All eyes on Miss Frankel
MISS FRANKEL will be the centre of attention at Kenilworth tomorrow when South Africa’s only offspring of the legendary racehorse attempts to give weight all round in the Play Soccer 6 Handicap.
It’s her handicap debut, normally a red warning light for punters, but the way she won at Scottsville in August suggests that this horse is more than capable of overcoming normal difficulties.
Starting odds-on, she was in front after 100m and she stretched right away in the final furlong to win by four and a half lengths without Anton Marcus even showing her the whip.
True, it was a pretty ordinary maiden but it was the way she did it that was so impressive. Her big stride, while not as long or as devouring as that of her famous sire, gave some key as to her undoubted ability while she has clearly inherited at least some of the speed of her dam, the triple Grade 1 winner Val De Ra.
Drier
A relieved and delighted Dennis Drier, who confessed to being “shell-shocked” when she flopped on her only previous start, said: “This was the Miss Frankel I know at home. Nothing went right for her first time but I think it was just stage fright.”
However training her is seemingly not straightforward and Drier told me a few days ago: “She has issues – she is not the soundest.”
MJ Byleveld – sponsored by her breeders Avontuur - is in the hot seat this time and his mount seems sure to start a warm favourite even though the TAB sheet race card originally had Honey Suite at the head of the market.
The question is can she get beat?
Lack of race fitness is an obvious drawback but her trainer, asked if she would need it, replied: “Hopefully not.”
The next imponderable is whether the handicappers have put her on too high a mark. They rated her 86 for winning a maiden whose strength looks some way below that of a Kenilworth maiden.
But, frankly, the way she did it suggested that this is a Graded filly in the making, one whose rating is going to climb.
Honey Suite
Honey Suite, good enough to win first time by even further than Miss Frankel at Scottsville, looked the one real danger but she was scratched on Monday morning after going lame on her off-fore.
Of the others Public Prosecutor is a lot better than last time’s Durbanville run would suggest – her saddle slipped and she was found to be coughing after the race – while Royal Chian, on paper miles under sufferance, led her rivals a merry dance here 11 days ago.