Female trainer holds the aces in women’s race
The title of the feature race at Kenilworth on Saturday — the #Womaninracing Sophomore Sprint — may be highly appropriate. Female trainer Candice Bass-Robinson has two strong contenders, Xavion and On The Road Again.
Bass-Robinson had her most successful campaign as a trainer last season, finishing in fifth place on the national log. She saddled a total of 104 winners.
In Saturday’s 1,200m sprint, Xavion, a son of Futura, will bid to maintain his 100% record for charismatic owner Ian Longmore. However, there are two questions on-course presenters must ask Bass-Robinson before the closure of the Pick Six.
First, did jockey Anthony Andrews, who has won on both Xavion and On The Road Again, have the choice of rides? If so,
that brings On The Road Again very much into the picture.
Second, did Xavion catch you by surprise by winning at odds of 33-1 on debut? Longmore is not averse to having a bet so the presumption is that no money was placed on the youngster.
On The Road Again continues the musical theme of recent weeks — it is the 1980 hit by Willie Nelson which won a Grammy for the best country song. A son of Vercingetorix, who is looking a bargain buy at R20,000, On The Road Again won on his debut in March and, more recently, finished a close second behind Danilo Danilovitch.
Bookmakers will not be offering any fancy prices about Brett Crawford’s duo of Zapatillas and Masked Vigilante as both go to post unbeaten. As Louis Mxothwa is now stable jockey, Zapatillas is likely to be the pick of the two. The son of Master Of My Fate cost R260,000 as a yearling.
Justin Snaith also saddles two runners, You Know Who and Keep It Secret, with the firstnamed, who cost R900,000, bidding to notch the second win of his career. He has a win and four places from his five starts.
No question that the Snaith stable will be represented by the best-bred horse in the sixth race, the Racing Association Handicap
over 1,400m. Black Silver is a daughter of recently deceased Silvano out of top racemare Ebony Flyer.
While the filly is returning from a 13-week break she is lightly raced and should go well in the hands of Keagan De Melo, who rides the four-year-old for the first time.
Turffontein hosts a nine-race programme on Saturday with Warren Kennedy partnering five of Paul Peter’s six runners. Ironically, the pick of the sextet is likely to be Riverstown with Gavin Lerena retaining the ride on the five-year-old, who bounced back to form last month. Riverstown, now a fourtime winner, carries top weight of 61kg in the ninth race and Lerena may have most to fear from Kennedy’s mount, Approach Control.
Candice Dawson, who trains Approach Control, must be frustrated the six-year-old is only a three-time winner, but the gelding is back in calmer waters after running sixth behind Native Tongue in a Listed Handicap on July day.
The best race on the Turffontein card could be the second, which could turn into a match between Tuscan Winter and Super Excited. The former is a year older and may just have the measure of another talented inmate of Paul Matchett’s yard.