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‘EL PICHA’ GALLOPS ON IN CHARITY TURF CHALLENGE

On the 1st July 2000, the diminutive El Picha snatched victory from a determined Young Rake in the Rothmans July Handicap.  Now nine years later another “El Picha” is hoping to be the victor on July day.  He is currently 19 points clear of his nearest rival, William Venters, but will it be enough to emulate his namesake and emerge victorious? Only time will tell.

Trainer Paul Lafferty’s peculiarly named Goat scored an emphatic victory in the Gold Circle Oaks (Grade 2) at Clairwood this past Saturday, but the Labeeb filly’s impressive win did little to alter the Charity Turf Challenge Leader Board.

Few points were on offer this past weekend and with Goat being the only earner, the leader board remains unchanged with ‘El Picha’ still in front of the pack.
This week is an important week in the Charity Turf Challenge with no less than 35 horses in action on July day at Greyville. The Vodacom Durban July meeting is also a special day in the Charity Turf Challenge as there is a R10 000 bonus up for grabs to the entrant, who accumulates the most points at the July meeting.   Should there be more than one winner the prize will be shared.

The Charity Turf Challenge runners that will be in action on July day, in alphabetical order, are:
Aluminium, Big City Life, Bill Of Rights, Bouquet-Garni, Buy And Sell, Consensual, Equal Image, Ethereal Lady, Forest Path, Generous Anna, Gilded Minaret, Kapil, Kiss For Kate, Lady Bequick, Lady Windermere, Likeithot, Merlene De Lago, Meteor Shower, Mother Russia, Mr Crazy Boy, On Her Ties, Our Giant, Outcome, Pocket Power, Prestic, Promises To Keep, Rei Rei, River Jetez, Senor Versace, Smart Banker, Sparkling Gem, Sporting Boy, Thandolwami, Thundering Jet and Zirconeum.

To view the full leader board, log in to www.racingsouthafrica.com and click on the Charity Turf Challenge poster.  That leads to the Charity Turf Challenge web page, where there is a button for “leader board all entrants” that will display the full leader board.

The Top 20 Leader Board at 29 June 2009 is:

	CHARITY TURF CHALLENGE 2009 – by LEADER BOARD
POSITION	NAME	POINTS
1	El Picha	178
	El PIcha	178
3	William Venters	159
4	Marc Horsfield	148
5	Michael Gramanie	146
6	Michael Gramanie	144
	Jaintly Kasiram	144
8	Edward Haarhoff	143
	Jonathan Snaith	143
10	Malcolm Moran	142
11	D A Pillay	139
	Michael Gramanie	139
	Michael Gramanie	139
	Kuben Naidoo	139
15	Neil Pretorius	138
16	Malcolm Moran	134
	Malcolm Moran	134
	Michael Gramanie	134
19	Rodney Dunn	133
	Joy Dunn	133

 

CHARITY TURF CHALLENGE 2009 – by DATE
DATE	EVENT	HORSE	POSITION	POINTS
8 May	In Full Flight Stakes	Gaultier	1st	2
	Drill Hall Stakes (Gr.2)	Earl Of Surrey	1st	10
		River Jetez	3rd	5
12 May	KRA Fillies Guineas (Gr.2)	On Her Toes	1st	10
		Dance With Al	2nd	7
		Consensual	3rd	5
	KRA Guineas (Gr.2)	Big City Life	1st	10
17 May	Highland Night Cup	Meteor Shower	1st	2
22 May	Betting World Novice	Bush Pirate	1st	2
	Betting World 1900 (Gr.2)	Air Combat	3rd	5
24 May	Pinnacle Stakes	Pocket Power	1st	2
27 May	Conditions Stakes	River Jetez	1st	2
30 May	Gold Medallion (G1)	Villandry	1st	5
	Golden Horse (G1)	Earl Of Surrey	1st	40
		Gaultier	3rd	10
	SA Fillies Sprint	Lady Windermere	1st	15
		Merlene De Lago	2nd	12
6 June	Pinnacle Stakes	Smart Banker	1st	2
	Woolavington (G1)	Zirconeum	1st	15
		Mother Russia	2nd	12
		Gypsy’s Warning	3rd	10
	Daily News (G1)	Big City Life	1st	15
12 June	Juvenile Plate	Lt Samson	1st	2
13 June	Devon Air Stakes	Generous Anna	1st	2
	Tibouchina Stakes (G2)	Sparkling Gem	1st	10
		Prestic	2nd	7
	Gold Challenge (G1 bonus)	Pocket Power	1st	40
		Kapil	2nd	12
		River Jetez	3rd	10
17 June	Graduation Plate	Flying West	1st	2
20 June	MR 94 Handicap	Sealed With A Kiss	1st	2
27 June	Gold Circle Oaks (G2)	Goat	1st	10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHARITY TURF CHALLENGE 2009 – by LEADING HORSES
NAME of HORSE	POINTS
Earl Of Surrey	50
Pocket Power	42
Big City Life	25
River Jetez	17
Lady Windermere	15
Zirconeum	15
Gaultier	12
Merlene de Lago	12
Mother Russia	12
Kapil	12
On Her Toes	10
Gypsy’s Warning	10
Sparkling Gem	10
Goat	10
Dance With Al	7
Prestic	7
Air Combat	5
Consensual	5
Villandry	5
Bush Pirate	2
Smart Banker	2
Meteor Shower	2
Lt Samson	2
Generous Anna	2
Flying West	2
Sealed With A Kiss	2

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