Whitehead has reason to believe
WENDY Whitehead (pictured) described her Grade 2 KRA Fillies Guineas runner up Reason To Believe as a “tough cookie” and reckoned she would be more effective over the 1 400m trip of the Grade 2 Tibouchina than over the mile.
Some of the other Summerveld trainers and jockeys also commented on their charges in Saturday’s big Rising Sun meeting at Clairwood.
Whitehead said, “Reason To Believe is very well. She came out of her Guineas run well. She has never been around a left hand turn before but I don’t think it will be a problem.”
If any proof was needed how good her Guineas run was, it was provided when Mike de Kock decided to include Amanee, the 0,75 length winner of the race, on his shipment to Dubai.
Furthermore, the fourth placed horse, Beloved Betty, whom Reason To Believe beat by 0,3 lengths, franked the form by finishing a far from disgraced 5,75 length fourth in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000, beaten just 1,75 lengths by Ilha Bela and 0,5 lengths by Dubai Gina.
Reason To Believe, a daughter of Captain Al, is known to have a big heart and her draw of three, compared to eight in the KRA Fillies Guineas, is a much more favourable one considering her handy running style.
She should be a runner despite this field having more depth than the Fillies Guineas one.
Kevin Shea will replace Anton Marcus, who is retained by the owner of Trinity House, Markus Jooste.
Whitehead and Shea also team up with Coffee Sheik, who was unlucky to not get into the Golden Horse Casino Sprint field.
He runs in the KZN Chapter Winter Challenge 1200 and she said he had had also been doing well.
He will have to carry 63,5kg but is a big, strong horse who has carried 61,5 to victory before.
He has a tough draw of two, but one of his best wins came over the course and distance from the identical draw, albeit in a much smaller eight horse field. Brandon Lerena has two top rides for the Sean Tarry yard.
He rides Give Me Five in the Tibouchina and said, “She was completely outpaced in the SA Fillies Sprint and was unlucky not to run a place as she had no room. But she was telling us in that run that she wants to go further now. She has a wide draw but will be running on strongly.”
Give Me Five was drawn one in the SA Fillies Sprint and had nowhere to go when still looking full of running as all the horses had come over to the inside.
She did well to run on for a 3,5 length sixth, considering she had to be switched.
Lerena also rides the impressive debut winner Fire Wheel in the Listed Devon Air Stakes for two-year-old fillies over 1 450m. Tarry put her into a 1 600m maiden juvenile plate for her debut and she won full of running by 5,25 lengths despite running very wide the whole way.
The form has worked out reasonably well to date and she and the Gavin van Zyl-trained Lizzy Grey look to be the principle contenders for Saturday’s race. She has a good draw of three and looked very relaxed in the running on debut despite being wide, so she should have plenty left by the time they hit the straight on Saturday.
Alyson Wright runs the four-yearold Dynasty gelding Barney Barnato in the KZN Chapter Winter Challenge 2000 and was expecting a better run than his disappointing fifth last time when starting favourite in a Greyville 1 600m handicap. “He is much better in himself,” she said.
Barney Barnato has been close up twice over this distance, although he is drawn wide here in his first start around a left hand turn.
Anthony Delpech, who has ridden him before, will replace his regular pilot Anton Marcus, who is riding the Alec Laird-trained Desert Raptor.