Frances Ethel to do it for charity

Saturday’s R1-million Allied Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile is indeed a race that provides so much for so many. This year’s 16-horse field is probably one of the strongest ever assembled for this Grade 2 race over 1600m on the Turffontein Standside track and for horseracing pundits that alone is exceptional.

In addition, one can make a winning case for the majority of the runners and that is particularly good news for the 19 charities that will benefit from the outcome of the race.

This year the minimum any charity will come away with is R30 000, up an amazing 50% on last year’s lowest amount, courtesy of the sponsor of the race, global steel manufacturer Allied Steelrode.

The charities each drew a horse and the one that has the winning horse will collect R100 000, the runner-up will get R75 000, the third-placed organisation will receive R50 000 while there will be R35 000 going to the fourth-placed charity.

There is also a Pick 6 carryover of R1-million at the meeting starting off in Race 4 and the pool is likely to reach R5 million.

This meeting is competitive and this is one exotic that should pay well.

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Mike de Kock has an exceptionally strong hand in the race with six runner in the final field. They are headed up by Equus Horse Of The Year Dave The King. The five-year-old Global View gelding will be having his first run since winning the Grade 1 World Pool Champions Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville on 28 July.

In addition to coming back from a layoff, Dave The King has been allotted top weight of 63kg. However, he is well enough drawn in gate No 3 and will be ridden by Champion Jockey Richard Fourie.

But, De Kock has issued a kind a warning to the gelding’s many fans. “It’s a million-rand gallop, but he’s looking better than I’ve seen in a while. He’s coming off a rest and the long-term plan is the L’Ormarins King’s Plate.” That race will be run at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in January.

De Kock’s other runners are Silver Sanctuary, Safe Passage, Gimmeanotherchance, Shoemaker and Zinovi, who got into the final field following the scratching of Melech. Perhaps the best of De Kock’s runners could be filly Silver Sanctuary who had a lovely warm-up in a Pinnacle Stakes last month.

“She’s flying,” said De Kock. “She’s a runner.

“Our fittest horse is the one drawn No 16 (Gimmeanotherchance), but anyway, what can you do?”

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Trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren will be going for a third successive win in this race and although he only has one runner, Barbaresco, he has to have an excellent winning chance. Unfortunately, he landed No 12 draw.

“Obviously we would have preferred a slightly better draw but there does look a lot more speed in the race this year than there was last year,” said Van Vuuren. “But I’m a little less worried about the draw this year than I was about No 16 last year (winner Puerto Manzano). We’re drawn three away from Dave The King and he will likely go forward on the day, so we will try to get a nice lead through from him.

“We do know our horse has got a nice turn of foot so we try and ride him a little bit patiently early on, try a get a nice lead through as I said, and hopefully Gavin (Lerena) can get there.”

Lerena is also loaded with optimism. “I think that if there is ever a course and distance that’s going to suit him, it’s the Turffontein 1600 on the Standside track.

“I think he will really enjoy it.

“The draw I’m not really concerned about. He’s obviously going to sit early on and he has a great turn of foot. I think he’s going to enjoy the long straight again and I’m looking forward to riding him.”

The draw is even a bigger problem for Grade 2 Betway Joburg Spring Challenge winner Back In Business who has to jump from No 15 draw.

“With the wide draw that we’ve got it’s going to be very, very difficult,” said trainer Joe Soma. “But in saying that, he has got the weight on his side from his last run where they were at level weights or getting 1kg.

“He’s now receiving 4kg from those same horses. So, with that in mind it equals it out but it’s always difficult from the wide draw.”

One of the runners who finished behind him that day was Barbaresco who is now 4kg worse off for a 1.50-length defeat.

However, perhaps the runner they will all have to beat is Frances Ethel, who ran a cracker last time when flying up late to finished a 0.75-length second behind Beating Wings in a Pinnacle Stakes at Turffontein.

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Brett Crawford’s charge raced with pacifiers for the first time and they have been retained for this event. The Rafeef filly will be aimed at the Betway Summer Cup in four weeks’ time but she looked good last time and will definitely prefer the Standside track.

Kabelo Matsunyane has a good rapport with this filly and she is perfectly drawn in gate No 2.

There are other features races on the day, starting off with the Grade 3 HSH Princess Charlene Starling Stakes for three-year-old fillies over 1400m and Crawford – whose Highveld satellite yard is overseen by his son, James – holds all the aces with New Predator filly Fatal Flaw, runner-up in the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes during a promising juvenile campaign in which she got the better of re-opposing Starling Stakes rivals World Of Alice, Little Ballerina and impressive last-start winner Oxalis Gold.

Trainer Sean Tarry has four strings to his bow in the colts and geldings equivalent, the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m, spearheaded by The Specialist, a flashy chestnut colt by The United States, and Legend Of Arthur, a Lancaster Bomber colt.

They should fight out the finish with the latter, the mount of Richard Fourie, a tentative selection.