Palace a royal bet
IMPRESSIVE: CASHEL PALACE WON WITH EASE LAST TIME AND LOOKS ABOVE AVERAGE
Silver Maple won well on debut and should be followed.
Some useful three-yearolds will be in action at the Vaal tomorrow but at this stage of their careers one is working more on reputation than proven ability.
Many of these runners have only raced once or twice so it is difficult to know how good they are and how much improvement is still to come.
Race 7 is a MR 82 Handicap for fillies over 1400m and there was a lot to like about the way Cashel Palace won her last race. Alec Laird’s charge finished third behind Perfidia on debut but suffered a slipped saddle on that occasion. She went off favourite at 7-10 in her start, which was over 1600m, and coasted to an 8.25-length win over Queensberry Square.
There have not been any winners off that form line but the manner of her victory left one with the impression there is still a lot more to come. The stable is in excellent form and although she carries top weight, this daughter of Fort Wood should be able to improve further. There is likely to be a feature race lined up for her in the near future.
This is a very competitive card and she looks to be the best banker in all the Exotics.
La Collossa is another who could improve. She has only raced three times and last time took on older horses in a handicap in which she had to give weight to all runners. Under the circumstances she did well to finish fourth, beaten 3.50 lengths.
La Bastide is from the stable of champion trainer Sean Tarry. She won on debut and last time, over 1300m at the Vaal, was always in contention but ended third, although only beaten 0.90 lengths.
She is bred to go further and we are likely to see the best of her when she does so.
Bettors are faced with the same issue in Race 6, a MR 88 Handicap for three-year-olds and the eight runners are a mixture of colts and geldings.
Silver Maple won on debut and Geoff Woodruff’s charge looks talented and should be followed. It is not easy to win first time out on the Inside track at Turffontein but he did just that, producing the fastest finish over 1200m.
Laird saddles two-time winner Flying Winger who has not raced in strong company but one can never argue with a horse who knows how to win.