Pleasedtomeetyou restores reputation
PLEASEDTOMEETYOU booked his Cape Flying Championship ticket by restoring his reputation with an impressive all-the-way performance in the Need For Speed Sprint at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Greg Cheyne said: “His biggest assets are his gate speed and his cruising speed, and in my whole career I haven’t ridden a horse that breaks the gate as well as he does. What’s more, he still has a lot of upside to him.”
The 57-20 favourite drifted left in the closing stages until Cheyne pulled his whip through, suggesting he may have been near his limit but the video reveals otherwise, as does his trainer.
Nel
Andre Nel said: “He is not yet the finished product. Indeed he is still a baby and everything about him says that he is very immature. We gelded him on the Tuesday after his last run but in time I think he will need blinkers.
“He puzzles us at home sometimes as he gets beaten in every gallop. It’s tough for a young horse in the Cape Flying but I am going to nominate him for the race.”
Richard Fourie, third on Seventh Sea, was suspended for a week January (6-12) for causing interference to unplaced Vardo approaching the furlong marker.
JP van der Merwe, on a weight-losing trip between overseas travels, paid a rare Cape Town visit to land a double for Greg Ennion on 36-1 surprise Line Editor and Cedar Man (113-20) in the last two races.
The 2016 Met-winning jockey said: “I’ve been back from Mauritius two months but my weight went up to 54kg with racing there only once a week. My agent said there was only one way to get it off and that is to race-ride every day. Personally I think he was just looking for some extra money for Christmas! On New Year’s Day I start a 12-month contract in Singapore which will be a new experience as I have never been there before.”
Bernard Fayd’Herbe and Donovan Dillon were also in double form, sharing the first four races. Paddy Kruyer was understandably complimentary about Dillon’s riding of Earth Hour but Mike Robinson gave him all the credit for Elusive Victor’s win in the first, saying: “The horse has not been travelling in his races, and has been running in snatches, so Donovan said put blinkers on. That made the difference.”