Alesia’s Love to follow up on Maiden Plate win

Many pundits believe that when a horse wins a Maiden Plate, leave it alone the next time it runs.

While it is true post-maiden winners are unusual, some are worth following and it is worth backing them until they lose.

One does have to take into account the quality of the fields they have beaten and also the manner of the win and the conditions of the race in which they will be running the next time.

On that basis it could be worth following Alesia’s Love in Race 7 at the Vaal today, a MR 85 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m on the Classic track.

Roy Magner’s charge did have six runs before winning her maiden but she did meet some strong opposition along the way.

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In addition, she was tried over a number of distances before she was finally brought back to 1200m in her seventh career outing, this time finally cracking her maiden win by 4.50 lengths.

In what is quite unusual, winners – 13 in fact – have come out of every form line in which she participated. That includes her last start where the runner who finished a 4.50-length second to Alesia’s Love, Sugary Sweet, came out to win her next start.

Also, in her antepenultimate race, this three-year-old daughter of Vercingetorix was beaten 1.40 lengths by Gimme A Nother who has since gone on to win a Grade 3 and a Grade 2 feature and remains unbeaten in four starts.

Alesia’s Love comes into Tuesday’s race very nicely weighted with just 53.5kg on her back and will be ridden by Muzi Yeni who knows the filly well, having been aboard for five of her seven runs.

The one concern is that this race is run around the turn and she is drawn slightly wide at No 7. But she does have good gate speed and there are only eight runners in the field so it should not provide Yeni with too much of an obstacle.

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The other major contender for top honours is Jasiri, who is trained by Johan Janse van Vuuren. She has only raced three times, winning on debut but finishing unplaced in her second start which came after an almost five-month rest.

Jasiri did improve in her next start when a 1.50-length third behind Woman Of Power in her last start.

It might not prove to be that relevant but her two good runs were both over 1000m whereas her unplaced performance came over 1160m at Turffontein. 2

In addition, this will be her first start around the turn and she will have to give 3.5kg to Alesia’s Love but she does have Gavin Lerena up to provide the necessary assistance from the saddle.