Have faith in Snaith and Heartland

JUSTIN Snaith bypasses Saturday’s Selangor Cup with Heartland to run the R2.2 million full brother to Jackson against older horses in the relatively humble Itsarush.co.za Handicap at Kenilworth tomorrow.

“I want to get one more race into him to see how good he is and then decide where to place him,” explains the champion trainer.

“Also he would be heavily penalised if he were to run a place in a Group race like the Selangor.”

Heartland was given a rating of 89 when romping home nearly 10 lengths clear on debut and he was left on that mark after taking third behind Act Of War and Mljet in the Cape Classic.

However, things went pear-shaped for him that day with the colt’s rider unable to follow Snaith’s carefully planned instructions.

It is reasonable to assume that he is better than his present merit rating would suggest and, therefore, he is a confident choice. He opened 12-10 favourite with Betting World yesterday.

Triptique is 2-1 favourite for the opening maiden to make amends for last time’s losses when the Dennis Drier colt started odds-on and led the stands side from a long way out only to be pipped by a horse on the inside.

Tomba La Bomba

He should be hard to beat although Tomba La Bomba went into the notebooks when running on late on debut at Durbanville, and Ovar was only half a length behind Triptique on his first run when he looked a certain future winner.

“He is one of my nicest three-year-olds,” says Yogas Govender.

“I brought him to the races a bit underdone first time and he ran above his fitness.”

Whatever his prospects with Ovar, Govender should win the next with the unflatteringly named Fat Bottom Girl who holds Three Blue Cranes, In The Know, How Var, Black Marble, Yalla Habibti and Hypervarlocityon her debut second at the beginning of the month.

“She has come on with that run and she has made the expected improvement,” says Govender who adds: “She has a lot of speed.”

How Var ran without shoes that day – Mike Stewart’s farrier was away – but the Noordhoek trainer believes it made little difference. She will wear front shoes this time.

Captain’s Dove

Captain’s Dove looked one to follow after running on well on debut and she could be hard to beat in race three even though Mike Robinson admits he is a bit in the dark about the 18-10 favourite.

“She has blossomed since that first run and she looks incredible but she shows me nothing at home,” he explains.

Drier runs a smart sort in Eventual Angel who opened 13-10 favourite for the mile fillies Conditions Plate.

She has won four out of five and on paper looks a tough nut to crack.

However, Acrostar made a big impression when accelerating past odds-on Grey Light and gives the impression that she has improved since the winter when her form was pretty smart.

“She has definitely improved,” Snaith confirms, “and she keeps on improving.”

Richard Fourie’s mount opened at 5-2 and just might prove better value than the favourite.