Cascapedia needs to answer the question
ADVANTAGE: DISTANCE AN ISSUE BUT IRISH-BRED MARE IS BEST HANDICAPPED
Silver Thursday could be the biggest challenge.
There have been some questions asked as to whether Cascapedia gets 2000m even though she finished a 0.80-length third behind Tilbury Fort in the G-Bets Summer Cup.
In that race she was in contention at the 400m mark but never really accelerated to get away from her opposition. Having said that, she did not fade out either and perhaps 2000m on the Inside track at Turffontein is well within her compass.
We will get the answer tomorrow after the running of Race 7 as Mike de Kock’s charge lines up in a Pinnacle Stakes over 2000m.
She has a lot going for her. This Irish-bred daughter of High Chaparral is the best handicapped runner by at least 2kg and her main opposition looks to be the two other females in the race – Silver Thursday and Fort Ember. Only six runners are carded to go to post but Gavin Lerena will still have the benefit of No 3 draw.
Stable companion Silver Thursday could provide the biggest challenge. She improved markedly last time when fitted with blinkers and racing over 1800m on this track, raced away from her opposition to beat Warrior’s Rest by 2.30 lengths. On paper she is well held by both Cascapedia and Fort Ember but now she has regained her form, this daughter of Silvano is worth following.
Warren Kennedy, who got the best out of the filly last time, is back at Turffontein to ride her again.
Fort Ember is certainly no slouch and she is a massive runner if in the right frame of mind. Her record over 2000m is decent enough with a win and two places from five starts. Even more impressive is her form at the course which reads three wins and one place in five runs.
She is the second-best handicapped runner but with the 2.5kg claim she receives from claiming apprentice Kabelo Matsunyane, she actually has a 0.5kg edge over Cascapedia.
As far as the geldings are concerned French Navy makes the most appeal but he will need to regain some of his old flare.
He had his first run following a two-and-a-half-month layoff at Turffontein last week in the Listed Wolf Power 1600 and ran moderately.
He was last turning for home and although still finishing near the back of the field, he did make up some ground on the front runners and was beaten 7.50 lengths by Doosra.
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