Marinaresco, second in last year’s Vodacom Durban July and second favourite this time, is reported in good heart for his reappearance in the Independent on Saturday Drill Hall Stakes although Candice Bass-Robinson points out that Sunday’s Greyville feature is very much a stepping-stone.
Marinaresco (Nkosi Hlophe)
She said: “Marinaresco is doing quite nicely and he doesn’t need a huge amount of work but the 1 400m is a bit short for him and this is a prep for the Rising Sun Gold Challenge.”
Bernard Fayd’Herbe rides the four-year-old for the first time while Richard Fourie has been booked for Sail South, one of two high profile runners for Brett Crawford.
Crawford said: “Sail South is very effective over the trip but he has a bad draw. However he loves Greyville, he has been very competitive there. He is rated 114, well weighted and well in.
“You have got to respect both him and Captain America (Corne Orffer) who is in very good form at the moment. He has been on the grass twice and has tightened up nicely.”
Horizon, slashed from 20-1 to 12-1 joint third favourite for the July after his head defeat of Cape Derby runner-up Zodiac Ruler in a 1 400m allowance plate at Greyville nine days ago, will renew rivalry with the Snaith horse in Sunday’s Daisy Guineas. Mrs Robinson then intends going for the Daily News.
Fayd’Herbe is back in full swing after his Dubai stint and his punishing weight-reducing routine, involving running at least ten kilometres a day, proved to have spin-off benefits last week when his circuits of Kenilworth enabled him to spot that the ground on the stands side was faster. He steered widest of all on African Night Sky last Saturday to land his third (Highlands Stud) Winter Guineas and the 10-1 chance has been pencilled in for an ambitious target.
Sail South (Liesl King)
Jonathan Snaith said: “He will now go for the other two legs of the Winter Series and next year he might run in the Sun Met.”
Turbulent Air, the 7-2 favourite, could finish no closer than fifth and, although Anton Marcus reported that the gelding did not stride out freely, the course vet could find nothing wrong.
Whose That Girl, who led over a furlong out under Domeyer in the Sweet Chestnut, will go in search of the R150 000 Winter Series bonus in the Stormsvlei Mile (May 21) and the Winter Oaks (June 24) but Mrs Robinson will adopt a new approach with stable companion Silver Mountain who managed only a disappointing fourth of five behind South Side in the 1 000m conditions plate.
The Milnerton trainer said: “This was way too short for her and the track is running very fast. It was a prep for the Tibouchina but she is not quite reproducing what she did as a three-year-old. Maybe she wants further and that is what we are going to look at.”
By Michael Cower
