Report: South Africa, Saturday
Turffontein: SA Classic (Grade 1) 1m 1f, turf, 3yo
LOUIS THE KING (Geoff Woodruff/Robbie Fradd) lined himself up for a R2 million (£114,300) Triple Crown bonus by justifying 17-20 favouritism in the SA Classic and crowning a memorable day for five-time champion trainer Geoff Woodruff.
The Gauteng Guineas winner led 150 yards out and stayed on strongly to beat Mister Cricket by half a length.
Fradd, who leaves for a new life in Queensland in Australia on Monday, said: "If they ask me to come back I will swim over. He is such a laid back type that the extra distance in the SA Derby on April 26 is going to be beneficial for him.
"I was chopped off after 20 metres but I didn't panic because I know he can come from anywhere and I always knew I had the race."
Woodruff, winning this for the first time since Badger's Drift in 2001, added: "The horse showed a lot of courage. I was never worried about the trip, only about the other horses improving and I'm quite bullish about the Derby."
Also on Saturday
Turffontein: H.F. Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes (Grade 1) 1m,turf, 3yo+
Geoff Woodruff, a leading point-to-point rider in south east England in his youth, and stable jockey Fradd also took this with Yorker owned by Investec Derby sponsor Bernard Kantor and Variety Club's owner Markus Jooste. But the 15-2 shot only held on by the skin of his teeth.
Capetown Noir, backed from 33-10 to 15-10, did not appear to be travelling that well early in the straight but once Karl Neisius switched him to the outer he really took off and it was only by a fast-dwindling short head that he was beaten by.
Woodruff has bigger things in mind for Yorker, as he said: "We are using this race as a prep for the R2 million President's Challenge at the end of next month."