Robinson’s charge to show there’s no chaff in this corn

King Of The Corn made a winning return to racing following an almost three-month break and trainer Michael Robinson appears to have a talented individual on his hands.

This son of Lateral looked to be quite ordinary after his first five runs but that all changed once Robinson tried him over further than 1600m. Since then he has run six times – four races over 1800m and two over 2000m – for four wins and a 0.50-length third behind Tiger Tops.

His last two outing were over 2000m and he won both of them so when King Of The Corn returns to racing today in a MR 85 Handicap over 2000m he does look the runner they will all have to beat.

When he won last time after a layoff King Of The Corn had to fight hard to get up and touch off Waiting For Rain by a short head. He was only penalised 1kg for the victory but that does mean he is 1kg worse off with Waiting For Rain this time for that narrow win which indicates that on paper the runner-up should be able to reverse the form. However, he showed a lot of courage in rising to the challenge and unless he goes flat in his second run after a layoff, one should see further improvement.

He will be ridden by Richard Fourie who has been aboard in all four of his victories so they do have a solid record together.

One cannot disregard the chances of Waiting For Rain. Piet Steyn’s charge has been racing against a lot stronger and in December finished just 3.75 lengths behind Sun Met winner Whiskey Baron in an Allowance Plate over 1800m at Kenilworth, giving him just 0.5kg. In recent races the fiveyear- old has dropped in class and has become a lot more competitive.

This time Fourie had better ensure he does not give Waiting For Rain too much start as Bernard Fayd’Herbe takes the ride and he will not be that easy to get past in the straight. Cape Laddie is an interesting runner. The four-year-old son of Western Winter has been lightly raced and was only gelded a few days after his penultimate run last November when he finished 7.15 lengths behind Union Jack. Dean Kannemeyer’s charge had his comeback run on 1 April in a MR 77 Handicap over 1600m at Kenilworth and performed well enough when finishing third, beaten 0.45 lengths by Gyre.

There is a question mark as to whether he will see out 2000m and he has not raced further than 1600m so this race will be a real test for him. Grant van Niekerk takes the ride and with just 55.5kg on his back Cape Laddie will be a contender if he stays the distance.