Woodruff’s Potion has Cascapedia’s number

We are officially a day away from one of the biggest horseracing events on South African soil, the R2 million G-Bets Gauteng Summer Cup to be contested over 2000m on the Turffontein Standside track, and it appears the two runners to fight out the finish are Cascapedia and Secret Potion.

The former tops the betting boards, trading 1 contest with Betting World, and rightfully so.

This lightly raced fiveyear-old daughter of High Chaparral has impressively won six of her nine appearances – defeating hard knockers like Abashiri in the process – so appears to be far better than her merit rating of 109 suggests. She gets the services of inform Gavin Lerena, jumps from an advantageous No 4 draw and shoulders a modest 54.5kg. Geoff “The Guv” Woodruff has won four of the last five runnings of this event and on recent form his 9-1 shot, Secret Potion, could upset the market leaders. She is smartly drawn at No 7 and carries 1.5kg less than Lerena’s mount.

If you think Cascapedia will win this race, you have to include Woodruff ’s runner in your Pick 6.

She showed absolutely no signs of ring-rustiness following a four-month stint off the racetrack in her most recent effort when breaking Cascapedia’s heart, winning by a gutsy 0.40 lengths despite jumping from a shocking draw.

“She is a very good filly,” assured Woodruff. “When she won the Oaks I figured she’d be my Summer Cup horse, but it was fully confirmed when she beat Cascapedia last time.

“We tackled the Vodacom Durban July after the Oaks but I have to say, that performance isn’t a good reflection of her ability. They went at a training gallop. That race was all wrong. You can put a line through it.”

The Quartet MAXIwPOOL for the Summer Cup has a R500 000 carryover that is expected to reach R2.2 million, so perhaps float Cascapedia and Secret Potion with the field.