Interbet Preview Of Leg 2 Of The Triple Crown In Joburg
By Mark v Deventer
Leg 2 of the Triple Tiara/Crown series takes place at Turffontein on Saturday with the running of the
SA Fillies Classic and
SA Classic, both G1’s over 1800m for 3YO’s.
The
HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes (a G1 for top milers) is also part of a fantastic card.
RACE 6 -
WILGERBOSDRIFT SA FILLIES CLASSIC – 14h25
Hazy Dazy s/s 98 + won the first leg (
Gauteng Fillies Guineas) in a controlling performance, despite a wide draw. This time she is better gated at 4, and the longer trip should be in her favour. She’s already won five of seven starts and can add to that fine tally, but opening quotes of 15/10 are a little skinny given that she surprised as a 25/1 longshot last time.
The filly she beat by two lengths a month ago, slow starter,
Charge It s/s 97, tries to exact revenge and is a tempting alternative at early quotes of 11/1.
Drumnadrochit s/s 95 + and
Daisy Jones s/s 94 + are likely improvers. They should work out easier trips than last time and get much closer to troubling the favourite.
Hazy Dazy.
Golden Palm s/s 98 may do better second start after a rest though it remains to be seen if she can build on her excellent juvenile form. She is second favourite at around 4/1 in the ante-post market.
Littlemissmillion and
Lowveld Lily have speed scores of 96. Unless they build on those figs, they are unlikely to win yet could hit lower slots of trifectas and quartets.
RACE 7 –
HKJC WORLD POOL SA CLASSIC – 15H00
Jan van Goyen is top rated with a s/s of 105. He went crazy- fast before understandably folding in the King’s Plate but his prior victory in the
Cape Guineas when handled more judiciously was impressive.
His M/M de Kock trained stable mates,
Splittheeights s/s 103 and
One Eye on Vegas s/s 102 are only a few ticks behind with
Grand Empire s/s 102 right in the mix, too.
Jan van Goyen’s biggest threat could be
Trust s/s 104 who encountered interference in a rough
Gauteng Guineas when under a length off
Splittheeeights, plus he sports a previous victory over his foe in the
Dingaans.
RACE 8 -
HF OPPENHEIMER HORSE CHESTNUT STAKES – 15H35
It’s great to have the country’s best milers converge in this high-quality showdown. Based on historical precedent, it typically requires a speed fig of 108 or higher to win this race. Five of the nine entries qualify by that metric, but let’s delve a bit deeper.
Here are the speed ratings for each horse, with qualifiers in italics:
Main Defender s/s 111?
See It Again s/s 112
The Real Prince s/s 114
Atticus Finch s/s 105
Cosmic Speed s/s 107
Fire Attack s/s 109
Texas Red s/s 103
Pressonregardless s/s 97
Tin Pan Alley s/s 109
The brilliant
Main Defender qualifies comfortably on the pick of his past performances but is a query having his second run after a year’s layoff.
Multiple G1 victors,
See It Again and
The Real Prince have tussled a few times in the Cape and in Durban with consistently excellent scores – they now venture inland at altitude which poses a different challenge.
Of the two, The Real Prince is preferred over a mile given his superb powers of acceleration. Assuming he copes first time Turffontein, he shapes up as the most probable winner.
Fire Attack battled through an abortive Cape venture when he got sick, then injured, so that is best forgotten. He showed signs of a form return three weeks ago with a figure of 100 +. If running to the ability he showed in the
Champions Stakes at Greyville when the fastest finisher, Alec Laird’s stable star has a shake.
Tin Pan Alley represents the younger generation. He is classy and game contender who should get a good commute from draw 2. Sean Tarry’s entry could be each way value at 12/1 or better.
Bio: Mark van Deventer has been refining his speed figures for thoroughbred racehorses over three decades. A full-time racing journalist since 2013, he’s known for his integrity and imaginative handicapping, adapting the principles of Andrew Beyer’s figures to South African racecourses.
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