There are some very good horses running at the Vaal on the Classic track on Tuesday and there could be money to be made.
Sean Tarry won some of the best races with his Gimmethegreenlight two-year-olds last season. Lucky Lad dominated the best fields assembled on the Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal and Tarry may have found another in Proceed.
Like Lucky Lad and another speedy sort of Tarry’s, Tail Of The Comet, Proceed is a handsome bay and one that has already shown athletic ability. He ran in one of the strongest Maiden Juvenile Plates, that being the one on Betway Summer Cup Day, and was expected to perform well as he came in for support. However, Tony Peter’s Canford Cliffs filly Almond Sea turned in a freakish performance on debut winning by a street. She looks one to follow until beaten or meeting Tarry’s colt again.
Proceed wasn’t far off the action but changed gears late. Nonetheless, Tarry would have been pleased with the performance knowing that Proceed ran out of time over the 800m trip and carried 2.5kg more than the talented filly.
A mouth-watering rematch in the upcoming SA Nursery over 1160m could be on the cards but for now Proceed should be difficult to beat in Race 2, a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1000m.
We have seen some terrific tussles between the three-year-old colts with Sandringham Summit and Main Defender showing themselves to be at the top of the class. Both, while brilliant over shorter distances, still need to prove themselves over further and horses like Purple Pitcher and Hluhluwe could be the ones to take advantage, but as expected there are still some waiting in the wings ready to show their talent.
Trainer Michael Azzie will be hoping Mondial will continue to improve and be a worthy contender for the Classics. He has won three from five and showed last time out with a fluent win over hard-knocking top division elders that his previous win with just 50kg over mare Escape Artist was no opportunistic run.
The chestnut colt by Flower Alley has gone up a further six points for a merit rating of 100 but one glance at the field he takes on in Race 3, a MR 96 Handicap over 1800m suggests he could again teach his elders a lesson.
Both Tarry and Fabian Habib are unleashing some exciting contenders halfway through their three-year-old careers in Race 4 which is a Graduation Plate over 1600m. Wherever Taegan’s Champ runs, a legion of supporters and owners from Habib’s yard follow, and for good reason. One of the most impressive looking sons of Gimmethegreenlight Taegan’s Champ remains unbeaten in two starts and even though not well in on current ratings could make the jump in class over 1600m on his way to the Triple Crown.
Tarry-trained Storm Brasco came from more than 15 lengths off the pace and then proceeded to win by just under eight lengths! And that was just his third start.
He could be anything, but the race will be a huge test as the race has the some of the ingredients to be given Graded status.
One of last season’s top runners, East Coast, has been gelded and after running in the country’s best races could be ready to show these youngsters a thing or two. Guy Gibson wasn’t far off Lucky Lad and Sandringham Summit and could hold up the juvenile form as he won a nice race over further recently.
Graded placed filly My Soul Mate finds herself second best weighted behind East Coast and it will be interesting to see how she fares here. Brilliant race!
Clive Robinson
