Weights favour Rouge Allure
DANGER: TAHITIAN ORANA IS IN GOOD FORM AND IS EXPECTED TO GO CLOSE
Orpheus, in Race 6, has a good record at the course.
Two Pinnacle Stakes races head up tomorrow’s card at Turffontein where racing is on the Inside track. The first pops up in Race 3 and is for fillies and mares over 1600m while the second, Race 6, is open to all horses and is over 1800m.
Based on her last run Rouge Allure has the edge in Race 3. She won a FM 92 Handicap over this course and distance on 30 August and is well handicapped to repeat that victory.
On that occasion, Stephen Moffatt’s runner beat Just Kidding by 1.75 lengths with Risk Taker another 1.25 lengths back in third. Rouge Allure and Risk Taker meet again but the latter is only 1kg better off for a three-length defeat and on that run should not turn the tables.
However, they did square up in a previous meeting which comprehensively went the way of Risk Taker, but Rouge Allure was coughing at the pull up and did not run to her best form.
In any case, that race was on the Standside track and the sevenyear-old mare has a clear preference for Saturday’s course.
A bigger threat could come from Tahitian Orana who won well last time and comes from the in-form Ashley Fortune stable. It might not be too wise to read too much into the fact that S’manga Khumalo, who rode Rouge Allure last time, has opted to ride Tahitian Orana as he does pick up a number of good rides from the stable. In any case, Moffatt has an excellent substitute in Gavin Lerena.
Another runner with a definite shout is Shivers, who last season competed in a number of threeyear-old features. She is one of the better handicapped runners and has had one warm-up run, which was in a Pinnacle Stakes against the colts.
She drifted in the betting but was clearly in need of the run when coming in six lengths behind Soldier On, to whom she was conceding 2.5kg.
In Race 6, no runner has a clear weight advantage over the field and that makes it almost a handicap. Orpheus is from the Mike and Adam Azzie yard and he has a very good record at this course, with two wins and three places from six runs.
He will be having his third race after a layoff and should be at peak fitness. Marco van Rensburg has a great rapport with the six-yearold gelding and he will be taking the ride once again.
Matador Man has lost so many races at the start but will be having his first run for his new stable. If Fabian Habib has been able to remedy the problem, this sevenyear-old son of Toreador would be a massive contender.
Piere Strydom takes the ride and if anybody can find that magic tough, it is the six-time former champion jockey.