If there was any argument that last season’s crop of three-year-old fillies was above average it was finally put to bed by star filly Inara at Turffontein yesterday. Also stuffed under the blanket was that carefully planned, Cape Town-based horses have no trouble competing on the Highveld.

Winner of the Gr1 Klavervlei Majorca Stakes in two consecutive seasons, Inara took her form to the ‘Big Smoke’ and put their best away with ease in the Gr1 L Jaffee Empress Club Stakes, second leg of the unofficial fillies and mares Gr1 WFA 1600m Triple Crown.

Trainers from the Western Cape have traditionally been reluctant to travel to the Highveld where the rarefied atmosphere, 6000m above sea level, has often been blamed for disappointing performances. But if altitude came into play yesterday it was not in evidence as Inara made some high class opposition look decidedly ordinary.

Inara (Liesl King)

The field dawdled the first fractions but if the opposition plan was to blunt Inara’s finish it was misplaced. Grant van Niekerk rode a supremely confident race pushing for home early and Inara responded like the good horse she is.

Fitting was that Mike Bass, who has had difficult health issues of late, was on track to collect the trophy.

If Inara franked the three-year-old fillies form then Carry On Alice reinforced it. Second to Alboran Sea – another of the ‘Fillies Super Crop’ – in the G1 Computaform Sprint last year, she staked her claim for another crack at the big prize at the end of the month with an emphatic victory in a Pinnacle Stakes sprint over 1000m.

Even though she had everything in her favour, the win could not have been more emphatic and S’Manga Khumalo was looking through his legs for the opposition a long way out.

The Computaform Sprint will be more competitive but Carry On Alice showed enough yesterday to suggest that she will be a tough nut to crack.

Horses from champion trainer elect Sean Tarry’s yard have been almost invincible of late but there have been a couple of hiccups along the way and it is obviously preying on his mind. “I’ve had a number of odds-on favourites beaten when they looked to have everything in their favour,’ he surmised after Carry On Alice’s win.

Anyone who understands horse racing will be aware that things can go pear-shaped in a matter of seconds – tendon, muscles whatever – so it’s best to know the facts before shouting.

Mike Azzie, much like Tarry, has a wealth of talent in his yard and Rabada was back on track in a Progress Plate. Abashiri may be the stable darling as he heads for the final leg of the triple crown but Rabada has always been rated by Azzie as a horse with lots of potential.

Anton Marcus rode a supremely confident race, tracking the pace for much of the way up the straight, and Rabada responded smartly. The colt’s lack of race fitness started to tell over the final furlong as Machismo and Prospect Strike chased hard to put him under pressure.

By Andrew Harrison