The Miesque’s Approval filly Heart Warming could follow up on her win last Saturday
The R200 000 Gr3 Kenilworth Fillies Nursery has actually attracted sufficient runners to race on Saturday. The colts weren’t so lucky. The Cape Of Good Hope Nursery scheduled for the same afternoon has been cancelled and rescheduled for a week later. Bizarre, isn’t it?
One can only wonder what it is exactly about timetables and programmes that the Cape trainers haven’t bought into.
Our modern lives generally run on some form of basic order in most respects.
School, buses, planes, robots, work, even voting. If you are late, you miss out. But not here. The party just gets put off until a time it suits. But does it really suit everybody?
Confusing
Adding to the confusion about why there are no horses to fill the colt’s field must be the question as to what the owners of the 2yos are being told to keep them happy and paying their bills while the superstars stand in the boxes?
And is there no representation or voice by the local trainer body on the race programming committee to ensure that the race is run when it is needed? The 2yo races have been largely anorexic of late, although oddly every man and his dog wanted a runner in the juvenile feature on Met day.
Milnerton
Mike Bass has a strong hand
Thankfully the fillies’ nursery has attracted a competitive and relatively sizeable field of nine runners, with Glen Kotzen and Justin Snaith coming to the party with four runners.
But it could go the way of a Milnerton conditioner in our book.
Mike Bass has had a quiet run of it of late but he appears to have a very smart sort on his hands in the Maine Chance bred Miesque’s Approval filly Heart Warming.
This beautiful filly took two runs to find her feet and ran on smartly at her penultimate outing for a three length fourth behind Hot Affair in the Perfect Promise.
Obviously improving by the week, she came out at Kenilworth last Saturday and came home hard against the steel to beat Lady Al with ease.
Snaith Two Prong
Justin Snaith’s 2yo’s always warrant consideration
Justin Snaith has swept the boards this season with his 2yo’s in three different centres and he sends out recent maiden winners Red Disa and the beautifully bred Sapphire Gem.
Richard Fourie rides the obvious stable elect Red Disa, who beat Paradise Horse on a well supported debut 13 weeks ago over the course and distance.
While the Kenilworth sprint track has jumped draw favourability this term from the outer to the inside, she is drawn at 1 but has a small enough field to overcome that.
Sapphire Gem will be ridden by MJ Byleveld and is a daughter of one the great Snaith fillies of the past decade.
Sapphire Gem took four runs to find her winning turn and looks held on the Perfect Promise run where she could only run fifth and 4,45 lengths behind Hot Affair.
Kotzen Duo
Glen Kotzen’s duo are both maidens, but are very nicely bred fillies with good place form.
Karl Neisius rides the Argentinian bred Aliysa’s Pride, who ran a cracking second on debut to Ladidah, whose run in Friday’s Fairview feature may bear watching.
Greg Cheyne rides Kotzen’s Silvano filly Goldandsilver.
She has run two promising thirds and it is worth noting that she got within a neck of subsequent unbeaten dual feature winner Rosier (also a Kotzen resident).
Jockey Change
Hot Affair won the Listed Perfect Promise Sprint to give apprentice Xavier Carstens a first career stakes winner. The youngster has not been given the nod this time around and while we feel sorry for him, there is nothing wrong with his replacement.
The experienced Sean Cormack rides Mike Robinson’s Jay Peg filly for the second time after partnering her on debut. It has been drawn to our attention that Cormack was not available on the afternoon that she won the Perfect Promise.
Hot Affair beat Perpetua by just under two lengths in a top class showing in the Perfect Promise Sprint and with the top jockey aboard must go very close in this field.
Step Up
Eric Sands’ Shimmering Leaves exited the maiden ranks at her third outing a fortnight ago when holding on to beat Ellen Luyddog over the course and distance.
She beat a large fiekd there but is now required to step up to feature level for the first time.
Greg Ennion’s Perpetua is a smart daughter of Scarlet Letter who got going too late when runner up in the Perfect Promise Sprint.
While obviously held by Hot Affair, she could be worth following as a serious chance to chase the place money.
California Dreaming
Bernard Fayd’herbe rides Black Chrome for Joey Ramsden. The daughter of Black Minnaloushe reverts to the sprint track after two 1400m starts and is still a maiden. The combination have proven lethal though and she should have a reasonable outside place chance at best.
Wide Open
The difficulty of assessing the prospects of the juvenile form is compounded by the unknown quantity of Snaith’s debut winner Red Disa. She could be just about anything. Throw in Bass’ impressive maiden from last Saturday Heart Warming and Kotzen’s duo of placed maidens.Then Hot Affair is proven at stakes level and won a cracker last time. It is a tough contest and the going could also play a role.
