The weather has put paid to the Gr 1 eLan Property Group Gold Cup meeting scheduled for Greyville tomorrow and it does not look all that bright for Kenilworth either with showers forecast and temperatures a touch on the chilly side. But racing should go ahead on a course that drains like Clifton beach.

The Gr3 Champagne Stakes has attracted a high class field and given the vagaries of the weather and a highly competitive field, things are likely to get a little sweaty at the wire in spite of the fresh weather.

Justin Snaith has most of his big guns resident at Summerveld for the winter but Jet Supreme, who has some mileage on the clock, has remained behind to take advantage of the softer winter tracks in Cape Town. She does however, take a drop in distance for tomorrow’s race – 1800m to a 1200m sprint – and that could play into the hands of the opposition. But the daughter of Jet Master is versatile and does have a tendency to stretch her riders’ arms in a race.

With Andrew Fortune back in action, she does have a master horseman in the irons, and if she is ever going to settle it will be with Fortune aboard.

The pair are not strangers with Fortune having coaxed Jet Supreme to a second placed finish over the course and distance behind the Gr1 winning Fly By Night back in April and with the sting out of the ground and under some favourable weight conditions, the daughter of Jet Master could pull this off.

Mike Bass has had a relatively quiet Champions Season in KZN with some of his runners not finding their best form but he holds a strong hand tomorrow with three runners in the 10-horse field.

Stable rider Grant van Niekerk has been pencilled in aboard Lanner Falcon who came with a telling late run to basically out-class the opposition over the Kenilworth “mile” last time out. Like Jet Supreme, she is versatile and the drop in trip coupled with the soft ground will be in her favour.

Adam Marcus saddles the smart mare Priceless Jewel but feels she may just be short of peak fitness. “She was making a bit of a noise in her work and after her disappointing last run in a feature we galloped her with an overland scope,” he said. She was found to have a small problem and had a minor wind op to correct her breathing. “It was not a major op and she’s been going very, very well with no noise but she may just be short of a run. But she loves the soft and races fresh and the 1200m is not too testing. If she brings her true from to the race she will be right there,” he said.

The top three carded look to be the class in the race with the balance of the field having met on one or two occasions recently and there is not likely to be very much between them although Pure Power and The Which Doctor look to be the pick of them at the weights.

It’s not an easy race but Jet Supreme can take the drop in trip in her stride and is fancied to get home ahead of Lanner Falcon and Priceless Jewel

Andrew Harrison