Kinematic Countess (SAF) has been a fine servant to her connections and she was not winning out of turn when finishing well to land the Gr 3 Sycamore Sprint over 1160m at Turffontein on Saturday. Mary Stuart (SAF) fought back well to grab second from Virgo's Babe (SAF) with Choir Maiden (SAF) rounding off the quartet.
As expected, the pace was on from the start, with Mary Stuart leading the charge ahead of Weekend Special, Honorine and Fanzene. Samba Serenade was just a length off them, just ahead of he slowly-away Winter Passion and Choir Maiden. Kinematic Countess raced in midfield while Virgo's Babe was in touch to the outside.
Mary Stuart continued to lead past the 300m mark but Virgo's Babe moved up looking dangerous. The latter looked a likely winner inside the last furlong but Mary Stuart rallied under pressure and Kinematic Countess, meanwhile, was looking ominous. She pounced close to home under a well-judged ride from S'Manga Khumalo (pictured) and finished too well for the others, going on to win by half a length.
Kinematic Countess has her fair share of miles on the clock and has now chalked up 43 career starts. Trainer Roy Magner has done a fine job in keeping her on the boil and she had early already notched up plenty of black type by placing in a number of fillies' sprint features. This was her eighth win and, given her durability, owners Maine Chance Farms have every reason to look forward to her taking up broodmare duties in due course.
Mary Stuart, a 5-year-old like the winner, has had her share of problems and is very lightly raced, with this being only her eighth racecourse appearance. She ran very well in defeat and there was a lot to like about the way she battled back after trying to make all the running.
Virgo's Babe is holding form well at the moment and ran a decent race here while Choir Maiden faced a stiff task at the weights and ran well enough, given that she was stepping up in class.
5 b m Count Dubois (GB) - National Navigator by National Emblem
Owner: Maine Chance Farms (Pty) Ltd (Nom: Dr W A & Mrs N Jacobs)
Bred by Mr P du Toit
Winning trainer: Roy Magner
Race 7 - R250K - SYCAMORE SPRINT (Grade 3)
For Fillies and Mares - 1160m |
| No |
Horse |
Jockey |
Al/Bl |
Kg |
Dr |
Fin |
Dist |
Time |
OP |
SP |
| 5 |
KINEMATIC COUNTESS |
S'Manga Khumalo |
A |
58.5 |
11 |
1 |
0.00 |
65.99 |
8/1 |
11/1 |
| 11 |
MARY STUART |
Raymond Danielson |
A |
55.0 |
6 |
2 |
0.50 |
66.08 |
10/1 |
14/1 |
| 7 |
VIRGO'S BABE |
Fanie Chambers |
A B |
57.0 |
16 |
3 |
0.60 |
66.09 |
12/1 |
15/1 |
| 2 |
CHOIR MAIDEN (AUS) |
Anton Marcus |
A |
59.5 |
14 |
4 |
2.00 |
66.34 |
4/1 |
4/1 |
| 3 |
SHE'S A STUNNER |
Gavin Lerena |
A |
59.5 |
5 |
5 |
2.50 |
66.43 |
16/1 |
20/1 |
| 6 |
EXTRA ZERO |
Randall Simons |
A |
57.5 |
8 |
6 |
2.75 |
66.47 |
14/1 |
33/1 |
| 10 |
FANZENE |
Doctor Sifiso Lembethe |
A |
55.0 |
7 |
7 |
3.75 |
66.65 |
25/1 |
25/1 |
| 12 |
TZIGANE |
Richard Fourie |
A B |
55.0 |
3 |
8 |
4.00 |
66.69 |
14/1 |
20/1 |
| 13 |
PASCHAL MOON |
Karl Zechner |
A |
54.0 |
12 |
9 |
4.25 |
66.74 |
16/1 |
40/1 |
| 4 |
DOLOMITI |
Piere Strydom |
A |
59.0 |
1 |
10 |
4.30 |
66.74 |
11/2 |
4/1F |
| 16 |
SAMBA SERENADE |
Francois Naude |
A |
52.0 |
10 |
11 |
4.75 |
66.82 |
20/1 |
25/1 |
| 8 |
WINTER PASSION |
Marco V'Rensburg |
A |
56.5 |
13 |
12 |
5.25 |
66.91 |
8/1 |
8/1 |
| 14 |
KINGS V |
Franklin Maleking *2.5 |
A |
53.5 |
9 |
13 |
5.75 |
67.00 |
16/1 |
25/1 |
| 1 |
HONORINE (AUS) |
Anthony Delpech |
A |
60.0 |
2 |
14 |
6.75 |
67.18 |
7/1 |
8/1 |
| 9 |
SARASOTA |
Francois Herholdt |
A |
55.0 |
15 |
15 |
10.50 |
67.86 |
25/1 |
16/1 |
| 15 |
WEEKEND SPECIAL |
Akash Aucharuz *0.0 |
A |
53.5 |
4 |
16 |
13.25 |
68.37 |
14/1 |
25/1 |
| 17 |
LA TIGRESSE |
Scratched |
|
