Grand Series final at the Vaal

The WSB Grand Series will draw to a close at the Vaal on Saturday with the running of the Match Race between the winner of the first leg and the runner-up in Leg 2.

The race was originally scheduled to be run as the WSB Grand Heritage over 1475m at the Vaal on 29 September in which an enlarged field was due to square off against one another.

However, the course was not in good enough condition at the race was postponed for a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, the course was still not up to scratch so the decision was taken to move the race to the Turffontein Inside track.

However, that course did not have the facility to have all the horses compete in one race so the decision was to split the race in two and have the winners face one another in a Grand Series final.

Tstsikamma Dance and Soldier On won the respective races but Stuart Pettigrew, trainer of Soldier On, decided he had other plans for his charge and Soldier On would miss the final.

As a result, second-placed Dan the Lad will take his place. The match race will also be run over 1475m and they will be racing for a winner-take-all R250,000.

The race has been numbered as Race 12 on the card but will be run at 1.15pm bet-ween Race 2 and Race 3.

Ryan Munger will be aboard the Ashley Fortune-trained Tsitsikamma Dance while S’manga Khumalo has been given the ride on Paul Matche ’s charge, Dan The Lad. He will replace Francois Herholdt who is currently riding in South Korea.

There are also two reserves carded and they are the second-placed runner in the first leg, who was Zouaves, as well as third -placed Lake Kinneret from the second leg.

It is Family Fun Day at the Vaal on Saturday and entrance to the racecourse is free. The gates will open at 11am and the course will be imbued with the Christmas spirit.

There will be a number of prize giveaways and loads of entertainment for the kids.Most importantly, Santa Claus will be coming to the races.

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