Made To Conquer, second to stable companion Do It Again in last year’s Vodacom Durban July, can apparently be excused his flop in the Sun Met and he is now being lined up for a second crack at the country’s most famous race.
The six-time winner ran his first bad race since his maiden days in the Met, finishing with only two behind him, and Justin Snaith explains: “We chased him up to get the pace going but he didn’t like it. We will get him ready for Durban when he will go for the little races to start with, although he was rated 87 when he went up there last year and he is now on 108. But he loves it in Natal and he comes good there.”
Last Winter, who jarred himself when worked in Newmarket after completing his quarantine, has had a further setback in Dubai and, as a result, he will miss the whole of the Carnival season. He has not raced since finishing a half-length second to Oh Susanna in last year’s Met.
Lady Laidlaw’s racing manager Jehan Malherbe said: “He has just started trotting again. We have still to decide what he does next but it will be some form of overseas campaign.”
Dean Kannemeyer added: “We could have rushed him back but we thought it was better not to. He is still not an over-raced horse – he has only had six runs.”
Joey Ramsden, whose Turffontein haul last season included the Computaform Sprint with Attenborough, is sending a team of ten or twelve to the Highveld including Attenborough and the Victress winner Fresnaye who was fourth in both the Paddock and the Majorca.
Cape Classic and Politician winner Twist Of Fate, second in both the Cape Guineas and the CTS 1600, goes to Durban “Although I haven’t yet decided which races he will run in.”
The lightly raced Vardy, third in the CTS 1600, stays in Kenilworth to go for the Winter Series. “He is still a big baby and Greyville could dent his confidence,” reasons Adam Marcus. Stable companion Brave Move, who again disappointed in Saturday’s Jet Master, is destined for stud although Marcus is toying with the idea of sending her to a farm to see if that will rekindle her enthusiasm.
By Michael Clower
