Inara will make the near 600k trip from Durban to Johannesburg on Friday evening for the following day’s L Jaffee Empress Club Stakes.

Inara (Liesl King)

Candice Robinson said: “The journey takes about six hours and she is due to arrive in Jo’burg at 11.00pm. She has been doing very well in Durban this time and, if the altitude doesn’t affect her, we have to be optimistic.”

The triple Grade 1 winner did not thrive at Summerveld last year but Mike Bass’s team are in a different yard this time and this is believed to have made a big difference.

Grant van Niekerk said: “I’ve ridden her a few times since she has been in Durban and she feels good, much better than last season.”

Brett Crawford has decided to keep Captain America in Johannesburg for the time being and last year’s Horse Chestnut winner will renew rivalry with this year’s scorer Legal Eagle in the R4 million President’s Champions Challenge a fortnight on Saturday.

Joey Ramsden may send the first part of his KZN string to Summerveld this week and he put a number of them through their paces at Kenilworth on Saturday morning. These included Act Of War, St Tropez, Disco Al and The Conglomerate.

Ramsden said:  “They didn’t do a lot and it was just to get them going a bit before they truck up to Durban.”

By Michael Clower