Scrambled egg of suspect quality on Derby Day

The curate’s egg came to mind with the unveiling this week of entries for Derby Day at Turffontein on 1 April. It is “good in parts”, as the overly polite pastor said of his egg past its eat-by date.

The field for the Grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes is of high quality, featuring winners of the Durban July, the Summer Cup, the Cape Derby, the Champions Cup, the Allan Robertson Championship, the Green Point Stakes, the Hawaii Stakes and two separate winners of the SA Classic – not to mention the defending champion in the shape of MK’s Pride.

It will be a cracker of a race that is ever-so-slowly edging towards the status venerable King’s Plate as the premier weight-for-age mile contest in the country.

Golden Ducat

The competitive aspect of the Horse Chestnut has not been lost on the scribblers, who have opened the betting with six-year-old Golden Ducat as a weak 5-1 favourite.

The winner of the Cape Derby at Kenilworth and the Champions Cup at Greyville as a three-year-old in 2020, the gelded son of celebrated broodmare Halfway To Heaven, has recently been moved from Eric Sands’s Cape Town stable to Mike de Kock on the Highveld.

Golden Ducat has been slowly finding his racing legs after an enforced 18-month layoff, but hasn’t quite shown the vivacity of his halcyon days, with a Cape Town Met seventh place, three lengths off winner Jet Dark, his most recent effort.

Three-year-old and recent SA Classic victor Anfields Rocket might be considered a trifle wet behind the ears in this scrum of tough rivals, hence is at 6-1 on the boards.

Also at 6s is the four-year-old filly Under Your Spell, who is wonderfully consistent in top company and has a handy 2.5kg gender allowance.

Trainer Candice Bass-Robinson is potentially a welcome visitor of Cape Town with Trip Of Fortune, who she rates among the three or four best performers in her powerhouse yard. The four-year-old has won three of his six outings in the past six months and will be a major threat if he makes the trip upcountry in two weeks’ time.

Moderate fields

The less savoury parts of the Derby Day egg are the Derby itself and the Oaks, whose fields are worryingly moderate.

The Cape Derby’s Grade 1 status is said to be in danger after this year’s iteration, with the quality not quite what is expected by the Asian Pattern Committee, which adjudicates on the relative international strength of South African racing. The Cape Derby field included 132-rated Charles Dickens and was won by 114-rated See It Again.

This SA Derby’s top- rated entrant is Billy Bowlegs at 114. Only six of the 14 entrants top the 100 mark.
The Oaks field, on the same card, was downgraded a few years ago due to unprepossessing entries – with all due respect to the connections who invest much time and money tilting at big trophies.

The decline of the local game, certainly in terms of overall horse population and stamina breeding, is plain to see.

ENTRIES

WSB SA Derby (Grade 1) 2450m (R1.5-million):

11 Billy Bowlegs (3C) 60 114 Alec Laird
10 Eye Of The Prophet (3G) 60 113 Paul Matchett
6 East Coast (3C) 60 112 Mike de Kock
3 Rule By Force (3C) 60 108 Joe Soma
7 Electric Gold (3C) 60 106 Sean Tarry
12 Good Council (3G) 60 105 Ashley Fortune
5 Paris Pike (3G) 60 86 Robbie Hill
8 Top Sail (3G) 86 Paul Matchett
9 African Torrent (3G) 60 85 MG Azzie/AA Azzie
1 Future Pearl (3G) 60 81 Sean Tarry
13 Greenbackcurrency (3G) 60 81 Weiho Marwing
14 Son Of Raj (3G) 60 81 Weiho Marwing
2 Jet Dynasty (3G) 60 79 Sean Tarry
4 River Romeo (3G) 60 78 Paul Matchett

HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes (Grade 1) 1600m (R1-million):

0 Gimme A Shot (3F) 60 112 MG Azzie/AA Azzie
11 William Robertson (4G) 60 125 Corne Spies
1 Bingwa (5G) 60 123 J A Janse van Vuuren
8 Puerto Manzano (ARG) (5G) 60 123 J A Janse van Vuuren
9 Golden Ducat (6G) 60 120 BA Mike de Kock
7 MK’s Pride (5H) 60 120 Robbie Sage
10 Trip Of Fortune (4G) 60 119 Candice Bass-Robinson
12 Red Saxon (4G) 60 116 Joe Soma
5 Irish Tractor (5G) 60 102 Brett Crawford
3 Vanderbilt (4G) 60 101 Tony Peter
13 Sparkling Water (5M) 57.5 122 Mike de Kock
2 Anfields Rocket (3G) 57.5 118 Grant Maroun
4 Thunderstruck (3C) 57.5 115 Sean Tarry
6 Under Your Spell (4F) 57.5 114 Sean Tarry

Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks (Grade 2) 2450m (R750,000):

12 Bless My Stars (3F) 60 109 Sean Tarry
2 Lady Of Power (3F) 60 109 MG Azzie/AA Azzie
1 Reny (3F) 60 106 Brett Crawford
13 Emirate Gina (3F) 60 105 Roy Magner
8 None Other (3F) 60 104 Lucky Houdalakis
7 Silver Hills (3F) 60 100 Sean Tarry
11 Littlemarysunshine (3F) 60 93 Mike de Kock
3 Raratonga Rose (3F) 60 90 Lucky Houdalakis
4 Ipso Facto (3F) 60 89 Ashley Fortune
6 High Roller (3F) 60 85 Clinton Binda
10 Namaqua Blossom (3F) 60 85 Lucky Houdalakis
5 Light Of Day (3F) 60 80 Paul Matchett
9 Red Maple (3F) 60 80 Sean Tarry