Kotzen said about the Trippi filly Jeweller’s Joy, who has already won two races but is nevertheless the lowest merit rated horse (82) in the Ready To Run Stakes, “She is a progressive filly and gets better and better every week. She is not a tearaway at home and we are excited as she is one of the few horses in the race that has gone the trip and more, so will have no problem staying it. The draw should not be a worry as she came from off them last time.”

Jeweller’s Joy won her maiden on October 18 over 1300m at Durbanville and two weeks later she downed the useful Gr 2 placed older mare Earth’s Orbit in a MR 76 fillies and mares handicap over 1600m at Kenilworth. She didn’t appear to let herself down in that one length win over 1600m and Kotzen confirmed, “She had a ton in hand at the line. It is quite hard for a three-year-old to beat older horses first time out of the maidens, so I was proud of her.”

Kotzen gives her a definite “shout”. He said, “It is very open but in my opinion three horses, Belong To Me, Alexis  and Jeweller’s Joy, will fill three of the first four places and you can choose any of the rest for the other placing. Belong To Me ran a solid fourth behind Harry’s Son over this trip at Turffontein and that puts him in the picture. Alexis looks really smart and will have no problem with the trip on pedigree.” Jeweller’s Joy has a tricky draw of eleven.

Kotzen thinks highly of his three-year-old Western Winter colt Light The Lights and his program for the season is mirroring the one he gave to the probable best horse he has ever trained, the Vodacom Durban July winner Big City Life. Like Big City Life, Light The Lights won the Listed RA Stakes over 1600m at Fairview in the October of his three-year-old year. He then burst into the public eye when running second to the great Pocket Power in the Green Point Stakes.

Kotzen said, “We have always seen Light The Lights as a July horse. Running in the Green Point he will be up against horses that are coming off long layoffs which will make them vulnerable, as opposed to The Selangor which is contested by three-year-olds that are tuned up. He was immature as a two-year-old and will only really come into his own next winter. He is a really smart horse and is a half-brother to In The Fast Lane so has a lot of potential and could still be anything.”

Light The Lights took a bad bump in the RA Stakes half-way down the straight, which a lot of horses would not have recovered from. However, after finding his balance he showed an exceptional turn of foot, although he was admittedly very well weighted under the conditions of the event.

He will be carrying a lightweight of 53kg on Saturday in the weight for age race as the three-year-olds receive 7kg from older males at this time of the year over this distance.  Furthermore, he is drawn in pole position which should allow him to settle nicely and use that superb turn of foot in the straight.

Of his other runners on the day, Kotzen regards his Silvano filly Goldandsilver as having a good chance in the last race, a MR 75 handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m.  All three of the horses mentioned will be ridden by stable jockey Greg Cheyne, who was the same rider that drove Big City Life to his famous July win in 2009 (pictured).

Picture: Big City Life (Nkosi Hlophe)