ANDREW HARRISON

THE two-day L’Ormarins Racing Festival kicks off at Kenilworth this afternoon and while tomorrow’s meeting is the festival highlight with the running of the Gr1 L’Ormarins Queens Plate and three other Graded features including the Gr1 Cartier Paddock Stakes, there is a lot to look forward to today.

Celtic Sea is as game and sound as they come and she will be in short order to defend her title in the Gr2 Cartier Sceptre Stakes.

With jockey’s locked in to the province of their choice for this month, Gavin Lerena has elected to team up with Sean Tarry’s Cape Town raiders and Celtic Sea should get his month off to a winning start.

Celtic Sea seldom runs a bad race and all things being equal she should prove difficult to beat in a race where she has much in her favour. In spite of giving weight to all of her eight rivals, she is still 3kg to the good given that this is a WFA contest plus penalties.

Versatile, winning from 1000m to a mile, today’s 1200m is arguable her optimum trip and the manner in which she disposed of the top class and distance suited Run Fox Run over 1000m in her seasonal Cape debut, only an unusual ‘off’ day will get her beaten.

A likely threat could come in the form of Brett Crawford’s filly Pretty Young Thing but on current form she looks held safe by Celtic Sea. After showing good pace in the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, she folded quickly at the business end as Celtic Sea got the better of Run Fox Run in a desperate finish. That was not the case in the Gr1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m where she finished alongside Celtic Sea beaten a neck, both behind surprise winner Temple Grafin.

Pretty Young Thing could prefer it a furlong further which should again give Celtic Sea the edge.

Of the balance, Glen Kotzen has a knack of priming his runners for the big occasion, Temple Grafin springs to mind, so one can expect a forward showing from both of his runners with Third Runway with stable rider Morne Winnaar aboard the likely pick.

Justin Snaith dominates with numbers and none of his trio can be written off lightly but in the final analysis it should be a scramble for the minor money behind Celtic Sea.