Palace a royal bet
Silver Maple won well on debut and should be followed.
ALEC LAIRD trains Cashel Palace
Some useful three-year-olds will be in action at the Vaal today but at this stage of their careers one is working more on reputation than proven ability.
Many of these runners have only raced once or twice so it is difficult to know how good they are and how much improvement is still to come.
Race 7 is a MR 82 Handicap for fillies over 1400m and there was a lot to like about the way Cashel Palace won her last race. Alec Laird’s charge finished third behind Perfidia on debut but suffered a slipped saddle on that occasion. She went off favourite at 7-10 in her start, which was over 1600m, and coasted to an 8.25-length win over Queensberry Square.
There have not been any winners off that form line but the manner of her victory left one with the impression there is still a lot more to come. The stable is in excellent form and although she carries top weight, this daughter of Fort Wood should be able to improve further. There is likely to be a feature race lined up for her in the near future.
This is a a very competitive card and she looks to be the best banker in all the Exotics.
La Collossa is another who could improve. She has only raced three times and last time took on older horses in a handicap in which she had to give weight to all runners. Under the circumstances she did well to finish fourth, beaten 3.50 lengths.
La Bastide is from the stable of champion trainer Sean Tarry. She won on debut and last time, over 1300m at the Vaal, was always in contention but ended in third spot, although she was only beaten 0.90 lengths.
She is bred to go further and we are likely only to see the best of her when she does so.
Bettors are faced with the same issue in Race 6, a MR 88 Handicap for three-year-olds and the eight runners are a mixture of colts and geldings.
Silver Maple just got up to win on debut but Geoff Woodruff’s charge looks talented and should be followed. It is not easy to win first time out on the Inside track at Turffontein and he did just that, producing the fastest finish in the process over 1200m. He is by Silvano out of a Rakeen mare so any extra distance will be right up his street.
Laird saddles two-time winner Flying Winger who has not raced in strong company but one can never argue with a horse who knows how to win.
