The World at his feet

Ken Nicol

One World won the Grade 2 Concorde Cup at Kenilworth from the front on Saturday to remain undefeated – but once again had to show his gutsy side as Chimichuri Run put up spirited resistance.

Indeed Sean Tarry’s raider looked to be going better inside the final 200m, but One World rallied back just as he had when headed by Kasimir last time out, and simply refused to be beaten.

Marcus could hardly have been more fulsome in his praise, raising comparisons with one of the great horses of his past.

“At the furlong pole I thought the second horse had me. But this horse reminds me of Jay Peg – he loves a scrap.”

Vaughan Marshall stands a great chance of winning a third consecutive Cape Guineas with sons of Captain Al come 15 December.

Earlier Kasimir always looked the one to beat with 55.5kg in the Grade 2 Cape Merchants, but few expected him to beat his 18 rivals with such conviction.

This son of Captain Al has long looked to have a top race in him, and made a great comeback after gelding when giving One World plenty of cheek over 1400m.

Sergeant Hardy went off to lead as usual, closely tracked by the top-class Brett Crawfordtrained pair of Bold Respect and Search Party. Richard Fourie had the eventual winner perfectly placed only three lengths off the gallop.

He moved up into contention down the centre about 300m out, quickly asserted his dominance, and after that it was a question of who would run second.

Much-improved New Caledonia showed his runner up slot to Rainbow Bridge in the Matchem Stakes was no fluke by finishing well to be a clear second, while top weight Bold Respect ran a cracker to finish third after six months off.

Fourie revealed he had been very confident. “He’s been a different horse since gelding. His prep went to plan, and I expected an armchair ride today,” he said post-race.

In the R2.5 million CTS Ready To Run Stakes classy Cirillo showed all those worried about his wide draw were being unduly pessimistic as he scored comfortably under a masterful Anton Marcus ride.

Coming into the straight Elusive Trader looked set to challenge, but he shortened his stride late and is clearly a sprinter.

Majestic Mozart underlined his promise by finishing second, and will appreciate going further, as well as the summer course with its longer run-in.