Goodtime Gal and Greg Cheyne can come home at a good price in the Final Fling Stakes at Kenilworth tomorrow.
The Mike Robinson filly was a 6-1 chance in the TAB sheet forecast and, while the bookmakers may not be so generous, her last two runs should ensure a certain leniency on the part of both the layers and the Tote.
Four of tomorrow’s rivals finished in front of her in the Ladies Mile and she was only sixth in the Prix du Cap before that. But she wore blinkers that day and she made it clear that she didn’t like them while her most recent run was her first for four months.
Goodtime Gal (Liesl King)
“She’d had a break before it but she has come on a hell of a lot since,” says Robinson’s wife Luella. “She is very well again and back to herself.”
It is the Victress winner’s run in the Majorca – beaten less than three-quarters of a length when third to Nightingale – that marks her out as the most likely winner tomorrow.
Justin Snaith is bidding for his fourth Final Fling in five seasons and he is keen on A Time To Dream who was third in the Ladies Mile despite losing a lot of ground at the start by rearing as the pens opened.
“She is difficult in the pens but I don’t know if the guy holding her let her go in time,’’ says Snaith. “Anyway it was just one of those unfortunate incidents and she went straight up, losing six to eight lengths.
“She has done well since and, if we don’t have problems in the starting stalls, you’ve got to give her a huge chance on that last run. The way she made up the ground was like something out of a movie. It was unbelievable to watch.”
But she is not the only one with a hard luck story. Grant van Niekerk believes he would have won the Ladies Mile on Ngaga with a clear run – “the gap was tight, the horse on my inside moved out and I had to wait for a couple of strides.”
Silvan Star won that race, and won it with some authority. She will be one of the favourites and Glen Kotzen has won this three times in the past 15 seasons.
Harlem Shake and Heavelon van der Hoven sprang a 12-1 surprise a year ago and, while the pair will probably start at a similar price, it could be worth bearing in mind that Glen Puller’s horses are running well at the moment.
By Michael Clower
