7/10 favourite, One Stripe (s/s 99+) was widely expected to win the Cape Guineas and duly did so from Eight On Eighteen (s/s 98) and Great Plains.
The race went off fast early, then slowed in the middling sections, before the closers launched their stretch runs. One Stripe has fantastic acceleration and that proved decisive. Racing on opposite sides of the course, he finished a length ahead of the runner up.
Gavin Lerena said that his mount was on the wrong leg around the turn and also hung out badly in the straight. He was relieved to win despite those issues. Richard Fourie on the second horse, conceded “One Stripe would have won by four or five lengths if he ran straight.”
Fourie feels that Eight on Eighteen is a Classic, galloping type who will be better suited to the Cape Derby trip.
Sadly, Highveld raider Heather’s Boy broke down. He raced handy and was contending for a long way, but jockey Craig Zackey could feel him dip and bob badly when the leg injury was sustained, and eased him up.
The other couple of Graded races over 1800m were completely different from a pace perspective. The Victress Stakes saw the small field merely jog around the track before turning it into a sprint for home.
Saartjie, the 4/10 favourite was caught out at the back of the pack and could not make up the deficit. Instead, handily placed Rainbow Lorikeet threw in a rapid 23.1 second 400m – finish sectional to secure the win.
The final time was 114.5 seconds so that finishing segment represents 110% – an extreme case of a slow early/ fast late race. The first 1400m took a leisurely, 91.4 seconds.
The Futurist (s/s 100) went hard early and stopped late (a milk-wagon slow 25.1 for the final two panels) but somehow staved off the cavalry to win the G3 Peninsula Handicap. Jockey Anthony Andrews conceded that he was merely a passenger to start with on the hard- running, pacesetter, who enjoyed an uncontested lead.
Andrews has a good record on this erratic performer who seems either to win or come last. When pressured for the lead he is nowhere near as dangerous. It could also be that he loves turning left- handed. Kenilworth and Durbanville are the only tracks remaining in SA that go counter-clockwise.
The final time was 110 seconds, so the closing sectional expressed as a ratio computes to just 97%. The first 1400m took 84.85 seconds – a full 6.5 seconds quicker than the Victress joggers! This shows the extent to which The Futurist was decelerating after his early exertions and is a textbook example of a fast early/slow late race.
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