Connections of Janoobi keep their options open

The connections of Janoobihave decided to keeptheir options open, with  both the SA Classic and HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes on Saturday 1 April pencilled in as possibilities, according to assistant trainer Mathew de Kock.

Janoobi won the R1-million Betting World Gauteng Guineas (Grade 2) over 1600m at Turffontein. Starting at 11-2 he took the lead shortly after the start and ran on gamely and just held on from favourite Al Sahem. His stablemate Heavenly Blue (9-2) finished third.

The race is the first leg of the SA Triple Crown with the 1800m SA Classic forming the middle leg and the 2450m SA Derby on 6 May the third. A R2-million bonus is offered to a horse who wins all three legs.

De Kock does not believe the Triple Crown bonus will be paid out this year because he says, “In my opinion Heavenly Blue will be the one to beat in the SA Classic, plus I’m not convinced Janoobi will go more than 1800m.”

Janoobi, he said, “took the race very well and is taking it easy this week because he was at a peak and really well on Saturday. We’ll keep him ticking over until next month”.

Heavenly Blue, on the other hand, was “not as well or as ready” as Janoobi for the Gauteng Guineas because his main mission has been the SA Classic. “I can’t afford to be too soft on him because I’ve got to help him come on a little bit,” said De Kock. “I’m over the moon with his third placing. He’s going to make a lot of improvement.

We’ll finally see the best him in the Classic, going a distance he’s always wanted, 1800m and more.”

Janoobi gave Mike de Kock his 3,000th career winner but the multiple champion trainer’s celebrations were cut short an hour after Janoobi’s win when Ertijaal had to be put down after fracturing a sesamoid in the Jebel Hatta as part of Super Saturday in Dubai.

It was a sad end to a big day for the stable, who celebrated another two winners at the Turffontein meeting, including Rafeef in another Grade 2 race, the R400,000 Hawaii Stakes over 1400m.

Said De Kock: “The obvious next stepping stone for Rafeef is the Horse Chestnut Stakes. The ‘mile’ (1600m) is his maximum, I and is very fresh.”

Their third win came in the R250,000 Acacia Handicap (Grade 3) over 1600m with Nother Russia (7-1) overcoming a very wide draw to beat Bella Sonata by a long head. “I think the older she’s got the better she’s got,” said De Kock.

“A big thanks to Jess Slack (who owns owner Mauritzfontein Stud) for giving her that time. She was very well going into Saturday’s race and if she’d drawn in single figures I would have been much more confident.

“You can see by that performance she’s definitely better than her rating. It’s gone up the maximum eight points (4kg), but I’m happy to take what the handicappers give her after a win like that.”

Her stable companion Shaama was a weak favourite but finished seventh and De Kock said her performance “confirmed she is best and 1200m and 1400m. “I think a true-run ‘mile’ would find her out,” he said. “She took the race well and we’ll be bringing her back to 1160m.”

Fillies he saddled finished second, third, fifth and sixth behind easy winner Smiling Blue Eyes in the R500,000 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas.

The race is the first leg of the Triple Tiara, which offers a R1- million bonus and also comprises the SA Fillies Classic on 1 April and the SA Oaks on 6 May.

He had given second-placed Al Hawraa a “money chance” in the preliminaries because “she’d improved in her work” but even he was impressed with the run.

“She only got going late and will be better in the 1800m Fillies Classic next month. She’s a straightforward filly, easy to work with.”

Was he a bit disappointed with favourite Orchid Island’s third placing? “Not at all. I think the ‘mile’ is too short for her, plus she had six weeks between runs and missed work. She’s a small filly, so the going last Saturday was not her best – she prefers it a little bit on top. She’ll also be going for the Fillies Classic.

“I think Belle Rose ran a cracker in fifth. She was stone last at the 400m mark and ran fifth, so made up a lot of ground. On pedigree she is crying out for more ground so will definitely go for the next leg of the Triple Tiara.”

As for sixth-placed Ektifaa, who came in off a four-run winning sequence including beating the boys in the Tony Ruffel Stakes, he said: “She wasn’t disgraced.

The stamina doubts were there and she just didn’t see out the ‘mile’. We’ll reprogramme her to see if she’s good enough for a topclass 1200m race.”

He believes his three Classic fillies are even in the ability stakes, but said when pressed: “If I had to put my head on a block this far ahead of the Fillies Classic, I’d still side with Orchid.