Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Prestic looking to go one better

David Thiselton
Summerveld trainer Gavin van Zyl has seven runners on Vodacom Durban July day and one reserve and looks to have a couple of chances.
He has Prestic in the Grade 1 Garden Province over 1 600m, a race in which she finished a close third last year.
This year she is drawn in pole position. Punters can assume that Prestic will be right on the day as Van Zyl said, “She is a very difficult horse to prepare as she has her problems, that is why she is so sparingly raced. We are hoping to have her right on the day and if she is, she will be competitive - and if not, we will scratch her.”
Van Zyl’s River Lodge is a reserve runner in the first and he said, “It’s competitive but he’s in good shape.”
In the Grade 3 Schweppes 2200 he has Bouquet-Garni and he said, “He also has his problems and is difficult to prep, so if he’s not right on the day we will also scratch him.
“In his last run here over 1 600m he ran a very good race and with a clear run he would have won. I hope he’ll be right on the day. The jockeys give feedback that he is not a stayer, but he won the SA Derby so there are two opinions.”
Cherry On The Cake
He has Cherry On The Cake in the Grade 1 Durban Thekwini over 1 600m and said, “She has the advantage of being the only horse in the field who has won over this distance so has no stamina doubts, but it was a very weak race and she only just won. But with natural improvement it will be no surprise to see her in the money.”
In the eighth over 1 400m he has Cape Town and he said, “His work is very good, but he has flattered to deceive. He was distressed last time, but as soon as we took the tongue tie off he recovered, so we are running him without the tongue tie and he only has to find a length-and-a-half to be competitive.
In the ninth over 1 600m he has Idler, who ran on very well last time from behind with first time blinkers, and he said, “Her form is good, her draw is good and she is well. She will be competitive if placed well in the race.”
Van Zyl has Wittenberg in the eleventh over 1 200m and he said, “He hasn’t run for a while. This is an experiment as it’s on the short side for him.”
In the last over 1 200m he has Poppins and he said, “She is badly in at the weights. We are going to school to see how good she is, but we look to be in trouble.”

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