FINAL FIELDS FOR CLASSIC DAY

Final Fields for Classic Day

RELEASED BY: Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Limited

Pierre Jourdan will take his second step on Saturday 27 April in his attempt to write his name indelibly into the record books of South African horseracing when he lines up for the R2-million SA Classic, the second leg of the SASCOC Triple Crown.
Gary Alexander’s charge won the Gauteng Guineas emphatically last month, giving him the first leg, and based on that performance he will be a hard horse to beat in this Grade 1 race over 1800m on the Turffontein standside track.
Unfortunately for the connections he will have to jump from stall gate No 14 but it should not be too much of an obstacle for this talented son of Parade Leader. Victory here would see him need to win the SA Derby over 2450m at Turffontein on April 25 to become only the second horse in South Africa, the other being Horse Chestnut, to capture the Triple Crown. It would also earn him a R2-million bonus.
Standing in his path are four runners from Mike de Kock’s yard. De Kock has included Gauteng Guineas runner-up Havasha, as well as three new competitors in Ancestral Fore, Irish Flame and Happy Valley.
Ancestral Fore and Irish Flame are newcomers to the yard and have both moved up from Cape Town. Both have big reputations and must be huge contenders. Happy Valley has two wins from two starts and although the grey beat little of note, he could not have been more impressive when winning at Clairwood last weekend.
Another newcomer to the scene is Orbison, who is from the KwaZulu-Natal-based yard of Herman Brown. He has won three of his five starts in fine style and is highly regarded by the stable.
The R1-million SA Fillies Classic, the second leg of the Triple Tiara, is also dominated by De Kock runners. He sends out six of the 16 runners and one of them is likely to walk off with first prize. Fisani won the Fillies Guineas and she will be looking to score a quick double and be in line to capture the Triple Tiara.
The third Grade 1 race on the day is the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m, and this has attracted a potent field with a number of runners in line to claim the lion’s share of the R1-million stake money.
De Kock sends out 2008 Summer Cup winner Rudra, Braggadacio, and J&B Met runner-up Mother Russia, who looks the pick of the trio. Champion trainer Charles Laird has brought out the best of his stable to challenge De Kock and he runs Oracy, Smart Banker, Dan De Lago, Imperial Gesture and Eight Street.
To add to the interest Sean Tarry has Buy And Sell in the race, and he should be ideally suited to this 1600m on the standside track.

S A CLASSIC (Grade 1) R2-MILLION 1800m

1 - 14 PIERRE JOURDAN (G M Alexander) D David 57.0 - 109
2 - 7 GALILEO'S GALAXY (C Laird) A Marcus 57.0 - 103
3 - 11 HAVASHA (M F De Kock) P Strydom 57.0 - 103
4 - 9 ANCESTRAL FORE (M F De Kock) F Coetzee 57.0 - 101
5 - 15 FLYING TRISTRAM (C Laird) J Geroudis 57.0 - 100
6 - 5 BULSARA (G H Van Zyl) B Smith 57.0 - 99
7 - 13 IWANNADANCE (R R Magner) S Chambers 57.0 - 99
8 - 12 SMANJEMANJE (T Zackey) S Khumalo 57.0 - 99
9 - 8 NYAKATHO (E G Anderson) S Brown 57.0 - 98
10 - 1 SERVICE ACE (M G Azzie) G Lerena 57.0 - 98
11 - 6 IRISH FLAME (M F De Kock) A Delpech 57.0 - 97
12 - 4 ORBISON (H J Brown) R Danielson 57.0 - 95
13 - 10 ILIAD (R R Sage) G Wrogemann 57.0 - 90
14 - 3 HAPPY VALLEY (M F De Kock) C Orffer 57.0 - 88
15 - 16 WITTENBERG (G H Van Zyl) R Hill 57.0 - 87
16 - 2 CAPTIVE WIND (W H Marwing) M Odendaal 57.0 - 80
Same Trainer: (2,5) (3,4,11,14) (6,15)

S A FILLIES CLASSIC (Grade 1) R1-MILLION 1800m

1 - 14 FISANI (M F De Kock) G Lerena 57.0 - 99
2 - 1 ALDERRY (M F De Kock) J Geroudis 57.0 - 98
3 - 15 GENEROUS ANNA (C Laird) A Marcus 57.0 - 98
4 - 12 JET TRAIL (A G Laird) B Smith 57.0 - 97
5 - 10 QUALITY ALONE (C Laird) P Whitmore 57.0 - 96
6 - 5 ALL AFIRE (A G Laird) P Strydom 57.0 - 93
7 - 9 HERE TO WIN (M F De Kock) A Delpech 57.0 - 93
8 - 16 SPICED GOLD (S T Pettigrew) M V'Rensburg 57.0 - 93
9 - 4 LAVERNA (M F De Kock) F Coetzee 57.0 - 92
10 - 3 GOT PERSONALITY (M F De Kock) D Mansour 57.0 - 88
11 - 2 SWEETIE PIE (M F De Kock) C Orffer 57.0 - 86
12 - 13 AUTUMN SPLENDOUR (A G Laird) D David 57.0 - 83
13 - 7 BUTTONWOOD TREE (M G Azzie) J P v'd Merwe 57.0 - 81
14 - 8 SALITA (S G Tarry) G Wrogemann 57.0 - 80
15 - 6 REINE DU VICTOIRE (G M Alexander) M Odendaal 57.0 - 72
16 - 11 CYCLONE BARBARA (W H Tolmay) G Figueroa 57.0 - 71
Same Trainer: (1,2,7,9,10,11) (3,5) (4,6,12)

HF OPPENHEIMER HORSE CHESTNUT STAKES (Grade 1) R1-MILLION 1600m

1 - 6 RUDRA (M F De Kock) J Geroudis 60.0 - 113
2 - 5 ORACY (C Laird) G Figueroa 60.0 - 110
3 - 2 SMART BANKER (C Laird) A Marcus 60.0 - 110
4 - 10 BRAGGADACIO (M F De Kock) F Coetzee 60.0 - 108
5 - 7 BUY AND SELL (S G Tarry) P Strydom 60.0 - 108
6 - 8 DAN DE LAGO (C Laird) G Hatt 60.0 - 108
7 - 1 IMPERIAL GESTURE (C Laird) G Lerena 60.0 - 108
8 - 3 EIGHT STREET (C Laird) P Whitmore 60.0 - 107
9 - 4 IRON CURTAIN (R R Sage) G Wrogemann 60.0 - 92
10 - 11 JOHNNIE FOX (R P Lerena) ............... 60.0 - 78
11 - 9 MOTHER RUSSIA (M F De Kock) A Delpech 57.5 - 106
Same Trainer: (1,4,11) (2,3,6,7,

Irish Flame could be a Lurker,if MDK can find any improvement.

To think the SA Classic is worth R2m and the Cape Derby worth R600k defies belief.

As stated many times this bunch of fillies is very week, with the top rated filly rated a meagre 99! Another upset could be on the cards.

Despite a wide draw the way Pierre Jourdan won the Guineas makes it look like the rest of the field will be fighting it out for 2nd place.

For me the Horse Chestnut looks to be between Oracy and Mother Russia...

I agree that the Classic should go to Pierre Jourdan - but perhaps the Galileo could improve over this trip (and Anton sticking with this one.

Race of the day is the Horse Chestnut - and on the Met run, Mother Russia has to be the one - I make the danger Smart Banker, who gave Oracy wieght and beat him in the Met....what is Spike Lerena smoking entering Johnny Fox

I guess Frodo we take the price tomorrow on JF -D

The 1/1 money Mother Russia looks rather Skinny?

How`s the weather looking for the weekend?

ITS RAINING AT THE MOMENT

LOL

Hibs they are predicting 60% chance of thunder showers for Friday and 30% on Saturday, so it's anyone's guess if it will rain or not.

MR has to be the right one imo for the Horse Chestnut - I make the main danger Smart Banker, but she holds him comfortably on Met form, so evens seem the right price to me; only niggling doubt in my mind is that she has been rather heavily raced of late and it did look for a moment last time if Prestic was going to run past her; so will include the Laird coupling in the exotics.

Thanks Frodo