sa horseracing convention road to the future glory - PARADE ...

JAMES JAGUAR HOLDS OFF FALLON (OBSCURED) AND HOLD THE FORT IN THE DINGAANS.
It’s far too early to write off Yard-Arm from
the top bracket though. He has not matured as
quickly as was expected in the last few months
and is still some way from full maturity. How
long that process will take is anybody’s guess,
but it’s entirely possible that he will only peak
next season.
For Shea, successful on Ipi Tombe in the
Dubai Duty Free back in March, the Summer
Cup race meeting was another milestone in his
successful career.
He not only won the Cup, but took both supporting
feature races – the Grade 2 Gommagomma
Dingaans for three-year-olds on James
Jaguar (once again his mount had to survive
an objection) and the Listed Grafton Everest
Roland’s Song Stakes on De Kock’s charge
Escoleta Fitz, a six-year-old mare who was
landing the 10th victory of her career.
Trainer Gary Alexander will be aiming James
Jaguar, now unbeaten after four starts, at next
year’s SA Derby after the Jallad colt’s triumph
in the Dingaans, in which he handled a steep
rise in class in good fashion.
James Jaguar, positioned several lengths back
in the early part of the race, made up ground
hand over fi st in the centre from the 500 m to
300 m marks and quickened away from his
rivals in the blink of an eye.
He then shifted in and kept going as Fallon and
Hold The Fort charged late to fi nish second and
third respectively, beaten only a neck and the
same margin.
James Jaguar’s impressive acceleration past
Fallon, Hold The Fort and Night Watch undoubtedly
made it easier for the stipes to rule
in his favour, when Rhys van Wyk, rider of
Fallon, objected against the winner on the
grounds of interference and that the Alexander
runner had taken up his running about 300 m
from the line.
Said Chief Stipendiary Steward Dave Durant:
“James Jaguar was hanging in, but went past
his rivals at a rapid pace. At the 300m mark a
tiring Night Watch shifted and carried Fallon
BROAD SMILES FROM JAMES JAGUAR’S CONNECTIONS.
out onto the heels of James Jaguar. Jockey van
Wyk had to ease momentarily and switched
his mount out behind James Jaguar, but the
board felt that Night Watch was the major
contributor to Fallon’s troubles and overruled
the objection.”
The tide has now turned for Alexander, whose
string suffered a lapse of form over the last
two years.
The trainer commented: “We had a virus and
feed problems, but we’ve got the feed mix
right after a year of experimenting and things
are looking up. I guess we can safely say that
things are just about back to normal now.
“My stable has been through a hard and frustrating
period during which a number of clients
left us, but the staunch owners who stuck
it out are now reaping the rewards.”
These owners include Myron Berzack,
Graham Beck, Kirk Michael and evergreen
Greg Sadie, who purchased James Jaguar for
R300 000 at the National Yearling Sale.
Saftote betting turnovers on both the Gommagomma
Summer Cup week and weekend were
encouraging.
Saftote turnover for the weekend rose by 6%
over 2002, while total turnover for the week
was the third highest since the introduction of
national pools in this country, being bettered
by only the 2002 and 2003 Vodacom Durban
July weeks.
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