Cape Town raiders eye up Joburg’s Horse Chestnut Stakes

Four Cape Town-based horses are among early entries for the Grade 1 Horse Chestnut Stakes to be run over 1600m on Classic Day, 2 March, at Turffontein.

This will be cheered by the Joburg racing fraternity, who often bemoan a lack of adventurous raiding spirit among their coastal cousins.

Champion trainer Justin Snaith has nominated Without Question, a surprise third in the Cape Town Met in late January.

Candice Bass Robinson has Sugar Mountain, fifth in the Met, on the list unveiled this week. Bass-Robinson won the R1.5-million race last year with Trip Of Fortune, only the third Cape Town raider to pull it off in a quarter of a century.

Brett Crawford has proffered At My Command, who raced creditably throughout the Cape summer season. Crawford also has in Durban July champ Winchester Mansion, who has long been based at his Highveld satellite yard.

Dean Kannemeyer has entered Cosmic Highway, despite the versatile five-year-old being in the final field for this weekend’s 1200m Diadem Stakes in Cape Town – just a week before the Horse Chestnut.

Sandringham Summit

Among local Horse Chestnut candidates, Sandringham Summit is the most intriguing name. Trainer David Nieuwenhuizen has also nominated the star three-year-old for the SA Classic, which, of course, is on the same card and is Leg 2 of the Triple Crown.

It will be very interesting to see what Nieuwenhuizen decides: for the Classic and progression in the Triple Crown, which appears well within his grasp; or for the Horse Chestnut, which might be a more suitable launch pad for the glittering prizes of the KwaZulu-Natal winter season.

Sandringham Summit is drawn 1 for the 1600m Horse Chestnut and 11 for the 1800m Classic.

Sandringham Summit’s age-group archrival Main Defender is also among the Horse Chestnut possibles – having emerged unscathed from a bizarre finishing stretch stumble in a 1200m race last week.

Trainer Tony Peter’s prodigy has only tackled a mile once before, being well beaten by Sandringham Summit in a Grade 1 juvenile race at Greyville last year. He has matured a lot since then and will surely be among the more fancied runners if he takes his place in a fortnight’s time.

Other Horse Chestnut entries of interest include mighty mare Princess Calla and Mike de Kock’s new import Mujbar, who showed little in a recent pipe-opener.

SA Classic

The SA Classic has drawn just 11 entrants, with connections of this year’s sophomore class probably scared off by the presence of Sandringham Summit.

One of the plucky ones is De Kock, who has entered smart filly Silver Sanctuary in both Classic heats – the one nominally for the boys and the one reserved for the girls.

He might consider his other charge, Gimme A Nother, a shoo-in in the SA Fillies Guineas and figures he’ll have a better chance with Silver Sanctuary, with her 2.5kg allowance, in the male division.

So dominant is Gimme A Nother among her generation that only nine names were forthcoming for the Fillies Classic. With a prize pool of R1.25-million and Grade 1 black-type capital letters in the offing, that’s more than a little surprising.

Apart from Silver Sanctuary, second to Gimme A Nother in the Gauteng Fillies Guineas, prominent pretenders to the throne are Sean Tarry’s Let’s Go Now, Peter’s Bavarian Beauty and Lucky Houdalakis’s Egyptian Mau.

ENTRIES

(draw, name, age & gender, MR, equipment, trainer)

Horse Chestnut Stakes, Grade 1, R1.5m, 1600m, WFA:

6 At My Command (4G) 60 126 A Brett Crawford
3 Puerto Manzano (ARG) (6G) 60 125 BA J A Janse van Vuuren
21 Cousin Casey (4C) 60 123 A Sean Tarry
14 Dave The King (4G) 60 122 A Mike de Kock
11 Winchester Mansion (5G) 60 121 CA Brett Crawford
7 Without Question (4G) 60 120 A Justin Snaith
15 Cosmic Highway (5G) 60 117 A Dean Kannemeyer
10 Melech (4G) 60 117 AT Roy Magner
20 Mk’s Pride (6H) 60 116 A Tony Peter
5 Safe Passage (5G) 60 116 A Mike de Kock
17 Anfields Rocket (4G) 60 115 CA Grant Maroun
9 Son Of Raj (4G) 60 115 A Weiho Marwing
4 Sugar Mountain (5G) 60 115 A Candice Bass-Robinson
2 Unzen (4G) 60 109 A Robbie Sage
12 #Mujbar (GB) (6H) 60 105 A Mike de Kock
16 Texas Red (4G) 60 98 A Robyn Klaasen
19 Back In Business (4G) 60 90 A Joe Soma
8 Princess Calla (6M) 57.5 127 A Sean Tarry
18 Feather Boa (4F) 57.5 114 BA Stuart Pettigrew
1 Sandringham Summit (3C) 57 123 AT David Nieuwenhuizen
13 Main Defender (3G) 57 121 A Tony Peter

SA Classic, Grade 1, R1.5m, 1800m, 3YO:

11 Sandringham Summit (3C) 60 123 AT David Nieuwenhuizen
8 Hotarubi (3G) 60 116 CAT Sean Tarry
6 William Iron Arm (3C) 60 116 A Tony Peter
1 Purple Pitcher (3C) 60 114 A Robyn Klaasen
7 Gimmeanotherchance (3G) 60 111 A Mike de Kock
10 Guy Gibson (3G) 60 105 BA Roy Magner
2 Pure Predator (3G) 60 104 A Fanie Bronkhorst
5 Storm Brasco (3G) 60 104 AT Sean Tarry
9 Navajo Nation (3G) 60 103 A Robbie Hill
12 Barbaresco (3G) 60 102 A J A Janse van Vuuren
3 Mondial (3G) 60 100 A M G Azzie/A A Azzie
4 Silver Sanctuary (3F) 57.5 116 A Mike de Kock

SA Fillies Classic, Grade 1, R1.25m, 1800m, 3YO F&M:

7 Gimme A Nother (3F) 60 121 A Mike de Kock
8 Silver Sanctuary (3F) 60 116 A Mike de Kock
1 My Soul Mate (3F) 60 115 A Candice Dawson
4 Bavarian Beauty (3F) 60 112 A Tony Peter
6 Let’s Go Now (3F) 60 111 A Sean Tarry
5 Egyptian Mau (3F) 60 110 a Lucky Houdalakis
2 Champagne Cocktail (3F) 60 104 A Mike de Kock
3 Beating Wings (3F) 60 91 A Stuart Pettigrew
9 Tamil Tigress (3F) 60 87 A Lorenzo Karriem