Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Maropeng to make amends

Chad Cooke
This weekend’s racing is all about what happens in Cape Town on Saturday when the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate is run at Kenilworth. Will Pocket Power remain king of the Sport of Kings or will the young pretender Big City Life upstage the ‘old man’ and become the new king of the castle? Only time will tell and for those racing at Turffontein on Saturday, the Queen’s Plate forms part of the nine-race card at the Johannesburg south track. Although the Queen’s Plate is the highlight of the weekend’s racing calendar, the main events at Turffontien tomorrow are the fifth and sixth races, both being MR 88 Handicaps. The fifth race will be contested over the minimum distance of 1 000m and promises to be a hotly contested affair. Sean Tarry’s Jallad filly Epworth Belle brings strong form into this contest and is on the upgrade, having won three of her last four outings, all over this distance. This four-year-old filly takes on the boys so she is going to have to be at her best to take the honours, but her current form suggests that she has the class and from a good draw looks to have plaenty in her favour.
The main dangers to the Tarry runner are top weight Royal Exit and the recently relocated East Beach. Royal Exit has shown himself to be a very decent sprinter and has been campaigning in far stronger company than he faces here. As a result of that he has a heft 63,5kg to shoulder but as it is said in this sport, you can give weight but not start in a sprint, so he still deserves the utmost respect here. The interesting runner in this contest is the Paul Matchett-trained East Beach. This three-year-old son of West Man has been campaigning in Zimbabwe where he has been to the track three times and has won three times, all three wins being very impressive. The gelding comes off a six-and-a-half month break and should need the outing but could be the surprise package. The second topliner, the sixth race, will be contested over 1600m and should be dominated by trainer Charles Laird. The reigning South African champion trainer has no less than four runners in this eight-horse field and appears to have the odds stacked in his favour. The choice of his quartet is the Jallad gelding Maropeng. This four-year-old has good recent form and is course and distance suited. He has also drawn well and has Anthony Delpech aboard. Maropeng has plenty in his favour. The main danger to the Laird runner is the Lucky Houdalakis-trained Zorba’s Tale. This Australian-bred son of Tale Of The Cat has good recent form and is course and distance suited. He comes off a short break but should still be the main thorn in the side of the Laird quartet.

\| All information on these pages are (©) Copyright Gold Circle Pty (Ltd) 2002 \| site map
(This site is best viewed at 1024 X 768)