Double for Laing as Blue Duchess shines
IT’S not often trainer Tara Laing strikes a double blow, but that’s exactly what she did yesterday.
First Madam Seville clinched a well-deserved victory in Race 3, a Maiden Plate for fillies and mares over 1300m, and then Elusive Jaid caused a bit of an upset when crossing the line first in Race 4, a FM79 Divided Handicap over the same distance.
Chase Maujean was in the saddle on both occasions.
Madam Seville has been battling to shed her maiden tag, having come close on a number of occasions, most notably in her two runs before yesterday when runner-up on both occasions.
On her nineteenth attempt yesterday – and her first on the Polytrack – she eventually tasted success.
According to Maujean, the track played a pivotal part in Madam Seville’s success yesterday.
“She’s got a lot better action on the Poly,” said the jockey after the race.
“She prefers the shorter run-in on the Poly. Down the shorter straight now she only had to sprint for 300m and it suits her perfectly. She’s not a big filly.”
One race later, 11-1 long shot Elusive Jaid recorded a third career victory, interestingly also in her nineteenth race.
This Elusive Fort filly looked out of sorts in her last two on the turf, but returning to the Poly she hit the form that saw her record four consecutive topfour finishes.
In Race 5, a FM93 Divided Handicap over 1300m, Blue Duchess made it five wins from five starts on the Poly.
After moving to PE from Cape Town just over a year ago, she was first tested on the Fairview Turf track. She passed that test with flying colours to exit the maidens.
But it’s on the Poly where she is making a real name for herself, stretching her unbeaten run on this surface to five. She is definitely worth following.