Saturday’s World Sports Betting Cape Fillies Guineas favourite Querari Falcon arrived in Cape Town yesterday morning after taking the 1 400k journey from Johannesburg in good shape.
Mike Azzie said: “She is bright and perky, looking upbeat and seems to have travelled well. She is in a very good space at the moment and in my opinion whatever beats her will win.”
The Thekwini winner has been bought by Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud from Adriaan van Vuuren since her last run.
Querari Falcon (Nkosi Hlophe)
Legal Eagle, second to Smart Call in last season’s Met, heads the 27 entries for the January 28 Sun International-sponsored R5 million feature. He will be opposed by fellow Met entries Abashiri, Marinaresco, Captain America, New Predator and Black Arthur in the WSB Green Point Stakes on Saturday.
Whisky Baron and It’s My Turn both took a significant step nearer the big race when finishing first and second in the Market Toyota Culemborg Allowance Plate at Kenilworth yesterday with Greg Cheyne’s mount particularly convincing, really asserting in the final 400m to score by nearly four lengths.
Brett Crawford said: “I was impressed because he didn’t run anywhere near his 96 rating when he won last time. If they leave him below 100 after this I will keep him to handicaps. If they don’t, maybe the Queen’s Plate.”
Cape Derby winner It’s My Turn looked beaten two furlongs out after disputing it with the winner much of the way but he ran on again to please Justin Snaith who said: “He had only had one 1 400m gallop coming into this so I was very happy with the run.”
Saturday week’s Southern Cross Stakes is under consideration for Our Destiny after Richard Fourie’s mount comfortably justified 12-10 favouritism in the Macsteel Graduation Plate.
Fourie reported: “My main mission was to make sure she had her head down and was relaxed as she tended to over-race at one stage. But I thought she would win easily and she did.”
The Glen Kotzen-trained four-year-old is part-owned and bred by Ralph Rixon for whom Kotzen used to be assistant. “It’s hard training for an ex-trainer,”Rixon admitted. “I taught Glen well but he doesn’t always listen and I went mad when he ran her in last year’s Fillies Guineas. I thought it was too far for her!”
By Michael Clower
