Racing went ahead on a very heavy track at Kenilworth on Saturday. Ability to handle soft ground obviously counted for a lot, whilst unfit horses were badly exposed. The track variant came up as -79 for the 1200m straight course which is about the slowest I can recall calculating in many years. Around the turn it wasn’t so extremely slow (“only” – 46) but still it proved a real test of endurance for entries slogging around the bends of the Winter course.
Glacier slow sectional times were equally revealing. Cattaleya won the final race, a Maiden over 1200m in a final time of 80.41 second, laboring through a 400m to finish fraction of 27 seconds! Expressed as a ratio that’s 99% of the final time, way below the usual par of 103%, and further evidence of just how deep and tiring the surface was to negotiate.
Jockey Louis Mxothwa tested the track early on Saturday morning and said it was safe to race on. Subsequently, in a stand-our ride, he judged things perfectly on confidently backed, Teatro (speed figure 89, closing ratio 98%) in Race 3. Mxothwa dictated on his super- fit charge (like Cattaleya, trained by Interbet ambassador, Brett Crawford) and even though they were slowing down markedly in the closing stages, had opened a sufficient mid-race gap on their rivals to score.
Runner up Contiguous (s/s 85 102%) is going to win soon. He stayed on smartly at his comeback run since last competing in early June, when well beaten by Royal Aussie. Previously he’d made a solid debut behind potentially smart Justin Snaith entry, Tothemoonandback so clearly can shed his Maiden and go on to further success.
Snaith also stepped out fore-mentioned Royal Aussie after the same layoff. Taking on older horses in a MR 79 handicap, he impressed racing handy then finishing off with determination. The Royal Mo three-year-old will build on his speed figure of 92 + and is worth following into the Spring/Summer season.
Former jock-now trainer, Piet Botha has his string in good nick and Ragnar Lothbrok (s/s 95, 101%) bolted home in the penultimate event, an MR 80 handicap over 1000m. This Vercingetorix gelding has been tried over further but seemed in his element in a true run sprint on soft turf. When similar underfoot conditions apply at the same class level, then he can be punted to repeat the treatment.
Next week sees the Equus National Awards ceremony and we will broaden our focus in this Interbet newsletter to publicize the career best speed ratings for the top performers around South Africa.