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The Marwing brothers were after the million on offer at
Turffontein racecourse, not as partners and not to share as most
brothers would, but as bitter, arch-rivals - just as horseracing
demands, both giving all for their connections.
Although one was watching from the stands and the other was riding
a gruelling finish, the battle was in full force. Trainer Weiho,
the younger of the two, had trained his stable star. 3 yold colt,
Divine Jury, to the best of his ability and then wisely engaged
world-class master jockey, Jeff Lloyd to pilot his charge, as
the older brother, champion jockey Weichong was booked by one
of South Africa’s greatest trainers ever - Mike De Kock
- to partner top 3 yold colt, Emperor Napoleon.
De Kock and Marwing, fresh from resent success in
Dubai, were always going to be hard to beat and Lloyd ended up
fighting tooth and nail for all he was worth to narrowly snatch
victory in the Grade 1 S.A. Classic over 1800m
In an absolute thriller, the Classic could have gone either way -
that’s how close it was. The photo gave the signal to the likeable
owner, Kenny Geemooi and the Wheio Marwing camp to start
the party. The duo have had unbelievable success since teaming up.
Predictably from the jump, Our Giant went to the front; he
was not without a chance and ridden by Natal’s champion jockey,
Sean Cormack for trainer Charles Laird, while his more
fancied stable companion, Pick Six and the other main
contenders waited behind.
Turffontein’s long straight is tough on front runners and Our
Giant, still in front at the 400m mark began to fold with the big
four, Devine Jury, Emperor Napoleon, Biarritz and
Pick Six making up ground. Then the two horses, Devine Jury
and Emperor Napoleon came together at the 200m mark and
fought nose to nose to the finishing post. Lloyd had used his
good draw to his advantage, and could not be fooled into being too
handy, waiting several lengths off the killing pace and giving nothing
away, then moving at the exact right time and getting first run over
the runner up. Third went to Cape Derby runner up, Pick Six,
beaten by 1.75 lengths, and fourth to the in-form St John Grey
inmate, Biarritz, 2.25 lengths behind the winner.
Ravishing and Dynamite Mike stayed on for fifth and
sixth and were not at all disgraced, with Heritage, trained by
Joe Soma, managing seventh just ahead of the front running
Our Giant. |
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