Hot stepper looks to be quick

Small but competitive fields are the order of the day when Cape racing returns to Durbanville tomorrow.

But one who looks a standout bet is trainer Andre Nel’s charge Quickstep Lady in Race 2. This grey filly scored her only win at this course and has recorded three seconds in four subsequent appearances at Kenilworth.

She was no match for classy Labyrinth last time, but that one appears set for far bigger things and our selection finished well clear of the balance.

The step up to 1800m may also work in her favour and with none of her paltry five rivals looking to have major scope for improvement, this daughter of Duke Of Marmalade is a confident choice to win with a reasonable 54.5kg on her back.

And it could be a quick double for Nel and jockey Greg Cheyne, as the duo are selected to win Race 3 as well, although well-tried O Sole Mio is a far less confident choice.

This four-year-old lines up in a Maiden Plate over 1400m and a record of six places in nine starts tells you that she is nothing out of the ordinary.

But she was beaten less than 0.50 lengths in her two most recent appearances over this distance, including the only time she ran at Durbanville.

And most importantly she meets a limited looking bunch of fellow battlers. This daughter of Master Of My Fate is an attractive Eachway proposition in this field. Strongest race of the day is another 1400m, this time at MR 90 Handicap level.

And it provides an intriguing showdown between two highly promising youngsters. Royal Return could not have impressed more when cracking his maiden and just gets the vote from the inside gate.

But fellow three-year-old Worlds Your Oyster has won both starts convincingly and has strong claims of his own. They both look well above average, but a complicating factor is that neither has run at this track before.

Which means older hard knockers like Waiting For Rain, Bernie and Pink Floyd need to be taken seriously.

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