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The popular, annual
Festival of Sprints at Scottsville has once again assembled the finest young and older sprinters in South Africa for four exciting G1, 1200m races in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
The Allan Robertson Championship and the Gold Medallion pits the emerging two-year-old sprinting prospects against each other, while the older speed merchants match strides in the Golden Horse Sprint and the SA Fillies Sprint.
With all the leading stables represented and the tricky course and draw bias coming into the reckoning, the Sprint Festival is seldom concluded without an upset or two, and unknown quantities often announce themselves among the younger runners.
Champion trainer elect Paul Peter holds a strong hand in the Allan Robertson with River Queraress, Glittering Girl and Miss Cool. It is interesting to note that Peter’s smart two-year-old filly Maharanee did not make the final field, but it could well be that her trainer believes Miss Cool to be a few lengths better than her hitherto unbeaten stablemate.
Miss Cool was considered good enough to take on the colts in the SA Nursery at Turffontein and proved that she was well above average when she slammed the highly regarded Union Square by almost four lengths in a fast time. A repeat of that performance will be good enough to win this race against rivals of the same sex, though the inside draws are often advantageous at Scottsville and Miss Cool’s 14 gate will be a concern for the Peter stable in her first start on the undulating track.
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The best horses tend to win despite their draws, however, and Miss Cool deserves favouritism and punters’ confidence when she goes to post at 1405 on Saturday.
Corne Spies-trained Prophet looks hard to beat in the Gold Medallion, and his connections are pleased that he’ll jump from barrier position one. “He’ll be travelling from the Vaal to Scottsville tonight, this is the way we like to raid Scottsville. He is well, his preparation has been perfect and we’re expecting him to contest the finish,” said Spies. Unbeaten and impressive in two starts, including a commanding win in the G3 Beyerly Turk, Prophet seems to have this race at his mercy. That he’s already won at Scottsville is a big plus, and it will take a really good horse to beat him.
The result of the SA Fillies Sprint depends solely on the race-readiness of star filly Captain’s Ransom (MR 126), who is rated 4 and 7 points clear of her main rivals Big Burn and Under Your Spell respectively. She’s a classic filly with most of her impressive wins over 1400m and further, but the best thoroughbreds invariably hold their own over any distance. One has to assume that champion trainer Justin Snaith has sharpened Captain’s Ransom for her return to the track, and that her undisputed class will win the day.
Trainer Sean Tarry has won a record 13 G1 sprints at Scottsville and his regular Golden Horse contender Chimichuri Run is surprisingly easy to back in the 33-1 range for this year’s renewal. The six-year-old won this race in 2019, followed by a close fourth in 2020 and another close fifth last year. He is all of 10,5kg better off for a one-length beating by Battle Force last year, and has been specifically pointed at his annual attempt to win Scottsville’s major sprint.
There are a number of others with good winning chances including Chimichuri Run’s stablemate Eden Rock, Mike Azzie Bartholdi, leading three-year-old Cosmic Highway and Mike de Kock’s Al Sakeet. De Kock said: “Al Sakeet just needed his last run. I am happy with him, he is showing his old sparkle and moving well. He is perhaps just a fraction off where I want him to be, but he’s a good form runner and worth including in your play.”
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