Snowdonia to make a Classic comeback

Snowdonia appears to have a touch of class about her and Paul Peter’s charge should be too good for her opposition in Race 7 at the Vaal tomorrow, a MR 76 Handicap over 1500m.

Racing returns to the Classic track tomorrow, which for those who have forgotten is the old sand track, and punters need to remember that other than races over 1000m, the rest are all run around the turn. That means draws become quite significant.

The course has not been used for quite a while as it needed some maintenance so one needs to take note after the running of the early races if the jockeys are favouring a particular part of the course.

By the time they get to Snowdonia all the questions should be answered but the good news is the four-year-old daughter of Greys Inn is perfectly positioned at barrier No 2. In her last start she beat Biblical Susan by 0.50 lengths in a FM 81 Handicap over 1600m on the Turffontein Inside track and prior to that ran third to Banking April in a FM 91 Handicap, beaten just two lengths.

A drop in class in a handicap brings with it an increased weight and that means Snowdonia will be carrying 61.5kg. She has, however, run against a lot better than she faces in this event and the weight looks unlikely to stop her.

She also runs well for apprentice Lyle Hewitson who just continues to impress with every ride. His mature thought processes when calculating tactics makes one forget that it is just over year since he rode his first race as an official apprentice.

Future Fantastic stands out as the main danger but there is some doubt as to how she will run over this distance. She has won three times and two of those have been over 1600m but lately trainer Stuart Pettigrew seems to have kept her to 1400m and 1200m so maybe she is looking more like a sprinter as she is getting older.

Last time she ran a great race to finish a one-length second behind First Dance over 1400m on the Standside track at Turffontein but the winner proved to be too good.

She does travel well for Karl Zechner who takes the ride again and they are nicely drawn at No 3. Gain Ground’s merit rating has been dropping nicely and that brings him into the picture but Mike de Kock’s runner might prefer a little further.