THE Highveld season opened up with an amazing run by Abashiri with jockey Karl Zechner on his back to win the first leg of the SA Triple Crown, the Grade 2 Betting World Gauteng Guineas.
The Mike Azzie-trained Abashiri displayed his talent on the Long Turffontein Racecourse straight when he pulled away from the field to record a fine win.
The first leg of the Triple Crown was held on Saturday, 27 February, at Turffontein Racecourse.
A bumper crowd turned out for the Joburg Prawn Festival and attending figures, thrilling the organisers, who said they hadn’t seen this size crowd at the racecourse in years.
“The attendance figures compared favourably with the Summer Cup. We were not expecting such a turnout, but there’s no doubt that the Racing – It’s a Rush campaign reached thousands of newcomers,” said Jenna Adams from Racing – It’s a Rush. “Wow! Who ever thought prawns would be the key to various successful events staged around the country so far? Now we know what to expect as a result of this effort, we shall take every measure to send prawn fest patrons home as happy customers and hopefully interested horse-racing fans. We run on-course competitions and can therefore engage with willing participants post race day about our future events.”
On the racing front, Abashiri proved himself a genuine Triple Crown contender, especially considering he would prefer racing over further than a mile. He was backed into 2/1 favourite after looking magnificent in the parade ring. He duly won comfortably by 2,5 lengths from the 5/1 chance,
the Gary Alexander-trained Champagne Haze, and the 66/1 shot, the Sean Tarry-trained Malak El Moolook.
CEO Betting World Vee Moodley presented the winning trophy to Mike Azzie, who described Abashiri as “a machine” and the best he had trained since his brilliant sprinter National Currency. The deserved owners of the big Lammerskraal Stud-bred gelding by Go Deputy are Adriaan and Rika van Vuuren, who are among the biggest spending couples at the South African Sales.
Earlier, National Champion Trainer Sean Tarry repeated his win of last year in the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas, and this year did it with a 20/1 outsider in Heaps Of Fun, a daughter of Visionaire who was bred by Summerhill Stud.
Mary Slack of Wilgerbosdrift, which sponsors the entire Triple Tiara series, presented the winning trophies post event.
The race was a triumph for transformation as Heaps Of Fun was ridden by S’Manga Khumalo, the first black jockey to become an SA Champion jockey a couple of years ago. Heaps of Fun is owned by Nchakha Moloi. Heaps Of Fun had genuine excuses for her last run and showed courage in beating the hot favourite, the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Negroamaro, by 0,9 lengths. The Gavin van Zyl-trained Frosty Friday finished third.
Racing was a huge winner on the day and takings and were up 15 per cent year on year.
