Racing Express, Monday 7 March: Rain can’t stop Holland

While Rain In Holland will move into the third and final leg of the Triple Tiara as a strong favourite following her emphatic victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic over 1800m at Turffontein, Red Saxon ended the Triple Crown hopes of Safe Passage in the WSBSA Classic.

On a day in which racing had to be delayed due to lightning, and a wet track preventing the running of the last two races, the Duke Of Marmalade filly, 22-10 favourite, romped to a 3.25-length victory over Sprinkles (5-1) with 33-1 shot Perfect Witness another neck back in third.

Fourth place went to Desert Miracle who was in contention until the 200m mark but then faded in the closing stage to finish 4.50 lengths off the winner.

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The winner was ridden by Richard Fourie and trained by Sean Tarry. However, in a hard-fought duel to the line, Red Saxon, who went off at 25-1 but paid R28.60 for a win and R5.40 a place with TAB, stayed on the better to hold off 15-10 favourite Safe Passage by a neck in the SA Classic, to give jockey Julius Mariba a fantastic first Grade 1 victory.

One length back in third came Captain Lannister (33-1) with Super Excited (50-1) in fourth. That produced a Quartet pay-out of R22,598.50. The winner was trained by Joe Soma, who has now won this race three times. In fact, as Soma pointed out, over the last six years he and Mike de Kock have won this race alternately.

De Kock won it in 2017 with Heavenly Blue, 2019 with Hawwaam and in 2021 with Malmoos. Soma won it in 2018 with Lobo’s Legend, 2020 with Got The Greenlight and again on Saturday. Soma also deserves full credit for sticking with Mariba and not being persuaded into giving the ride to a more prominent jockey.

“If anybody knows the story about horseracing I think I know it,” said Soma. “I’ve been given a lot of breaks in my life, some I’ve messed up and other times I’ve grabbed the opportunity.

“I just felt that if I am any kind of decent human being, Julius has worked very, very hard with this horse, we changed the bit, and I cannot thank him enough for the hours he’s put in.

“He’s come from nowhere, he’s believed in me, he’s gone through torrid time with me, it hasn’t been easy for him to get these rides.

“In saying that, I just hope he conducts himself the way he has been doing going forward. I know there will be great opportunities for him, and I couldn’t be happier for someone like Julius because the talent is there, and we need to see this more in the game.”

While Red Saxon had a hard-fought victory and gave Mariba bragging rights over S’manga Khumalo, Rain In Holland’s victory just oozed sheer class.

“I was actually a bit worried because she seemed to lack the aggression she showed in the Guineas,” said Fourie.

“Last time she was aggressive and game, she really wanted to do it, but today she was relaxed. I actually got a bit worried, I thought maybe she’s not herself.

“But in the race she’s just a different filly. Coming to the 400m she was ready and waiting, she didn’t hit any flat spots like last time and she took command quite early through the 300m and just had to keep her mind on the job.”

Tarry was equality delighted with the performance of Rain In Holland, who notched up her second Grade 1 victory, her first coming in the Thekwini Stakes at Greyville last July.

“We don’t just have a Triple Tiara contestant, we have a worthy one at that,” said Tarry. “She stays all day, so we are not worried about the 2450m distance (of the SA Oaks). Now we are just excited about this win.

“We will just have to see how she pulls up after this, but we are very confident”.