The Robbie Hill pair Red Chesnut Road and Kilmokea were travelling down from Johannesburg to their home base at Summerveld yesterday (Wednesday) ahead of their Graded race engagements on Sunday.

Red Chestnut Road (Nkosi Hlophe)

Shannon Hill said both horses were laid back types, so he expected them to travel well. He was looking forward to good respective runs in the Gr 3 Byerley Turk and Gr 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes, both over 1400m on the Greyville turf. Red Chesnut Road ran a decent fourth with topweight in the Gr 3 Man O’ War Sprint over 1100m at Turffontein last Saturday.

The best fillies had a big weight advantage in that race and duly finished first and second. Shannon said Red Chesnut Road had only been doing “good, solid work” for about five weeks before the Man O’ War. He admitted the preparation had not been ideal, but was not concerned about the second run after a rest syndrome and believed last Saturday’s race would have been the equivalent of a good gallop.

He said on pedigree Red Chesnut Road would comfortably stay Sunday’s 1400m trip and further. He revealed Gavin Lerena, who rode him on Saturday, had got off and told him he wanted to stick with this horse right through the season. His wide draw is a concern, but Shannon concluded, “He’s top class.”

Shannon rates Kilmokea a “smart filly” and expected a “very big run” from her over a trip she would like. He said her penultimate start could be ignored as she had dropped almost to her knees just before the jump and had returned “full of pharyngitis”. She had needed her last run too, when a close second in a 1200m handicap.

By David Thiselton