Cousin Liz is the real deal

CANDICE BASS-ROBINSON has less twoyear-olds this season – between 40 and 50 compared with last term’s 60-plus – but they include some good horses and they have won four of the nine Cape Town juvenile races so far.

Cousin Liz, a R2.9 million National Yearling Sale purchase, looks the best seen out yet after being backed down to odds-on and making short work of the opposition in the Kenilworth opener on Saturday. “She is a smart filly loaded with ability and, not to beat about the bush, I think she is the real deal,” said an impressed (and recently bearded) Aldo Domeyer.

“I have to decide whether she will stay here for the Nursery or go to Durban,” said her trainer.

“I don’t want her to get too hot so my gut feeling is to stay put. She cost a lot so I can sleep easy now but I do think she has a bright future.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s future includes a lot of air travel.

He flies back to Dubai next week for Marinaresco in the Zabeel Mile (Feb 21) and is considering returning for South African meetings before the July winner’s next run in the Jebel Hatta on March 9. He is in blistering form.

The Pocket Power room punters were still marvelling at Friday’s Fairview treble when he notched up a quick Glen Kotzen double on Cat Daddy and Sommersonne.

A painful coming together between his foot and the metalwork left him sore enough to miss the last two races but did nothing to diminish his enthusiasm. “I’m fine - nothing is broken,” he reasoned as he rather tenderly walked back into the jockeys’ room.

Nastergal

Unusually for racing at Kenilworth six of the eight races were won by favourites with Anton Marcus making it look deceptively easy on Nastergal and Run Fox Run (“She looks the real deal,” said Stan Elley, taking a leaf out of the Domeyer quotes book) but the one punters noted was Boomps A Daisy in the Tabonline.co.za Maiden.

The newcomer took off when she finally cottoned on to what her rider was asking and she was only beaten a head by Fluttering.

She will be backed off

the boards next time. All credit to Fluttering though. The Fosters’ homebred made every metre and bravely answered her rider’s every call to make her critics eat their words.

Interestingly both trainer and jockey seemed to blame themselves for last time’s defeat.

“I let her go a bit too early and she got found out,” said M.J. Byleveld while Vaughan Marshall, full of praise for his stable jockey here, added: “I was worried that she hadn’t run for quite a while that last time - and the race brought her on.”

Ramsden

Joey Ramsden’s decision to fly in S’Manga Khumalo proved fully justified when the dual champion rode a peach of a waiting race to snatch the TAB Telebet Maiden in the last stride on 11-1 shot November Storm, described by his trainer as “a hard ride who can be quite reluctant.”

“The pace was on and I thought that giving him a chance - and not rushing him should do the trick,” explained Khumalo, adding modestly: “I managed to get my head down at the right time.”