EBONY FLYER

Ebony Flyer to take on Pocket Power in the Queen's Plate....my word, good luck to Snaith and team Valor...this reminds me of 2009 Met..

Maybe a satelitte yard......thats all.As for Ebony Flyer,wont be the Met and probably the Queens Plate.....go out in style before she goes overseas.

I may be the biggest Pocket Power fan that ever walked (except for maybe the dude with the Shirtliff silks and flag at Kenilworth) so therefore it is my opinion that PP will eat 3 YEAR OLD Ebony Flyer for breakfast. I personally think taking on the best milers in the country under the Queens Plate conditions is perhaps shooting a little bit high?

If she does run and pulls it off then good luck to her and the connections, but surely there are more appropriate races for her during the Cape Summer?

Now I hear what will be said....she is the best, she should be taking on the best.......I know I know, but the Queens plate is structured to suit the older horses with the highest MR (I believe), thus PP will be very hard to beat imo. He is now and will always be one of the greats in SA!!!

I'm just saying....Barry, Justin and all the connections, just think about the Queens Plate very carefully as I don't think it is the correct race for her.

Just my opinion of course!

She is badly weighted for The Met with 53.5kg....got a penalty for winning the GR1 last weekend so that race is not an option......she cant run with the colts in the Guineas this year as i think they are way too strong.....the Paddock over 1800m is too far so only option is The Queens Plate....I think she will come in with 52,5kg and is thus extremely well weighted.....Felix up and a Big Runner IMHO....imagine Mrs Rupert leading her in for her own sponsored race?After that she's outa here.....

Dont know why you guys think that 1800m is too far ? we are just better waiting until Barry sets a plan

Hotline is no dummy!

The fact of the matter is no one knows if Ebony will or won't stay as there's not enough proof to make that assessment. I see no wrong in trying her over further, its the only way to find out!

Furthermore if she is indeed going overseas I would rather make a judgement whether she is superstar quality by seeing how she fares against the best horses in this country. I can assure you if she can't beat this lot she will have no chance of doing it overseas.

It might be early on her career but the best 3 year olds in Europe take on older horses after a few runs. Its not as if she she isn't strong enough to do so, I mean she's bigger than most of the males!

For me the issue with the paddock stakes is not the distance, its the standard of fillies she will run against. There are no top class older fillies left in SA except for Mother Russia. Obviously if she beats Mother Russia it will tell us a lot about how good she is but I would rather learn this against the males. If she manages to win the Queens Plate then 53.5 kg in the Met might be worth chancing.

Us punters love to speculate but lets see what Barry and the team decide...

Barry Irwin Wrote:

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> Hotline is no dummy!

I hate to be the one that says this BUT when she races in the Queens Plate, against what looks to be a very very strong field, she has to bring everything and more than the class that owners and trainer are undoubtedly saying she has. Most of us believe, from what I am reading on this forum, she has the the class to win it. I for one would love PP to win it but on the other hand I would also love Ebony flyer to win it.
I think sometimes we can be in the habit of blowing things up before the proof is in the pudding. Older Males, with a class history and formlines that ooze strength, to run up against is no easy task but a great test indeed. If she does win (fingers crossed I guess) ,then World...... BASSOP WENA!
All in all, I guess what I am saying is the owners and trainers best be prepared for a loss and so should the rest of us. BUT be prepared for a hell of a race!

SNAITH RACING!

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

9 DECEMBER 2010

EBONY FLYER TO TAKE ON HER ELDERS IN QUEEN'S PLATE

Unbeaten 3-year-old filly sensation Ebony Flyer, who made last Saturday's Grade 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas at Kenilworth her fourth victory in as many starts for trainer Justin Snaith, will take on older horse’s next time out in the Grade 1 L'Ormarins Queen's Plate.

Contested under weight-for-age conditions over 1600 meters on January 8, the Queen's Plate is expected to feature the likes of Pocket Power, fresh off a victory in the Ocean Basket Green Point Stakes at Kenilworth, and Gibraltar Blue, best last time out in the Grade 2 Ipi Tombe Stakes at Turffontein.

Snaith commented "As I've said all along, we think this filly is special. Normally, the logical next step would be to race her the same afternoon as the Queen's Plate in the Paddock Stakes. But that race is over 1800 meters and the Queen's Plate is over 1600. Right now, we want to keep her at 1600 meters. She is very explosive and we like the idea of racing over the same distance until she is more seasoned. I have told the owners that I see no problem with her running over 2000 meters a bit later on. But at this time in the development of the filly, who has only run 4 times, we prefer to keep her at 1600 meters. Physically she will match any older male pound for pound – she’s a Giant"

Ebony Flyer will carry 52.5 kgs, receiving 5 pounds for her age and a further 2.5 kgs for her sex allowance. Pocket Power is set to carry 60 kgs, so he must concede 7.5 kgs. Based on current Merit Ratings of 117 for the Horse of the Year and 107 for the 3-year-old filly, Ebony Flyer on paper figures to be in with a chance.

Snaith’s stable jockey, Felix Coetzee, will replace Bernard Fayd'herbe aboard Ebony Flyer due to the latter’s weight constraints.

"Felix had been her regular rider, but he had to beg off of her last two races," explained Snaith. "He had hurt his hand and we needed a replacement that could gallop her for us and was certain to be able to ride her and we chose Bernard. Felix had previous engagements in Asia and never was going to be available for the Guineas. But now that Felix is available and can do the weight, he will be back on Ebony Flyer. Bernard can't get close to 52.5 kgs."

Barry Irwin, whose Team Valor International owns the majority and manages Ebony Flyer for a partnership that includes long-time partners Anant and Vanshree Singh, as well as recently added partner Gaynor Rupert of Drakenstein Stud, said "We are high on this filly and want to give her every chance to show exactly how good we think she is. It is most likely that the Queen's Plate will be the filly's last run before we place her in quarantine with the idea of exporting her to Europe.

"Running Ebony Flyer in the Queen's Plate will give her a chance to make history by becoming the first of her age and sex to win the race. It will be a formidable task, but we want to give the filly the opportunity."

Captain's Lover, the older half-sister to Ebony Flyer, won the Cape Fillies Guineas, placed behind Dancer's Daughter and River Jetez in the Paddock Stakes and was immediately sent afterwards to be trained by Andre Fabre in France, where she became a Group stakes winner at Longchamp before winning the Matchmaker Stakes in the United States. Team Valor International plans to follow a similar path with Ebony Flyer.

Irwin said "We buy all of our racing prospects with the idea of eventually exporting the ones that have the quality to excel on the world stage. Ebony Flyer looks like such an animal. We love South African racing and breeding, currently racing a stable of horses trained by Justin Snaith, Neil Bruss and Ormond Ferraris, and we have mares at several farms. We will continue to support South African racing. However, when we have a horse that shows us it can take its act on the road, we feel it behooves us to do so. While the loss to local racing will no doubt disappoint some fans, hopefully future victories abroad by Ebony Flyer will allow them more opportunities to show pride in this South African product."

ENDS

So Barry listened to my advice and she is running in the Queens Plate, I will send you my bank details for my advisory fee

There's nothing wrong with losing, all the great athletes eventually lose at some point. But there's definitely something wrong with not trying.

I salute the connections who obviously aren't fixated on unbeaten records but rather testing her ability.

If Ebony Flyer were to win it would really be something. The 150th running of the race, her owners the Ruperts sponsoring the day, Snaith stable being her trainer with all that they have done to revive the race day, and a potential Queen of the turf becoming the first filly to win the most prestigious weight for age race in SA, the Queens Plate. That would be quite a fairytale!

Hey, I grew up near Hollywood, so I know all about fairies!