Royal Frost made an excellent seasonal debut when downing Gr2 Daisy Fillies Guineas winner Fiorella in a Pinnacle Stakes last month and looks set to build on the victory when she contests the Shevanie Gopee Handicap at Greyville tonight.
It is a card seemingly littered with pitfalls and if successfully negotiated in the exotics one should be in for a lucrative pay-out.
It will be Royal Frost’s first venture onto the poly but Dean Kannemeyer has never been shy of running his charges on the synthetic surface. Yet she faces some useful opposition including stable companion Miss Smarty Pants and recent winner Heart Of A Legend who finally hit top gear and is in receipt of 7kg from the current 2-1 favourite.
Miss Smarty Pants has her third outing for Kannemeyer and is the mount of stable jockey Keagan de Melo but I fancy that Anton Marcus has the better ride.
Tony Rivalland sends Wynkelder to try his luck at Turffontein tomorrow but will be looking to Pollard to hit them for six in the opening leg of the PA. Gelded after his barrier trial, he put in a late charge on debut only to go down half-a-length to Ultra Boost.
Wynkelder (Candiese Marnewick)
Biggest threat, in the market and on course, could be Canadian Bolt. Robbie and Shannon Hill’s runner has gone down narrowly in both outings and has the benefit of a god draw and having had a proper race on the poly. Others to consider are Stealth Admiral and Stone Tiger, both recently gelded and showing signs of life.
The fourth holds more potholes than Wally Hayward Drive in Ashburton but Magical Java could successfully navigate them all. Dennis Drier’s filly was all at sea on debut but stayed on in the 1000m dash. She should much prefer the extra two furlongs of this race and one can expect reasonable improvement. The front-running Adorned By Beauty should set a decent pace but will have to work from her outside draw while Fleek is way better than her last effort. Not a race to go light in.
In the sixth, Archilles and Field Marshal Fenix hold entries for Scottsville on Sunday so check for possible scratchings as both have reasonable winning chances this evening. However, Unbelievable Chad can take advantage of a drop in class and rating the land the spoils. A number of fancied runners appeared not to handle the soft going at the recent Scottsville meeting and although Unbelievable Chad took a hike in the market, he is way better than that run would suggest. He was a touch unlucky behind Golden Pheasant after his apprentice rider dropped his stick and he has been replaced by the much more experienced De Melo.
Novice Plates are generally hotly contested affairs and the Jonsson Workwear Depot Durban Plate is no exception. Sigismund finally got the race that he was looking for when romping home in a maiden over course and distance and second-placed Cruz Giovanni paid tribute to that form by winning last Sunday.
However, Tierra Del Fuego slammed the opposition in his maiden win at only his second outing while Michael Roberts has high hopes for Solid Gold although the gelded son of Rock Of Gibraltar has not been out since his narrow maiden win over the Scottsville shortcut back in early September.
A Hill double is a possibility in the eighth with Moon In June at the top of the ante-post boards after two close-up finishes on the Greyville turf. The step up in trip should suit although she may be hard-pressed by My Wish where Roberts has replaced her apprentice rider with title chasing Anton Marcus.
Louis Goosen has been hard at work setting up his Wonder Water franchise but now that it is up and running he is back in business with seven runners on the night, Wendylle and Yaas doing duty in the last. The grey Wendylle has been up against much stronger in his two outings out of the maidens and with Marcus a past master on front runners, the pair could have this field off the bit from a long way out.
By Andrew Harrison
