This R450 000 Var filly has really caught the eye of rival trainers at Milnerton and she is bred to be fast. She is a full sister to the speedy Happy Forever and a half-sister to the Allan Robertson winner Happy Valentine.

Marshall confirms that she is quite quick “but not like her sister.”  She was a 4-1 shot in the Betting World forecast yesterday while Forever Alert was favourite at 16-10 after running a creditable second on debut.

“She is a nice filly,” says Paul Reeves, wheelchair-bound with a broken ankle, the result of taking an awkward step backwards a month or so ago. “She was very green the first time but she has come on nicely.”

Greg Cheyne (Liesl King)

Carmina is coughing and has been scratched but one to note is newcomer My Emblem. “She is quite fast but hasn’t been here,” says Eric Sands.

Ovar, a beaten favourite in his last two races, opened at 7-10 for the Prawn Festival Maiden and should collect this time. “He is still a big baby but he is very well,” says Yogas Govender, proud of his current Cape Town strike rate – 16% win and 62% place. “He just needs to learn what it is all about and he could start here.”

There is not a lot between him and 5-2 shot Breathless Bertie but watch out for the latter’s 14-1 stable companion Downton Abbey who is dropping in trip. He normally leads but fails to last home. “Greg Cheyne told me ‘Put him over 1 000m and he will have a huge chance,’” says Mike Stewart. “But I think we’ve all got Ovar to beat.”

Cheyne is going great guns this term and, whatever his fortunes on Downton Abbey, he can win the next on Ashram. Glen Kotzen’s 3-1 chance looks good enough to account for 4-1 shot Caesour’s Ides although the money is starting to talk with Let It Rip. Dean Kannemeyer’s first-timer opened at 33-10 on Monday and was only half that yesterday.

Upper Echelon’s maiden win was not boosted by Fear Not last Saturday and so Saint Mary (2-1) is taken to beat Queens Music (11-2) in the Soccer 6 Handicap despite being raised 2kg for last time’s much-improved run.

The handicappers have made wholesale changes to the ratings of the runners in the Racing.It’s A Rush Handicap so punters need to tread carefully. Friendly Tibbs and Playingtheenemy have been raised 3kg and 3.5kg while Black Toga and Matador In Red have both been dropped a kilo.

To further complicate matters Playingtheenemy is only half a kilo worse for beating Tomba La Bomba a length and a half. That said, the Bass filly did not get a totally clear run and hunch, rather than form, says she could be the one. The bookmakers take much the same view and she was favourite at 28-10 yesterday.

Assistant trainer Robert Fayd’Herbe, who looks after Bass’s new satellite yard at Turffontein, said the horse had travelled well and that he had been taken for a walk to see the course.

Asked whether he gave the horse a chance, he said, “Absolutely. He is quite a light horse, so will improve all the time as he fills out. He is a big runner as long as the altitude doesn’t affect him.”

Usually altitude only really comes into the equation for races beyond a mile, so he should be fine over this trip.

He is certainly progressive and in his third career start in November, his first after gelding, he finished just 1,35 lengths behind his stable mate Equity Kicker over a too sharp 1000m and the latter has gone on to win two more races, including beating tough older horses like Castlethorpe and Happy Forever in a Pinnacle event over 1000m.

Spirit Of Hamilton was then stepped up to a more suitable 1400m two runs later and waltzed in by 6,75 lengths.

First time out the maidens off a merit rating of 80 in a MR72 Handicap over 1600m, he showed good gate speed and settled well enough on the flank of the leader, who dictated a “Cape Crawl”.  He showed a good turn of foot before staying on resolutely and was still full of running at the line. He certainly struck as one with plenty of scope and one that would prefer a quicker pace which he is likely to get tonight.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe (pictured) is on a high after his superb  J&B Met ride on the brilliant Futura so will be a bonus in the saddle. Furthermore, Spirit Of Hamilton jumps from a plum draw of two.

Tarry warned about the Australian-bred Willow Magic, “He is obviously a class horse. This is his second run after a rest and he is significantly worse off at the weights with some of the others. I still expect him to just about win it but am not overly confident that he is going to do what he did last time. At the end of the day he has bigger fish to fry and I was in two minds whether to run him here. But looking at the program there was no perfect race for him between now and his first big target the Senor Santa in about two months time so I decided to run him here and he can then come into the Senor Santa a little bit fresh.”

Tarry explained the reason for his long layoff, “He had inflammation of the tendon, but there was never a core lesion and he is fit and well.”

He said about Siren’s Call, who on 102 is merit rated seven points higher than any other horse in the race, “She is clearly the horse to beat and my only concern is that 1400m is a bit too short for her and if they go fast I hope she is not too far out of her ground.”

Captain’s Clipper is merit rated joint third highest on 94, but returns from a long layoff and he said, “I would have liked another couple of weeks, but he has done well enough to run a good race, although the draw doesn’t help.”

Trophy Wide is a progressive merit rated 84 and he said, “She has had the perfect prep and will run very well. She stepped up in class last time and coped nicely. I think she’s a runner.”

Jupiterandmars come into the race after the scratching  of Cotton Hill and Tarry said, “She should have it all to do. I’m surprised they didn’t accept Seventh Heart, who is five lengths better, but they chose to give her a 76 and gave Eliza Doolittle an 81 for winning a workrider’s maiden.”

Tarry’s older stalwarts Whiteline Fever and Halve The Deficit return from layoffs in the fourth, a Conditions Plate over 1400m. He said, “I am happy with Whiteline  Fever and expect a forward run. His target is the Hawaii again. Halve The Deficit was nominated for the Met, but things didn’t go smoothly so I had to make a plan B. This is a prep run for the features in the season. The Johan Janse Van Vuren filly (Winter Star) is very well weighted and will be hard to beat.”

Tarry gave the Jet Master filly Off The Mark “a big chance” in the third race over 1160m, but added, “Coming back in distance is my only concern.”

Vaal-based Peter is “leaning towards” the Dupont gelding Forest Fox as his chief contender in the Sales race, where he also runs the impressive debut winning Judpot filly Eliza Doolittle and the promising Rebel King filly London.

He said, “They are all extremely well. Forest Fox’s prep has gone perfectly and he is a decent horse.”

Sean Cormack

This gelding looked to be going nowhere over 1400m at the Vaal last time off an 87 merit rating against older campaigners, but then suddenly got his mind on the job and sauntered clear to an impressive  2,5 length win. The penny appeared to have dropped in that race, which was just his fourth career outing.

Peter confirmed that Forest Fox, having tended “to fall asleep early in his races early”, now appeared to have “woken up” and had been “more enthusiastic” in his work. He continued, “There looks to be a bit off pace in the race, which will suit him.”

Eliza Doolittle hardly came off the bit on debut in a moderate workrider’s maiden to win by seven lengths and impressed with her long, comfortable stride. Peter said afterwards that she had only been “about 70% fit” for that race.

He said, “She has tons of improvement to come. But this race does come a bit soon and she is drawn wide.”

London impressed when stepped up to 1450m for the first time last August in a decent maiden on the Turffontein Inside track, finding a strong finish to beat useful sorts like Gold Cup Girl and Will I Do by 4,5 lengths and 10,75 lengths respectively. She was disappointing in her next two starts, but was running on quite well last time out over 1600m. Peter said, “She had a muscle problem which we have sorted out and she has been working well.” London is well drawn and if she finds her best form she could be an outsider to consider.

Peter has taken all three horses to see the course.

Derreck David is usually Peter’s first choice jockey, but in this case Sean Cormack rides Forest Fox (draw 8), Gunther Wrogemann rides Eliza Doolittle (draw 14) and JP van der Merwe rides London (draw 5). Peter explained, “Hassen Adams wanted Sean Cormack to ride Forest Fox and we weren’t sure whether Eliza Doolittle would qualify so Derreck accepted the ride on Dominic Zaki’s horse (The Stones). Derreck did want to ride Forest Fox.”

Peter’s Mod Barley looks well held in the Gr 3 Tommy Hotspur Handicap, but he said, “He is working well at home.”

He said about his charge Mogok Master, who gives weight to the rest of the field in a Juvenile Plate over 1000m, “He is an extremely good horse and is strong in the field. He should follow up on his debut win.”

He said: “I have no choice now but to go for a fusion which is the last case scenario. I have been told that it means losing a lot of the movement in my wrist and hand so I won’t be able to ride. The whole reason for having the first op was to avoid the fusion but it wasn’t a success.

“In a way it has come as a surprise and, while I have obviously thought about the future, I don’t yet know what I will do. I don’t think I will train – it’s not my cup of tea.”

Hatt,50, calculates that he rode some 2 300 winners and the tally includes J & B Mets on Bunter Barlow (2001) and River Jetez (2010), and three Queen’s Plates on Wainui (1989) and Winter Solstice (2005 and 2006).

He said: “I had so much to look forward to with Futura and the others in Brett Crawford’s yard, as well as my great relationship with Brett. Things were going so well but I’m not complaining. I’ve had a great time and I wouldn’t have done anything else. Indeed, if I were to come back in another life, I would be a jockey again!”