Favourite, Prince of Kahal and Angel’s Power shared honours in the G3 Spring Spree Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday. They each earned speed figures of 103 which was a best effort for Angel’s Power, though Prince of Kahal has run a touch higher (106 – 107) on a few occasions. Both got perfect trips racing handy from low draws before engaging in a nip and tuck finish, this whilst bad things were happening to the off- pace runners – a typical scenario over 1200m on the inside track.
Operetta took the Ladies Stakes, accelerating from midfield under a well- timed Warren Kennedy ride. The Oratorio filly has now won six of 17 starts, twice running peak figures of 101 and 102. She was chased home by a young, grey daughter of Visionaire, Spiritofthegroove who closed ground smartly late and is worth following.
Vikram (s/s 97 +) made a powerful stretch run to mug Bold Viking (s/s 96) just short of the wire in the Founders Trophy on Friday at Fairview. Prior to this outing, his best effort was a score of 99 when blinkered, finishing 7.75 lengths behind top class One World in the CTS 1600 on Met day. With blinkers back on and revived after his KZN campaign, Andre Nel’s traveler overcame a wide gate to get the job done.
Punters landed sharp upper-cuts to the bookies’ chins when Ancient Spirit (s/s 89 +) justified heavy support on the Greyville Poly. The Fastnet Rock mare was skillfully handled by Keagan de Melo and drew clear after being perfectly positioned from a low draw. Sunday’s victory was her fourth from 16 attempts and she can add to that tally placed at the right class over the next couple of months, especially as she has shown an affinity for the Poly course.