Can Main Defender hold out at awards bash?

Main Defender, the horse at the centre of the rumpus that caused the Champions Season opening meeting at Greyville to be abandoned on Saturday, has been nominated in three categories of the Highveld Feature Season Awards.

Trainer Tony Peter’s talented gelding is up for gongs as Champion Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding, Champion Sprinter and Champion Middle-Distance Horse.

He has won four of his last five starts, with a smashing victory in the Grade 1 Horse Chestnut Stakes being his credential for the middle-distance category and Grade 2 successes over 1450m and 1400m getting him into the speedster ranks.

These achievements have seen his merit rating soar from 113 to 131, putting him in the highest echelons of South African racehorses.

So, it seems perverse to think Main Defender might not collect a prize at all on the awards evening, to be held at The Galleria in Sandton on Saturday 18 May.

Competition

But he does face tough competition in all his nominated divisions.

Unbeaten filly Gimme A Nother is hot favourite for the Middle-Distance award for her impeccable form and bloodless annexations of the Empress Club Stakes and the SA Fillies Classic at the top level, not to mention a handful of other graded races. The only factor counting against her is that she has yet to compete against males. (The Champion Three-Year-Old Filly to be named on the night is a no-brainer.)

Main Defender’s three-year-old contemporary Purple Pitcher is a serious contender in their age-group class, having won seven of his last eight starts, including two Grade 1s. Purple Pitcher’s name also appears three times on the nominations list, putting him in line to bring well-deserved honour to young trainer Robyn Klaasen – perhaps in the stayer category.

Then there’s the sprint category for Main Defender. Here the main competition would seem to be Thunderstruck, whose Grade 1 1000m Computaform Stakes triumph at Turffontein followed a highly successful – but technically non-qualifying – sojourn in Cape Town.

Who’d be a judge for these awards, which will surely leave a few connections disappointed?

Affable race caller Nico Kritsiotos is the brave soul chairing the judging panel and he says the selection process “was meticulous, with some categories attracting a lengthy discussion while others were more straightforward and predictable”. He adds that the judges are confident the final decisions accurately reflect that a fair and correct process took place.

NOMINATIONS

Two-year-old filly:

Almond Sea, Little Ballerina, Simply Majestic

2YO male:

Fire Attack, Pistol Pete, Proceed

3YO filly:

To be announced at the awards evening

3YO male:

Main Defender, Purple Pitcher, Sandringham Summit

Older filly/mare:

Feather Boa, Mrs Browning, Silver Hills

Older male:

Royal Victory, Thunderstruck

Sprinter:

Dyce, Lucky Lad, Main Defender, Sandringham Summit, Thunderstruck

Middle-Distance Horse:

Gimme A Nother, Main Defender, Purple Pitcher, Royal Victory

Stayer:

Crimson King, Frances Ethel, Purple Pitcher, Rule Book, Zeus