The five-year-old gelding Yard-Arm, well-beaten
favourite in the Vodacom Durban July and now heading for a new career
overseas, might just have done enough to win the R500 000 Turfstar
competition for his connections.
Geoff Woodruff’s Western Winter gelding rocketed to the top of
the log in the competition with three qualifying Grade I victories
in the Sun International Queen’s Plate, the J&B Met in the Cape,
and the Gold Challenge at Clairwood in his final outing before the
Vodacom Durban July.
There are six graded races left in the season and Yard-Arm on 30
points is 12 points clear of his nearest rivals, Ilha Da Vitoria
and Legally Blonde, who are in joint second on 18 points.
They, and Zolaroyale who has 17 points and runs in Sunday’s Mercury
Sprint at Clairwood, will need to score in at least two of the six
races to have a chance of beating Yard-Arm as 10 points is the maximum
that can be scored in any one event.
If he holds his position at the top of the log, Yard-Arm’s owner,
Mike Rattray, will receive a cheque for R450 000 at the Canon Gold
Cup Racemeeting at Greyville on August 7 and trainer Geoff Woodruff
will receive R50 000.
The positions on the log as they stand at present are:
1 - Yard-Arm 30
2 - Ilha Da Vitoria and Legally Blonde 18
4 - Zolaroyale 17
5 - Battle Maiden, Key Of Destiny, Promisefrommyheart 16
8 - Tobe Or Nottobe 15
9 - Greys Inn, Sarabande 14
11 - Angelina 12
12 – Candidato Roy, Dynasty, Emerald Beauty, Grand Emporium, Heir
Apparent, Highland Night, Overarching, Perfect Promise, Winter Solstice,
Wolf Whistle 10