Dillon on song at Kenilworth
Donovan Dillon made the most of his opportunities at Kenilworth on Saturday.
He started early, winning the first Cape juvenile race of the season for Piet Botha on Captain’s Flo, who found some ‘shrewdie’ support from 12-1 into 17-2.
This daughter of Captain Of All is an impressive specimen and saw off her male compatriots with some ease, as 6-7 favourite Thomas Henry tried hard but could make no impression in the latter stages.
“I’ve never allowed her to come off the bit at home, so I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I expected her to run a good race,” said Botha, who confirmed her next appearance would be the Listed juvenile event on Sun Met day.
“She gave me a good feel and has a lot of scope,” commented Dillon.
He returned to the winner’s enclosure in Race 6, after Celtic Voyager completed a smart hattrick in the MR 90 Handicap over 1000m.
This three-year-old Vercingetorix gelding kept on stoutly to down hardened campaigners Power Grid and Bernie by 0.5 lengths in an exciting finish.
Richard Fourie also recorded a double on the day.
ComputaForm best bet Hurricane Harry (8-10) opened the account with a facile start to finish win in Race 5.
Fourie only rides for Mike Stewart on the odd occasion but has an excellent strike rate. So, it was a surprise that Icon Princess was allowed to go off at 12-1 when winning Race 7, a FM 104 event.