The NHRA Handicappers have been busy on the past weekend’s feature race analysis. They publish their individual feature reports hereunder.
Gr2 Concorde Cup
KING OF GEMS has seen his rating raised from 98 to 109 after he overcame the widest draw in an eleven-runner field to win the Concorde Cup for three-year-olds over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday 23 November. The Handicappers felt it was highly improbable that third placed MACTHIEF would have run worse here than when he finished 5th in the Grade 3 Cape Classic four weeks earlier and used the 106 which he actually achieved on that occasion as the basis for rating the Concorde Cup. As such, MACTHIEF’S rating goes up to 106.
Aldo Domeyer salutes on King Of Gems as Gaynor Rupert looks on (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
Runner-up SACHDEV goes up from 94 to 108, while fourth placed VIVA RIO remains unchanged on 108. SEVENTH GEAR was raised from 100 to 103, while in the only other change CANE LIME ‘N SODA goes up slightly from 101 to 102. No drops were made to the rating of any horses in this event.
Gr2 Cape Merchants
RUSSET AIR has had his rating increased from 108 to 112 after he won the Cape Merchants (handicap) over 1200m at Kenilworth on Saturday. Third placed PLEASEDTOMEETYOU was used as the line horse here and accordingly his rating remains unchanged, however runner-up READY STEADY GO was increased slightly from 105 to 106.
Fourth placed CABO DA CRUZ was 2 kgs under sufferance and accordingly his rating has been upped from 94 to 97. Numerous horses were given a ratings’ drop. TRACES was dropped from 107 to 105, while NEW CALEDONIA (without a place from seven starts since finishing 2nd in this race last year) was cut from 107 to 104. BWANA goes from 109 to 107, CATKIN drops from 105 to 103, ELUSIVE TRADER goes from 102 to 100, and SERGEANT HARDY was dropped from 111 to 109.
Gr3 Fillies Mile
Unbeaten SUMMER PUDDING has had her rating increased from 90 to 110 after she coped with a sharp rise in class to record a third win from as many starts in the Citizen Fillies Mile for three-year-olds over 1600m at Turffontein (standside track) on Saturday. Fourth placed SIDONIE was used as the line horse and so her rating remains unchanged.
Summer Pudding wins Gr3 Fillies Mile (Pic – JC Photos)
Runner-up KEEP SMILING goes up from 96 to 109, while third finisher MARYGOLD also goes up to 109 (from 90.) TALLINN goes up from 94 to 99, INVISIBLE was raised to 95 from 93, and SMILEY RIVER was upped from 84 to 91. LEAGUE OF HER OWN was dropped from 100 to 99, while KAYLA’S CHAMP was trimmed from 110 to 108.
- Press release published by NHRA on Monday 25 November 2019
