Our Emperor to rule at Durbanville

Jack Milner

Racing returns to Durbanville after a break of nearly a year in which the track has been refurbished to eradicate some of the anomalies that made life quite difficult for rider and horse. Of course, there were a number of horses who loved the old undulating track with its tight corners but hopefully it will now be a much fairer track where the draw does not play as big a part as in the old days.

Naturally this meeting will be a learning curve for both punters and jockeys but the guys who rode during the test run, including a top jockey like Bernard Fayd’Herbe, all had high praise for the reconditioned track.

The meeting contains the first feature race of the Cape Summer Season with the running of the Listed Settlers Trophy over 2400m. As is so often the case, these longer races are very competitive but a lot could depend on how Our Emperor has developed during the winter.

This son of Dynasty is a full brother to Noor, a filly trained by Mike de Kock who was highly rated by the yard. Our Emperor had a slow start to his career in sprints but in his first run over 1800m he finished fourth, just 1.45 lengths behind Liquid Dynamite.

He cruised to victory in his next start, beating Rokatenda by 3.25 lengths. As four winners from just nine runners have come out of that formline, it indicated Our Emperor was worth following. So it came as no surprise that he won again over 1800m, officially beating Gimme One Night by 0.50 lengths. However, the margin could have been far bigger had jockey Greg Cheyne given him some more rein in the closing stages.

Brett Crawford’s charge tries 2400m for the first time and if he does see it out, with just 53kg to carry Our Emperor should be the one they all have to beat. The main threat could come from Geoff Woodruff-trained Plano.