Tsogo Sun Medallion winner Guiness
Dennis Drier’s Cape Summer of Champions season string will start being transported down to their Phillipi training centre base from this coming week and is as full of quality as usual, so he could once again have Gr 1 trophies to bring back to Summerveld by next February.
The string will be headed by the like of Guiness, Generalissimo, Eventual Angel, Jet Aglow, Captain Of All, Captain On The Run, Balkan, Knox and Beckedorff, while he will also have four or five classy two-year-olds to work with.
Three-year-old colt Guiness and four-year-old colt Captain Of All are already Gr 1 victors, both having won the Tsogo Sun Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville as two-year-olds.
This pair as well as Tsogo Sun fourth-placed Beckedorff all have plenty of speed, so it would be no surprise to see them in the season’s biggest sprints, including the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth.
However the probable most exciting male in the string is the three-year-old Var colt Generalissimo, who has been hugely impressive in his last two victories over 1200m and 1000m respectively.
Drier is hopeful that he will get a mile and said, “He is not a tearaway, so I don’t see why not.” Generalissimo will start off in the Gr 3 Elusive Fort Cape Classic over 1400m on October 25 and his route from there if the mile does prove to be within his reach will likely be the Gr 2 Selangor Cup over 1600m on November 22 and the Gr1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas on December 20.
Eventual Angel returns to the Cape
The robust Right Approach filly Eventual Angel is a very exciting sort, having won four out of five starts in commanding style, including a Gr 3.
Drier believes she will get at least a mile and that time will tell whether she gets 1800m. She and the classy Jet Master mare Jet Aglow will likely attempt to fill the considerable boots of Beach Beauty by landing races like the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m and the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m.
Balkan has been disappointing since two runaway wins over 1000m and 1100m respectively, so is a bit of an unknown quantity. Captain On The Run has also been a bit disappointing overall, but at his best will be competitive in feature sprints.
Knox is a three-year-old Western Winter gelding who won his second start over 1200m on the Greyville polytrack by seven lengths and he could possibly join Generalissimo in going for the big sophomore events.
Whichever way it is looked at, Drier will almost certainly be a force to be reckoned with down in Cape Town for the next few months.
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