Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Snaith's gem set to sparkle

Sparkling Gem looked in magnificent shape on trainer Justin Snaith’s farm in Phillipi yesterday ahead of her bid to land the Grade 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1 600m on J&B Met day on Saturday.
The huge 560kg four-year-old daughter of Joshua Dancer is currently the 9-10 favourite in what became a weakened event when her main rivals, Mother Russia and River Jetez, defected in favour of a crack at the big one itself, the J&B Met.
Snaith has gained a reputation as a trainer to follow on Met day as he has had five winners on the big day on two separate occasions. It will be tough to emulate that this year, but he felt he had three excellent chances.
He rated Sparkling Gem in the Majorca, Naughty Girl in the eighth and his quartet of juveniles in the third race as his best chances of visiting the winner’s enclosure.
Snaith commented on all of the races in which he was involved:
“In race one Fingal’s Cave is not moving his best at the moment, but I’m taking him to the beach now and hope to have him moving better. At the moment he has a place chance but hope he improves during the week. Firefly will need the run. Naval Attack will run fresh and has a small each way chance.
In race two Sleek ‘N Sassy will be right on top of them if she gets the 1 200m. Of mine, it is between her and Peonie Paradise, with Peonie Paradise probably being the pick. The rest will battle but have place chances.
In race three we have one horse to beat, Vera. Of mine the pick lies between Addition and Maureen De Lago, who are both flying at home. It will take a very good two-year-old to beat them.
Asian Emperor is very impressive but it could be on the sharp side for him.
Jungle Jim is a very quick Var colt.
In race four Alvaro will be better suited to this distance, but has a lot to do to beat Air Combat and Mighty Atom.
In race five, the Investec Cape Derby, Robert The Bruce has to overcome a wide draw and it will be very hard for him to beat my two fancies, Noordhoek Flyer and Ancestral Fore. Bravura still has to prove himself in this class and has that very wide draw of 18.
In race six, The Majorca, Sparkling Gem is very well and will be hard to beat.
In race seven, the J&B Met, I don’t have a runner, but I feel Pocket Power has everything in his favour and is the one to beat.
In race eight Naughty Girl is very well and is one of my best bets on the card.
In race nine Dance With Al is doing well and has the class to win, but she has worked better before. I’m hoping her class will prevail.
I’ve worked Gulf Trade and Snow Drift hard at home and they are both running above their form at the moment.”
Meanwhile, Snaith’s stable jockey, Felix Coetzee, arrived back in South Africa yesterday morning after a successful journey to Hong Kong.
Coetzee rode the Tony Cruz-trained Super Pistachio to a promising fourth behind stablemate Beauty Flash in the Hong Kong Classic Mile on Sunday.
Coetzee will be in Hong Kong on March 14 to ride the horse again in a bid to win his third Hong Kong Derby. The horse will definitely appreciate the step up to the 2000m trip.
Doug Whyte finished second in the Classic Mile on Saturday on the David Ferraris-trained Chater Way.

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