Marco to ride into the sunset

However, Cliffie Miller’s charge will be tested over that distance once again when he runs at Flamingo Park today in Race 7, a Pinnacle Stakes.

When one sees a stakes races on a card the first thing you do is look at the best handicapped runner. In this case, it is Lebeoana who has a 1kg advantage over the balance of the runners. While Tienie Prinsloo’s runner can be brilliant on his day he does not appear to be the soundest of runners and has periods when he hardly raises a gallop. That has been the case with his last three runs, in which he has failed to run a place.

Last time he raced over 1200m, which is far too short, but, after losing ground at the start, Lebeoana did not raise a gallop and was beaten 20.50 lengths by Red Special. While one could consider him for the Pick 6 and Jackpot, he cannot be a banker in any bet.

Seattle Sunset last raced over 1800m in his second start, when he finished almost 30 lengths behind Boy Boy at Turffontein. But that was more than two years ago and the way in which he flew up last time to beat Red Special by 0.50 lengths over 1600m indicates that, if ridden patiently, he will see out the distance.

Red Special registered a victory last week so the form looks very strong and it will be up to Marco van Rensburg to get the most out of the son of Sail From Seattle.