Trainer Mike Bass Bows Out in Style
Description:
Unlucky not to win the recent Vodacom Durban July (SAf-I), up-and-coming Marinaresco scored a popular and emotional win in the Mike and Carol Bass Champions Cup (SAf-I) July 31 at Greyville.
In the process, he became the final group I winner for the legendary Cape trainer Mike Bass, who has retired from a long training career which has seen the Bass yard associated with such champions as former triple Horse of the Year Pocket Power Trademark, and Sun Classique to name a few.
Fittingly, Marinaresco won in the same Marsh Shirtliff silks also carried by the mighty Pocket Power.
Sent off a warm 11-10 favorite for Sunday's about 1 1/8-mile contest (which was delayed after a jockeys protest), Marinaresco always looked the one to beat in the R1 million event, and the 3-year-old by Silvano showed his class in no uncertain terms.
Dropped out to the back of the field by regular rider Grant Van Niekerk, with the pair having to overcome a poor draw of 14, Marinaresco looked at one stage unlikely to find running room, as St Tropez cut the gelding off at the top of the straight. However, once the runners fanned out Marinaresco produced a devastating turn of foot which saw him accelerate away to register a 1 1/4-length win.
Judicial (Miesque's Approval) ran on gamely for second and just held off dual KZN Million Mile hero No Worries (Kahal), with the latter in turn edging out Saratoga Dancer (Mambo In Seattle) for the third spot.
It was a first group I win for the Mauritzfontein Stud bred gelding, who has now won four of 11 outings, with his previous victories including the Tekkie Town Winter Guineas and Winter Classic (both SAf-III).
Owned by Shirtliff, Bryn Ressell, Fred Green and the winning trainer himself, Marinaresco's Sunday win pushed his earnings to R1 956 325.
Compared favorably to the yard's former three-time Horse of the Year Pocket Power, Marinaresco is the first stakes winner produced by the stakes-placed Fort Wood mare Gay Fortuna.
The Champions Cup was one of no fewer than seven graded races run at Greyville on Sunday. The meeting was originally carded to be run a day earlier but rain had forced the meeting (which also bought the curtain down on the South African racing season) to be postponed until Sunday.
Sunday was also a big day for South Africa's leading first-crop sire Gimmethegreenlight, with the son of More Than Ready being represented by a pair of graded winners. The former L'Ormarins Queen's Plate (SAf-I) winner's Sunday stakes winners included Gunner, a shock victor of the Premiers Champion Stakes (SAf-I), with another son of the sire, Hack Green, maintaining his undefeated record to land the same day's group II Umkhomazi Stakes.
It was also a day to remember for former champion trainer Mike de Kock who saddled Enaad and Kinaan to finish 1-3 in the day's richest race, the eLan Property Gold Cup (SAf-I). De Kock had also won the then Gold Cup a year ago, with the ill-fated Wild One. The Gold Cup was dominated by Australian-breds, with all of Enaad, Kinaan and fourth-place finisher Ovideo having been bred there.
A 4-year-old son of High Chaparral, the Al Adaayit South Africa-owned Enaad is a half brother to Coolmore's Australian sire Pride Of Dubai, a two-time group I winner.