There were three Graded races staged this weekend, with each race throwing up notable performances and good speed figures. Russet Air (speed score 104) took the G2 Cape Merchants, Summer Pudding (s/s 102) clinched the G3 Citizen Fillies Mile and King of Gems (s/s 101) produced a withering run from last to deny Sachdev (s/s 101) in the G2 Concorde Cup.

Russet Air (by What a Winter) has been tried up to a mile but is clearly happiest when sprinting. Aldo Domeyer used his strong finish to sweep past rivals towards the outside at Kenilworth and draw away from Ready Steady Go (s/s 100). Pleasedtomeetyou became a bit exposed in the inside group forcing his jock to make an early move and they then had no answer to Russet Air’s closing charge.

King of Gems (by Kingsbarns) was sensational in the Concorde Cup to pip Sachdev (sired by Silvano) on the post. Both are seriously smart three year- olds with legitimate Classic aspirations based on Saturday’s performances. It takes an extraordinary effort to come from last on the short Winter course when the track is running quick, something that King of Gems achieved in a remarkably speedy stretch run!

Summer Pudding (Silvano ex Cherry on the Cake) remains perfect after winning the Fillies Mile at Turffontein for her third successive victory. She staved off a much- improved Keep Smiling (s/s 101) who caught the eye running on stoutly after jumping from draw 13.

Like Keep Smiling, the third placed horse, Marygold (s/s 101), is also sired by Flower Alley and both relished the 1600m test. They were followed by Sidonie who scored 98 after racing slightly wide – not a shabby effort at all given that it was only her fourth start.

Favourite backers got torched in this Fillies Mile as the top three in the betting went missing. With the first four past the post arriving at odds of 13/1, 60/1, 15/1 and 6’s, a big 40K plus quartet dividend was triggered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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