Brett Crawford has a small but strong team for Vodacom Durban July day and some of them put in eyecatching workouts at Summerveld yesterday, particularly the classy Gr 2 KRA Fillies Guineas-winning Dynasty filly Alexis, who will run in the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m on turf.

Crawford’s assistant Barry Donnelly is back at Summerveld looking after the string and said about Alexis, “She is small but very well made. I have always called her our little Beach Beauty and people used to laugh at me but now she has come out and won the Guineas.”

Alexis has plenty of speed but proved she stayed the mile in the KRA Fillies Guineas, in which she once again displayed her superb turn of foot. Yesterday one of Crawford’s best workrider’s Subusiso Paca put her through her paces on the Summerveld beach sand. She showed plenty of zest and strode out nicely and Paca returned to the ring excited, exclaiming that after 400m she had wanted to change up a gear.

Donnelly believes the yard have her even better now than she was before the KRA Fillies Guineas, so will ease off her next week in the lead up to the race. She faces a particularly strong field but will be one of the main protagonists, despite a tricky draw of nine as opposed to her draw of five in the KRA Fillies Guineas.

Stable jockey Corné Orffer has chosen her ahead of last year’s KRA Fillies Guineas winner Maybe Yes, who won a 1400m event at Greyville in her penultimate start by four lengths when leading from start to finish, although she was well weighted there. She then ran another cracker in the Gr 2 Tobouchina over 1400m, finishing a 1,25 length third to the classy mare Hammie’s Hooker.

Donnelly was happy with her workout yesterday on the beach sand, although he said that she is not a very good workhorse on that surface. She has landed a plum draw of two in the Garden Province and Piere Strydom aboard is another bonus.

Sail South worked particularly well yesterday and was looking lean and in mint condition. He settled nicely in yesterday’s bit of work, which was a positive sign as this is sometimes his undoing on the racecourse. He could be a runner in the Listed Canon Business Centre Handicap over 1600m on the turf. He has a wide draw to overcome, but Orffer has chosen to ride him ahead of the former Gr 2 Seangor Cup winner De Kock.

De Kock over-raced in the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 last time out and duly faded right out of it in the straight. However, he has responded very well to the application of a new bit and has settled well in work. He has been working well and from draw nine under Sean Veale over this much more suitable trip he could be a runner.

The yard’s other runner on the day is the three-year-old gelding Valerin, who finished a 1,25 length second to Saratoga dancer over 1400m at Scottsville last time, despite being squeezed in the latter stages. The form of that race has been franked and he now runs over the same trip on the polytrack on July day. He has been doing well, but looks likely to be drawn quite wide.

He is by Lateral out of the Gr 1 Garden Province and Gr 1 Majorca winner Donatella (Fine Edge), so is a well bred sort. He has run some decent races against good sorts in Cape Town, including finishing a 1,25 length second to fancied July runner The Conglomerate over 1300m as a two-year-old. Donnelly foresees no problem with hi handling the poly and he will work on the Summerveld poly this morning (Wednesday).

By David Thiselton

Picture: Alexis (John Lewis)