Piere Strydom delivered one of his patented masterclasses, riding Fatal Flaw to win the G1 Cape Fillies Guineas. He slid across from a wide draw, set easy fractions up front, then quickened up when needed to run out a comfortable winner over the chasing, Scarlet Macaw.

There was nothing special about the final figure – instead this was a case of clever tactics proving decisive on a tractable, classy filly. Strydom just reads races so well – former expert jockey Karl Neisius said that is one of Striker’s greatest attributes; the ability to anticipate the flow of a race and how best to then position his mount and take advantage.

The Green Point Stakes, won from the front by Oriental Charm, was also not true run. Richard Fourie, one of the beaten jockeys on second placed Royal Aussie lamented afterwards that it was “a G2 ran at a Maiden pace.” The final time was still 1.2 seconds faster than what Fatal Flaw achieved, in another manifestation of the dreaded, “Cape Crawl.”

The Southern Cross was run at a good lick, however. Genuine speedball, Candy Town (s/s 100) set off a terrific clip and was only caught late by odds on favourite, Asiye Phambili (s/s 104.) The mare loves the Kenilworth straight and can win again at Graded level before the summer season is over.

The Hong Kong International race day threw up some stellar numbers. Giavellotto (s/s 113, with upgrade could rate as high as 123 in the HK Vase) Ka Ying Rising (s/s 111 + in the HK Sprint, has done 115 + before, will reach an even higher peak) and the awesome Romantic Warrior (s/s 120, likely 128 with sectional upgrade in the HK Cup!) showed the level needed to be truly world class.