Castlethorpe to get it right
“We’ve done lots of sand work with him and I have given him a grass gallop but he will probably just need it,’’ reports the Philippi trainer. “I think he will probably get caught out in the last 200m.’’
The race conditions favour the top horses. The weights are calculated on merit rating bands but, instead of the horses moving down 2.5kg at a time, they only go down 1.5kg for each five points. Matador In Red, for example, should receive 10.5kg from Castlethorpe but only receives 6kg.
ReadyToGoRightNow, officially the best horse in the race, has been scratched (Justin Snaith: “We feel he is not quite ready so we will give him a couple more weeks’’) and there are doubts about Lockheed Jetstar's readiness.
“All the horses that we took to Cape Town had to stay for two weeks on the way down and could only trot then,’’ explains Geoff Woodruff's son Tim. “It is taking a little while to get them back to match fitness.
'This horse does go well fresh but I think he will probably need the run.’’
Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount was 15-10 favourite in the Betting World forecast yesterday with Greg Ennion’s recent winner Petty Officer next best at 52. Castlethorpe was 5-1 and Blarney Bay 8-1.
The Snaiths have run more two-year-olds than any other stable in Cape Town - 42 individual runners so far - but their juveniles are really beginning to fire and have won at least one race at each of the last six meetings. A Time To Dream looks nailed on for race two.
Things are nothing like so clear cut in the first. Top Of The Rock ran well against older horses last time, Bold Aspen has come on (Robinson: “I scratched him from the May 23 race because he went a bit shinny but he is now 100% and working very well’’) and Brilliant Crimson gets only a tentative vote.