Heartland can show mettle

JUSTIN Snaith bypasses Saturday’s Selangor Cup with Heartland to run the R2.2 million full brother to Jackson against older horses in the relatively humble Itsarush.co.za Handicap at Kenilworth today.

“I want to get one more race into him to see how good he is and then decide where to place him,’’ explains the champion trainer. ’’

Also he would be heavily penalised if he were to run a place in a Group race like the Selangor’’

Heartland was given a rating of 89 when romping home nearly ten lengths clear on debut and he was left on that mark after taking third behind Act Of War and Mljet in the Cape Classic. However things went pear-shaped for him that day with the colt's rider unable to follow Snaith's carefully planned instructions.

It is reasonable to assume that he is better than his present merit rating would suggest and therefore he is a confident choice. He opened 12-10 favourite with Betting World on Monday and was 13-10 yesterday.

Triptique has been backed from 2-1 to 12-10 favourite for the opening maiden to make amends for last time's losses when the Dennis Drier colt started odds-on and led the stands side from a long way out only to be pipped by a horse on the inside.

He should be hard to beat although Tomba La Bomba (who is very much on the drift, going from 4-1 to 7-1) went into the notebooks when running on late on debut at Durbanville, and 3-1 chance Ovar was only half a length behind Triptique on his first run when he looked a certain future winner.

“He is one of my nicest three-year-olds,’’ says Yogas Govender. “I brought him to the races a bit underdone first time and he ran above his fitness.’’

Fat Bottom Girl

Whatever his prospects with Ovar, Govender should win the next with the unflatteringly named Fat Bottom Girl who holds Three Blue Cranes , In The Know, How Var, Black Marble, Yalla Habibti and Hypervarlocity on her debut second at the beginning of the month.

“She has come on with that run and she has made the expected improvement," says Govender who adds: “She has a lot of speed.’’

How Var ran without shoes that day - Mike Stewart's farrier was away - but the Noordhoek trainer believes it made little difference. She will wear front shoes this time.

Captain's Dove looked one to follow after running on well on debut and she could be hard to beat in race three even though Mike Robinson admits he is a bit in the dark about the 2-1 favourite. “She has blossomed since that first run and she looks incredible but she shows me nothing at home,’’ he explains.

Drier runs a smart sort in Eventual Angel who opened 1310 favourite for the mile fillies Conditions Plate. She has won four out of five and on paper looks a tough nut to crack.

However Acrostar made a big impression when accelerating past odds-on Grey Light and gives the impression that she has improved since the winter when her form was pretty smart.

“She has definitely improved,’’ Sanith confirms, “and she keeps on improving.’’

Richard Fourie's mount opened at 5-2 and, although she has since shortened to 22-10, she just might prove better value than the favourite.