Final field for Summer Cup
The Summer Cup will take place on November 28 at Turrffontein Racecourse and tension is building for the premier horse racing event in Gauteng.
THE final field and barrier positions for Johannesburg’s most prestigious race, the Grade 1 R2 million Gauteng Summer Cup, to be run over 2 000m, was announced on Wednesday, November 18.
The Summer Cup will take place on November 28 at Turrffontein Racecourse and tension is building for the premier horse racing event in Gauteng.
The final field is full of class and the handicap conditions make it ultra competitive; so the race will attract a lot of discussion before the event which attracts quite a number of pundits to the race track.
French Navy, current favourite for the R2-million Summer Cup, will jump from barrier number eight when the horses jump from the 2 000m mark. The SA Classic and Daily News 2 000 winner is one of two runners for champion trainer Sean Tarry.
“He is a horse who drops out and races from off the pace so the draw is not that important,” said Tarry. “However, No 8 is a decent position to be in.”
The Dean Kannemeyer-trained Vodacom Durban July winner, Power King, will receive 1.5kg from French Navy and like many progeny of Silvano could well now be at his peak as a five-year-old.
He is also nicely drawn at Number five and will be ridden by Stuart Randolph who was aboard when Power King won the Durban July.
Irish import Flying The Flag will be one of three horses attempting to give Mike de Kock his tenth Summer Cup. He ran on well from the back in the Charity Mile and will likely relish the soft ground the rains could bring as he has done well in testing in Ireland before.
“He has improved markedly since running in the Charity Mile and we’re hoping for a big run. But landing up with No 16 draw has not helped his chances,” said assistant trainer Mathew de Kock.
Master Sabina, runner up two years ago, will be having his second run after a year’s break and will be one of three horses attempting to give five-time champion trainer Geoff Woodruff his third successive victory in the race.
Woodruff won last year with Louis The King and in 2013 with Yorker when he trained the first three past the post.
Ultimate Dollar is one of two horses for Justin Snaith and will be fancied by many as the course and distance should perfectly suit his running style and he will be ridden by Piere Strydom from Alberton. Unfortunately they drew No 19.
