RAMESHWAR GUJADHUR : Expected win, but a frustrating day, a déclaré Mansour

C’est un sentiment mitigé qui animait Donavan Mansour à l’issue de la 14e journée. Le Sud-Africain, que nous avons rencontré à sa sortie de la jockeys’ room, n’est pas passé par quatre chemins pour nous faire part qu’il s’attendait à mieux lors de la dernière journée, mais que les circonstances ont joué contre lui en deux occasions.  
La source première de sa frustration a été la décision des Racing Stewards de ne pas déclarer Five Star Rock — qui prit la 4e place à 5,45L de Speed Limit — un non-partant dans la première manche du championnat dès 3 ans. Il nous explique: « My horse was a little bit naughty in the gates. When the gates opened, they were still holding his head. So he missed the break quite badly. I reported the matter to them (ndlr: les Racing Stewards) as soon as I came back but they didn’t want to make him a non-runner. I’m not saying that I could have won but people had money on my horse and they were not given a fair chance. The Stewards didn’t think that being much closer would have make a difference. That’s their opinion », a déclaré un Donavan Mansour visiblement pas satisfait de la décision des commissaires de course.
L’autre source de frustration du Sud-Africain est le déroulement de la course de clôture alors qu’il était en selle sur It’s My Party, le favori de cette épreuve longue de 1500m. « I cannot understand why people want go to the front only to slow down thereafter. The result of this is that other horses start pulling and the worst place to be when your horse starts pulling is one-off because you’re sure your horse will be dead. When he slowed down (ndlr: le jockey Ravikumar Vaibhav qui pilotait Monarch’s Emblem), I wanted to take the lead but just when I came close to him, he kept chasing, keeping me on the outside. It was the same thing last week. I simply cannot understand such tactic », a déploré un Donavan Mansour dépité. Pour étayer ses dires, le Sud-Africain a pris comme exemple la course de Scotsnog.  « Was it necessary for me to chase him the whole way? », s’est-il interrogé. « What I did was to make him work a little bit and then I sit back  as I could feel he won’t let me pass him. Why you guys keep chasing the whole race? », s’est-il encore demandé.
« Kremlin Captain, my favourite for the Barbé »
La seule satisfaction de notre interlocuteur fut la victoire de Captain Magpie dans The Ciloas Publicité Cup. Cette course qui, à l’origine, avait attiré dix sept entrées, ne se disputa au final qu’avec sept partants. Sans doute ceux qui partirent tenter leur chance dans l’épreuve suivante (dotée des mêmes conditions), savaient-t-ils que Captain Magpie n’allait faire qu’une bouchée de l’opposition. Du reste, la victoire de ce coursier ne fut guère une surprise pour la cravache sud-africaine. « It was a targeted race. He was much better than last time. In fact, when he won his first race, he was well. When he bagged his second win, he didn’t improve from that first run. But now he improved more and for me he was a penalty. »
La performance d’Independence, bon deuxième de Scotsnog, a aussi plu au Sud-Africain. « He ran a much better race. We decided to take everything off him this time. He is probably one of the nicest horse we have at the stable but he doesn’t know how to past horses. Once he learns to do that, he will bag three wins in a row », prédit-il.
Invité à donner son point de vue sur le Barbé qui sera couru ce samedi, Donavan Mansour fait de Kremlin Captain son favori pour la victoire. « The way I see the race, I think he will be in front. If his jockey can nurse him and give him a breather, he will be hard to catch. But if he goes hard on him, it will be difficult for him. Having said so, he remains my favourite to win the race. »