LAST season’s champion three-year-old filly Cherry on the Top heads themerit log for the R2-million Sansui Summer Cup to be run over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday 30 November.
The log, which has been compiled by Patrick Davis and Vee Moodley of Phumelela and the National Horseracing Authority (NHA) panel of handicappers, is intended to give owners and trainers of Summer Cup entries an indication of which horses are likely to be chosen to participate in Joburg’s race of the year.
“The log is purely a guideline to tell stakeholders where they stand with their horses currently,” stressed Davis, who is Phumelela’s horseracing executive.
“The first 20 we have put in order notionally, while the next 10 (from 21 to 30) we have identified as on the cusp. But we have placed these in alphabetical order and not in order of preference at this stage,” Davis added.
“Where horses have obvious question marks about current wellbeing due to lengthy absences from the track – The Hangman and Ilsanpietro are examples – or distance suitability (example Royal Zulu Warrior), these horses have been excluded from the top 20 at this stage and placed in the 21-to-30 bracket.
“This is to encourage their connections to race these horses in the next few weeks in an attempt to dispel fitness or distance suitability doubts,” Davis added.
Merit ratings will form the foundation of the selection of the final field for the Summer Cup, but not in instances where there are doubts about a horse’s ability to run to its rating on the big day. The final field will be selected by the NHA panel of handicappers in terms of the race conditions.
The merit log will be updated on 23 October and again on 6 November – dates that follow some of the key trial races.
Second entries for the Grade 1 Sansui Summer Cup are on 4 November and weights will be published the same day. Final entries and declarations are on 18 November and the final field will be announced the following day, when the draw for starting-gate positions will take place.
Six other graded races will be run on Sansui Summer Cup day including the R500,000 Dingaans, the first major test of the season for three-year-olds.
The Sansui Summer Cup merit log is:
Log 9/10 Age Sex Horse MR Trainer
1 4 F CHERRY ON THE TOP 118 Ormond Ferraris
2 6 G RUN FOR IT 117 Justin Snaith
3 4 F DO YOU REMEMBER 116 Geoff Woodruff
4 4 C WYLIE HALL (AUS) 113 Weiho Marwing
5 6 G KNOCK ON WOOD 113 Ormond Ferraris
7 4 F JET BELLE 111 Robbie Sage
8 4 C TELLINA 109 Geoff Woodruff
9 4 G ROCK COCKTAIL (AUS 111 Mike de Kock
10 6 H JET JAMBOREE 113 Dominic Zaki
11 4 G GOTHIC 106 Kumaran Naidoo
12 5 G ASTRO NEWS 113 Charles Laird
13 6 M CHERRY ON THE CAKE 109 Gavin van Zyl
14 6 G GOLD ONYX (NZ) 110 Sean Tarry
15 4 F ESPUMANTI (GB) 111 Mike de Kock
16 5 M ILHA BELA 104 Mike de Kock
17 5 G WAGNER 105 Joe Soma
18 5 H POTALA PALACE 108 Mike Azzie
19 4 G LOVE STRUCK 106 Charles Laird
20 6 G MASAI WARRIOR 107 Mike Azzie
4 G GITIANO 104 Alec Laird
5 G GLORIOUS JET 104 St John Gray
7 G ILSANPIETRO (BRZ) 111 Mike de Kock
4 G PATRIOTIC REBEL 106 Mike de Kock
6 G ROMAN WALL 105 Sean Tarry
5 G ROYAL BENCHER 113 Alec Laird
7 G ROYAL ZULU WARRIOR 110 Kumaran Naidoo
6 G S’IL VOUS PLAIT 105 Ormond Ferraris
4 G THE HANGMAN 109 Sean Tarry
4 C WAR HORSE 102 Corne Spies
4 C YORKER 108 Geoff Woodruff
7 G CAPTAIN’S WILD 108 Mike de Kock
7 G SMANJEMANJE 107 Tyrone Zackey
5 G STRAW MARKET 103 Ormond Ferraris
5 G BARACAH 102 Sean Tarry
4 G KILLUA CASTLE (AUS 102 Geoff Woodruff
5 G TIGER’S RETREAT 102 Sean Tarry
4 G DUAL ASSET 101 Ormond Ferraris
5 G RED FORT 101 Geoff Woodruff
4 G SABADELL 101 Geoff Woodruff
4 G TIGER PLAY 101 Brian Wiid
4 C TRUE MASTER 101 Justin Snaith
4 G WILD ONE 101 Jeff Freedman
5 G YER-MAAN 101 St John Gray
4 G AMERICAN STORM 100 Spike Lerena
4 G CIGAR BOY 100 Justin Snaith
5 G ROCCO’S LUCK (AUS) 100 Mike de Kock
7 G EASTERN COBBLER 99 Mike Azzie
5 G GENERAL SHERMAN 99 Sean Tarry
5 M DANCE ALLEY 97 St John Gray
4 G JOHNNY ROCKETS 97 Justin Snaith
5 G SCOOP THE POOL 97 Kumaran Naidoo
5 G SILVER AGE 97 Jeff Freedman
3 C DULY ORDAINED (AUS 96 Mike de Kock
4 C MASTER SABINA 96 Geoff Woodruff
5 G HALVE THE DEFICIT 95 Sean Tarry
5 G MEISSA 95 Gary Alexander
6 M FORMATION 94 St John Gray
4 G SERISSA 94 Sean Tarry
4 G MERCURIAL BRAVE 93 Mike de Kock
4 G THE KING AND I 92 Sean Tarry
4 G ALEXANDER 91 Glen Kotzen
4 G CONCATENATION 91 Frank Robinson
5 G DESERT RAPTOR 91 Alec Laird
4 G KINDLE 90 Mike de Kock
4 G ANTARCTIC CALL 89 Chris Erasmus
4 G SPANDAU BALLET 89 Alec Laird
6 G FLAMING FORGE 88 Brian Wiid
5 G INDIAN RIVER 88 Alec Laird
4 G PIERNEEF 88 Kumaran Naidoo
4 G TOP COMMAND 87 Sean Tarry
4 G PRINCIPLED 86 Joe Soma
5 G RHEIMS 80 Alec Laird
4 C RAKAAN (ARG) 78 Mike de Kock
5 G HENRY HIGGINS 75 Paul Peter
