When Johnny Reb was entered in a B division race over 1600m in June, there was almost universal consensus that he wouldn’t see out the distance. After all, his breeding (by Fast Gun, out of the Lancaster mare War Baby) seemed to be all about speed, he had sprinted well and, to top it all, the Turffontein mile is generally regarded as the stiffest in South Africa.
Punters who swallowed the opinions of the “experts” were left to contemplate a lesson that many learn to their cost: Buddy Maroun knows best! This unconventional trainer races his charges far more frequently than others would dare to and invariably they come out fit to fight.
On Saturday Maroun brings Johnny Reb back to the scene of his last triumph and the five-year-old gelding seems to have every chance of repeating his feat in the R125 000 Hyperion Handicap.
Best Boy, the runner-up back in June, is again in the field and David Ferraris’s seven-year-old enjoys a 1kg pull for a 0,75 length beating numbers that put him right in there with an excellent chance. The front-running son of Hobnob has very consistent form and was probably hurried along too quickly when fading to fourth behind Thorn King in his last start over 1 800m.
The possibilities do not end there. Whacky Lad, a six-time winner from 17 starts, makes his debut for the powerful Geoff Woodruff stable and will not be a surprise winner. His best form has been over less ground.
Polo Classic can certainly motor on his day and has had two warm-up sprints since an eight-month lay-off, showing good pace in both. He was runner-up to Badger’s Coast in the Daily News last June before running a creditable 3,5 lengths behind El Picha in the July! He has a real chance if back to his best, but may prefer even further.
Facilitator is another talented sort with fair recent form, while Power Act seems to be finding his best form at the ripe old age of seven.
Silver Sliver won the South African Derby in April last year but last saw a racetrack in November, when he twice flatly refused to leave the stalls. He is better watched for now.
The second feature, the R100 000 Goldfields Sprint for three-year-old fillies, seems to be between Woodruff’s Winter Fox and Ferraris’s Queen Of Dance, with my preference being for the former.
Ferraris has also entered R300 000 purchase Viennese Waltz, with his favoured jockey of the moment, Sherman Brown, aboard. This one narrowly beat a weak maiden field recently and has more to do here.
It seems champion jockey Piere Strydom has been frozen out of Ferraris’s plans and “Striker” would probably like nothing more than to upstage the champion trainer in the sixth. He rides the consistent Silver Moon in a D division event over 1200m, with his main challenges likely to come from the Ferraris pair of Ups And Downs and West Wing.
Watch Ferraris: he has entered 16 runners in a big assault on the nine races and it could pay to keep an eye on his progress.
Turffontein best bets: Princess Polly (race 1); Bonhomie (race 2); Sense The Magic (race 9) Durbanville best bets: Breeze On Past (race 2); Jamaican King (race 4); Ladyboro (race 5) Scottsville best bets: Winter Dawn (race 4); Gold Merchant (race 5); Full Card (race 6); The Editor (race 7); Power Flash (race 8)