Green light for Soma
EQUUS AWARD WINNER: BRILLIANT COLT IS RETURNING TO HIS BEST
Draw could be pivotal in R5 million contest.
The outcome of the CTS 1600 (Non-Black Type) could well depend on whether trainer Joe Soma has Got The Greenlight back to his best. He was a brilliant two-year-old and wrapped up the Equus Award as the Champion Two-Year-Old colt when winning the Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes over 1600m at Greyville in Durban.
Soma nominated him to run in some of the early races in the Johannesburg Summer season, but he missed them all as he suffered a minor setback.
He finally came out of hibernation on 4 January, but it was clear by the way he drifted in the betting that Got The Greenlight was in need of the run. He finished fourth, beaten 6.25 lengths.
Although this is a R5-million race, Soma is unlikely to bring this colt all the way to Cape Town if he did not believe he could win. He has engaged Gavin Lerena to take the ride.
Cane Lime ’N Soda is from the Vaughan Marshall yard and looks to be better than his merit rating suggests. He ran in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas but was always at a disadvantage jumping from the widest draw of the 16 runners. He got too far back, got baulked and had to switch. By the time he got going the race was over. Despite that, he was still the fourth-fastest finisher.
This time he is drawn No 2 and will be fitted with blinkers.
Count Jack has won three of his five starts and looks to be improving with each outing. Had it not been for the fact he has to jump from barrier No 16, he would have been the first choice. As a result, jockey Corne Orffer will need some luck.
Sachdev is one of four runners left in the field from the Justin Snaith yard and could be the best of his quartet. He disappointed in both the Cape Classic and the Cape Guineas but was drawn wide in both and failed to get into the race.
This time he jumps from barrier No 3 and that should help his cause.
Wild Coast has the reverse problem in that he ran fourth in the Cape Guineas off a good draw but now jumps from barrier No 14. Hopefully jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe can overcome that hurdle.
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