Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Goat advertises class with impressive victory

David Thiselton
Goat advertised her Champions Season credentials with an effortless victory over 1 900m at a damp Greyville on Friday night.
The Paul Lafferty-trained three-year-old Labeeb filly was a full 5kg better off with any other horse in the Graduation Plate for fillies and mares and showed her superiority, winning by 2,25 lengths under a hands and heels ride.
Anthony Delpech said: “She is top class. She will definitely win a Group 1 this season.”
Goat showed in the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes for juvenile fillies over 1 600m at the end of last season that she would be one for the future when producing an astonishing finish to clinch fourth place after appearing to be tailed off on the turn.
Lafferty said recently that Goat had started coming into her own during her summer campaign down in Cape Town.
Before that she had showed a reluctance to race.
He said yesterday that she would now be prepared for a tilt at the Grade 1 Woolavington over 2 000m at Greyville on Saturday, June 6.
The Ormond Ferraris-trained SA Fillies Classic winner, Gypsy’s Warning, who defeated Goat by 3,25 lengths in the Thekwini, is also being targeted at the Woolavington.
Lafferty, buoyant after an excellent National yearling Sale in which he bought nine horses, had a double on Friday night.
His other winner, I’m No Tortoise, was the second Lafferty horse in recent meetings to advertise the strength of the Cape two-year-old form as compared to KwaZulu-Natal’s.
His filly Hellhathnofury had modest maiden form in three runs in Cape Town, before winning a maiden on her return to KZN and then just failing to win the Grade 3 Strelitzia at long odds of 40-1.
On that same day the top Cape juvenile Villandry won the Godolphin Barb with ease, despite carrying condition.
I’m No Tortoise had not come within ten lengths of the winner in two starts in Cape Town and paid an amazing R60 a win on the tote on Friday, a windfall for on-the-ball punters who might have picked up on the strength of the Cape form.
Another horse who caught the eye on Friday night was the Alyson Wright-trained three-year-old Western Winter filly, Clarkies Promise, who just got up in a maiden over 1 200m. She will come into her own when stepped up to 2 000m and more and looks to be a decent prospect.
The Greyville meeting, was one of two on the weekend that commemorated the 21st anniversary of the Henneman air disaster. Due to the wet conditions, the jockeys agreed after the third race to stay away from the rail, thereby thwarting cancellation.

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