I wanted you to see what real courage is. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. That is the advice Atticus Finch, the chief protagonist in Harper Lee's iconic novel, gave to his children.
He could have well been talking to the racehorse that bears his name. The five-year-old Master Of My Fate gelding, trained by Alec Laird and perfectly ridden by Calvin Habib, displayed every bit of that courage at Turffontein on Saturday to win the R6-million Betway Summer Cup.
Going off at 20-1, Atticus Finch got a dream run down the inside rail and kicked on beautifully to capture the Grade 1 race over 2000m on the Standside track.
He beat a gallant Purple Pitcher (14-1) by 1.10 lengths with Rule By Force (33-1) a further 0.75 lengths back in third. Fourth place went to 100-1 KwaZulu-Natal raider Madison Valley, and with the more fancied runners, See It Again (5th), Royal Victory (6th), Frances Ethel (9th) and Main Defender (10th) all finishing out of the top four, the carryover Quartet paid out a massive R224,457.50.
The race proved a triumph for trainer Alec Laird, who last won the Summer Cup in 2006 with Malteme. Habib also notched up his second success in this iconic event as he triumphed aboard Flying Carpet in 2021.
Atticus Finch was fancied to win this race last year but suffered serious interference at a vital stage and ended up midfield.
This year, although largely ignored, he came back to do it all again. Habib always felt his mount was in with a chance. "Last year I was super-confident, but Picture: JC Photographics he got done during the race," said Habib, "and this year I wanted to make amends for that.
Esta historia es de la edición December 02, 2024 de The Citizen.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 02, 2024 de The Citizen.
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Heather's Boy prepares for Cape
FORM: UNBEATEN DE KOCK RUNNER TO CONFIRM HIS REPUTATION AHEAD OF CAPE GUINEAS
Courage wins the day for Atticus
IMPRESSIVE: LAIRD-TRAINED GELDING FIGHTS ON GAMELY TO CLAIM R6M BETWAY SUMMER CUP
PIRATES COME UNSTUCK
PREMIERSHIP: STELLENBOSCH PUT ABRUPT END TO BUCS' PERFECT START
Cut Bavuma some slack
Temba Bavuma has often been praised by coaches and teammates for his leadership abilities, but as a specialist batter the Proteas skipper must have been frustrated by his lengthy struggle to convert fifties into centuries.
Proteas keep growing as a unit
South Africa's batters are feeding well off each other as they start to find consistency at the highest level, according to Proteas coach Shukri Conrad, after they shone again in the dominant victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Durban which concluded on Saturday.
Wallabies far from finished product
Australia coach Joe Schmidt says his side are \"maybe\" not at the level yet to win the three Test series with the British & Irish Lions next year but they are ready to make it a \"contest\".
Proteas keep their heads up
With England having secured a 3-0 clean sweep in the T20 International series that concluded at the weekend, Proteas all-rounder Nondumiso Shangase says the national women's team are keeping their heads up as they prepare for a three-match ODI series against the tourists.
Bulls flex their muscles abroad
URC: DOWN CONNACHT AS SHARKS SINK THE STORMERS
Kane ruled out 'for the time being'
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (right) has been ruled out \"for the time being\", with a hamstring tear, the club announced yesterday.
'Crazy' win thrills Arteta
London - Mikel Arteta (above) said Arsenal's \"crazy\" 5-2 win at West Ham has catapulted his team back into the Premier League title race.
