Three In A Row, And Counting
Every season throws up a horse that seems to be improving with every run, and on the Highveld right now that horse is Future Gamble. The three-year-old filly arrived at Turffontein on a hat-trick, and not just any hat-trick — all three wins have come at 2000m, each one looking a little more authoritative than the last.
- A Vaal maiden over 2000m, won going away
- A first venture into Fillies & Mares company at Turffontein over 2000m, won with plenty in hand
- Most recently, back at Turffontein over the same trip, stepping up into deeper handicap company — and winning again
That last victory was enough to push her rating up to 88, comfortably the highest mark of her career, and a sign of just how quickly connections have had to revise their opinion of her. From maiden ranks to a competitive Highveld handicap inside a handful of months is the kind of trajectory that gets a stable’s phone ringing.
A Partnership Building Momentum
Aboard for the recent wins has been Mickaelle Michel, the French jockey who has made South Africa something of a second home in recent seasons. A Group 1 winner in Europe before she ever set foot on the Highveld, Michel has already tasted Grade success here too, including a graded stakes win at Turffontein — so she knows exactly what it takes to get a result around this track. Her growing understanding with Future Gamble looks like one of the more interesting young combinations on the local circuit, and it’s the kind of jockey-and-horse partnership that’s worth keeping an eye on as the season unfolds.
In the background is trainer James Crawford, who has spent the past year taking on full responsibility for the Crawford stable’s South African string — a yard with a pedigree for producing big-race winners on the Highveld and beyond. A progressive three-year-old finding form at exactly the right time is precisely the sort of story that yard has built its reputation on.
Turffontein’s Test
If there’s one place a filly with rising stamina and a taste for 2000m gets to prove herself, it’s Turffontein. The Standside track climbs steadily from the 1600m mark all the way to the home turn — a long, grinding rise that sorts out the genuine stayers from the pretenders. On a firm track today, that uphill finish was always going to be the real examination for a filly stepping up into deeper handicap company off a career-high mark.
In the end, the step up asked the question and got an answer: Future Gamble was run down in the straight, with Into Dancing getting home ahead of Surprise Party and the hat-trick bid settling for third. It says plenty about how quickly she’s had to grow up — from a Vaal maiden to competitive in a tougher Turffontein handicap inside a handful of months — and that progression, partnership and stable story is still exactly the kind of thing that keeps Highveld racing fans coming back week after week.
For the full picture from today’s Turffontein meeting, and the form guide ahead of the next Highveld card, head to cfox.co.za/predictions.
