Mercantour rushes them off their feet!

MERCANTOUR confirmed that he is a well above average prospect and capable sprinter when running his competition off their feet in the Gold Rush Sprint for three-year-olds at Turffontein.

The young gelding was finding it difficult to crack another win, but had been running in some very strong fields and had not disgraced himself at all by being just a few lengths off the winners. The son of Var had other ideas for Gold Rush Sprint and blew them away to win by a margin of 3 lengths.

Richard Fourie rode the gelding to perfection. He knew that there would be a lot of pace from the get go and the plan to track the speedy leaders worked out well along the middle to outside of the field. Fourie had mentioned in the post race interview that he was slightly worried at one stage that he was too far off the pace, but fortunately with around 400m to go, Mercantour stepped into another gear and showed an excellent turn of foot. He quickly took to the lead and in the closing stages it was evident that he was not for the catching, stretching away from the field and displayed an eye-catching performance.

With many 3-year-olds their merit ratings can hinder them from progressing further, so it will be interesting to see how he continues to progress with a hefty penalty given for the win, having said that, he is getting better with experience and the hopes are that he excel with each race as it comes.

There are a few other sprint races that he may be targeted at within the Gauteng season and will hopefully give the winning owner, Mr Vicky Veeramootoo further enjoyment to watch his silks enter the winners box. A big congratulations to Mr Veeramootoo. The stable also appreciates the continued support.

Thanking the sponsor for all their support - HOLLYWOODBETS.