Racing showcase this weekend
Three local features, Cox Plate and Lion City Cup the main events
Another bumper-weekend of racing is on the cards with three feature races on the local calendar as well as two world-famous races from Australia and Singapore respectively.
The first of the local feature races is the Non-Black Type Cradock Place Stakes over 1200m today at Fairview.
While Alan Greeff saddles four of the six runners, it won’t be a surprise if Gavin Smith’s La Bella Mia or Tara Laing’s Omega Onslaught spoils Greeff ’s party.
It’s a small field but promises to be a highly competitive affair.
Tomorrow sees the running of the Grade 3 Cape Classic as well as the Grade 2 Western Cape Fillies Championship at Kenilworth.
The former is a 1400m contest for 3-yearolds while the latter is over the same distance but restricted to 3-year-old fillies.
Justin Snaith (4) and Candice Bass-Robinson (6) saddle 10 of the fillies, with only Adam Marcus and Brett Crawford having one runner each.
Also on the Kenilworth card is a Pinnacle Stakes over 1100 which has attracted a number of top-class runners, including Russet Air, Fabian, Run Fox Run, and Silver Operator. The quality of this field is reflected in the average merit rating of the runners of 109.
On the international front, the Cox Plate is the headline act from Australia this weekend.
Glen Boss, who has won this race three times on Makybe Diva (2005), So You Think (2009) and Ocean Park (2012) says the race is iconic due to a number of factors including the tight circuit at Moonee Valley, and the greatest horse usually wins it, reports racing.com.
The champion jockey rides Sir Dragonet in the A$5-million (R57-million) race but thinks while his runner is in with a good chance especially if it rains, it’s Arcadia Queen that will be hardest to beat.
“She was way too good for everything the other day (when winning the Caulfield Stakes), a repeat performance wouldn’t surprise anybody.
Two of the more fancied raiders from Aidan O’Brien’s stable is locked in a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s encounter.
Magic Wand has an abscess in her offside front hoof, while Racing Victoria said Armory had presented with a degree of lameness in his near-side fore-leg.
Racing Victoria reported no other issues with the remaining Cox Plate acceptors.
On Sunday the Kranji racetrack in Singapore presents the Lion City Cup.
It is the only Group 1 sprint on the Singapore racing calendar and Inferno seems to be the hot favourite with Vlad Duric in the saddle, writes Larry Foley from Singapore.
An interesting challenger is Safeer, a 6-year-old gelding from New Zealand.
Safeer has managed to win 5 races in his career so far. On 25 September 2018 at Singapore, Safeer scored his most significant win to date, getting the money in the $80,000 Kranji Stakes.
On that day it was none other than South Africa’s Aldo Domeyer who saluted going past the post as the race was part of the International Jockey Challenge.
Perhaps Safeer has one last hurrah in him to upset the favourite.