of the nine could claim the big prize.

Hewitson’s other big chances on Saturday are for his long-time retainer Sean Tarry.

Meteoric in Race 2, Silver Tycoon in the third, Ballon D’Or in the fifth and Senescence in the ninth hold the potential for the young ace to be heading for the Land of the Rising Sun on Cloud 9.

SELECTIONS

Race 1:

7 Pick A Lily, 5 Right Choice, 1 Global Player, 8 Constantia Haze

Race 2:

5 Meteoric, 9 Moonshingthrough, 7 Code Zero, 3 Amalfi Coast

Race 3:

7 Super Excited, 8 Super Agra, 2 Ice Eater, 4 Successful Secret

Race 4:

5 Silver Tycoon, 2 Ivalo’s Pride, 4 Sweet And Spicy, 1 Freedom Seeker

Race 5:

6 Ballon D’Or, 3 Nordic Rebel, 4 Battleoftrafalgar, 5 Rock Of Africa

Race 6:

3 Supreme Quest, 7 Three Hearts, 4 Big Burn, 11 Beaded Gown

Race 7:

1 Bard Of Avon, 7 William Robertson, 5 Team Gold, 8 Gaudis Masterpiece

Race 8:

6 Sultannah, 5 Querari Ferrari, 1 Rouge Allure, 7 Roha

Race 9:

7 Kind Judy, 8 Timeforthat, 6 Senescence, 9 Kapama

Pick 6:

2,5 x 3,4,5,6 x 3 x 1,5,7,8 x 1,2,4,5,6,7 x 1,6,7,8,9 (R960)

PA:

7,8 x 5 x 3,6 x 3 x 1,5,7 x 5,6 x 7,8 (R48)