The exciting Duncan Howells-trained four-year-old Dynasty filly Sabaha will travel up to Johannesburg on Friday night for her engagement in the Gr 2 World Sports Betting Spring Fillies and Mares Challenge over 1450m.
Howells has described her before as a difficult horse to train, chiefly because she pulls very hard in her workouts, but she is a different kettle of fish both at the races and on the way to the races, relaxing well, so Howells is not at all concerned about the float journey up to the Highveld.
Sabaha, who has won three of her six career starts, is held in high regard by Howells and needed her last start when touched off over 1400m at Scottsville in a MR 90 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1400m.
She has put up a very good gallop since then and Howells confirmed she was now “very fit”.
She should be cherry ripe, but Howells did admit that she was a difficult horse to judge due to her antics on the training tracks.
However, he is expecting a good run and predicted a top three finish.
She tends to start slowly and this is probably by design, because she relaxes well when slotted in behind horses. This will likely be the tactic employed from the outside draw of nine in Saturday’s nine horse field. Coming from well back doesn’t pose a problem for her as she has a fantastic turn of foot.
She came from near last when winning her penultimate start in a MR 81 handicap for fillies and mares over 1600m at Scottsville by a comfortable 2,25 lengths and a signal of her class is that the second and third horses in that race, Deputy Rider and Come Fly With Me, have both come out and won twice since and one of the former’s victories was in a Listed event.
Sabaha is merit rated 95 and runs at level weights on Saturday with two other four-year-old fillies rated over 100, the 109 merit rated Lazer Star and the 103 merit-rated Sarve.
However, both of the latter horses have a stamina doubt hanging over their heads.
The only other horse rated above 100 in the race is the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championships third-placed Madame Dubois. She lost at odds of 1/3 in her first try at this sort of trip, but she was likely below par as she was laid off for the rest of her two-year-old season. She made a good comeback in a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1200m three weeks ago, when just touched off by the decent mare Shepard One.
Other interesting runners on Saturday are the progressive Mike de Kock-trained four-year-old pair, Alice Springs and Love To Sail, and the mare Featherfoot, who is lightly raced and typically of a Silvano is coming into her own at the age of five.
The only Gr 1 winner in the field is the Sean Tarry-trained For The Lads, but she is a frustrating sort who has now dropped to an 81 merit rating.
The Corné Spies-trained Fire Dancing looks to be outclassed.
Sabaha might well be the one to beat, catching Lazer Star late, and they could be followed home by Featherfoot, Madame Dubois and Alice Springs.
By David Thiselton
Picture: Sabaha (Nkosi Hlophe)
