Golden Ducat has the blood and the currency

Owners Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein picked up a R625,000 winning cheque, but the gelding’s lofty new MR of 110 might be of greater worth to the wealthy connections.

The rating and a Grade 1 crown give Golden Ducat the capital to gain entrée into the elite contests of the coming KwaZulu-Natal winter season – the gates to racing’s heaven.

The Vodacom Durban July – South Africa’s biggest race – has already been mentioned as a likely target for the strapping chestnut from Eric Sands’s Milnerton yard.

The Cape Derby was the son of Philanthropist’s second career win – from five starts – and the way the gangly youth galloped powerfully on at the end of 2000m suggest he takes after two illustrious half-brothers.

Those would be Rainbow Bridge (by Ideal World) and the now-exported Hawwaam (by Silvano).

Sun Met 2020 runner-up Rainbow Bridge – also trained by Sands – is the current Durban July ante-post favourite at 11-2. His MR of 134 was unchanged after the Met.

(By contrast, two-time July champ Do It Again had his rating trimmed a point to 135 and his odds have drifted slightly to 10-1 for the Durban big one.)

Golden Ducat has been parachuted into the July betting at 33-1 – which might tempt more than a few intrepid players.

The official handicappers published their latest deliberations on Tuesday 25 February, saying Golden Ducat’s rating had been pushed up from 89 to 110 “after he stayed on well to capture the … Cape Derby over 2000m on the Kenilworth summer course. The handicappers were in agreement that runner-up Sachdev was the correct line horse to use, having appeared to have every chance in the running, and accordingly his rating remains unchanged on 108.

“Third-placed Super Silvano goes up from 100 to 102, while fourth-placed Parterre is up from 100 to 101. Fifth finisher Azores was the only other horse to receive a ratings increase and goes up from 92 to 99. Two horses were given a drop, with Cane Lime ’N Soda down from 100 to 98 and Om My Mind being cut from 89 to 87.”

It’s not often that broodmares become famous among the punting hoi polloi, but Golden Ducat’s mother Halfway To Heaven is the major talking point at the moment – what with having three successive foals grab Grade 1 glory as three-year-olds.

This week, Turf Talk website revealed that Lot 185 on the upcoming April 2020 BSA National Yearling Sale is a full-brother by Silvano to Hawwaam, His name is Celestial City.

“Yet another Silvano-Halfway To Heaven mating produced a filly, beautifully named In Limbo, and due to be going into training soon,” reports Turf Talk.

The mare also has a Querari foal at foot.

After Saturday’s Derby triumph, an emotional Sands commented: “Halfway to Heaven has been very good to me. I’m not sure if what she’s done has been done before and if it will be done again.”

In his post-race interview, winning jockey Craig Zackey described Golden Ducat as “a big strapping fellow with a huge action. He gave me extra when I needed it and is only going to progress from here.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.