Good morning and txs Elvis, will not be at the track, but all the best, its good to have an active local post, here is input from the RXP.
JACK MILNER RXP
THE question facing trainers in Race 6 at Turffontein tomorrow is whether they will be able to stop the Charles Laird-Anton Marcus express. Using the old expression, at the moment the Laird yard ``is so in form it would win with the stable cat’’.
Laird will saddle Australian-bred Majestic Legend in this FM 81 Handicap over 1600m on the inside track and from No 2 draw she will take some stopping.
The three-year-old Royal Academy filly has run three times for a win and two close seconds. In her debut, she coasted to a 2.50-length victory over Miamuli over 1160m at Turffontein and was then pipped by Africa’s Touch over 1400m at the Vaal after drifting from 7-10 to 28-10. Over 1600m up the Vaal straight in her third start she failed to get on terms with Sean Tarry’s Autumn Gold and went down by 0.75 lengths.
Autumn Gold is also in this field but Majestic Legend has a 2kg pull this time and should turn the tables.
Tarry’s other runner in the line-up, Captain’s Gal, could be the main threat to Laird’s filly. She is a two-time winner who has run against some of the best of her age in Graded races like the Hertz Fillies Mile and Three Troikas Stakes in which she finished a 2.25-length fourth behind Sharp Mistress.
She scored a convincing victory over 1400m at the Vaal next time out when two details changed - she was fitted with blinkers and Piere Strydom took the ride.
Despite that good win over Magnifique it is questionable whether the Captain Al filly will be able to give 5kg to Majestic Legend, although she does have advantage of having already run three times at this track.
The runner who could set the cat among the pigeons is Barend Botes’ Hezekiah. This Zimbabwe-bred filly is just ``two bricks and a tickey high’’ but what she lacks in size she makes up for in heart.
Botes has a special place in his heart for this filly who was ``thrown in’’ as an extra to a package of five horses. ``She was so small and looked so weak that I decided to call her Hezekiah, which in the bible means `God gives strength’.’’
He took her to Flamingo Park for her first start and she ran a 7.25-length third behind Peter Miller’s seven-year-old maiden Spruce. Her next run was at the Vaal and Botes was not expecting much. But the tiny filly surprised him as she flew late to beat Kimberly Cruise by a head.
It did not stop there. In her next start over 1400m at the Vaal she again came with a late burst to beat Split Liaison by 1.25 lengths. ``She’s a long-striding filly who shows quite a bit in work,’’ said Botes after the race. `’But then I get off her and I can see over the top and I wonder how something that small can run so fast.’’
Significantly, running on the same day as Captain’s Gal and carrying 2.5kg more, Hezekiah won in 0.21 sec faster time. In this race, Tarry’s filly will give Hezekiah 4.5kg.
A good run from Hezekiah will augur well for Split Liaison, who runs in Race 7, a FM Handicap over 1600m. She has run three times for a win and two places. With Strydom in the irons and jumping from pole position, she looks the stand-out bet on the card.
She beat Bopa’s Girl at the second time of asking but was then rested from November to March and made her comeback in the race against Hezekiah. She was making up ground hand over fist at the finish and the only thing Tarry’s filly has to fear is any effect of having her second run after a layoff.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
