Shine Like A Star, the banker at Fairview on Friday
The Miesque’s Approval colt Shine Like A Star looks a serious candidate for the East Cape champion juvenile award this season. Gavin Smith’s charge looks progressive and is set for a hat trick of wins when he lines up in Friday’s R150 000 Listed Dahlia Plate at Fairview.
The race is the feature event on the Eastern Cape Community Chest’s charity day, which is the opening leg of the Derby weekend double header.
Great Buy
Shine Like A Star looks to be a serious bargain buy at just R60 000 and has earned at every one of his five career runs since placing on debut on 30 December. Trainer Gavin Smith is known to hold him in high regard and he takes the next step up the ladder on Friday. Shine Like A Star shed his maiden over 1000m at his fourth start and hit a career peak last time when storming home to win the Listed East Cape Nursery. He showed tremendous maturity there when beating the Cape filly Cotton Candy easing up and coping well with a late weather induced switch to the polytrack. Aldo Domeyer rides him again on Friday.
Support String
Gavin Smith has a power hand in this race
Gavin Smith has strong back up for Shine Like A Star in the form of Frederick Fox and Rushing Lark. Frederick Fox looks well held by Shine Like A Star and ran third and two lengths behind in the Nursery. Even allowing for slightly superior form on turf, he looks held by his stablemate. Rushing Lark ran stone last in the Nursery but may well have not enjoyed the polytrack. At his penultimate outing he shed his maiden over 200m shorter at this track.
Cape Challenge
The Cape raiders are both fillies and are not without hope. Vaughan Marshall saddles the Scarlet Letter filly Ladidah who won her maiden very convincingly over the 1000m at Kenilworth last time out.The win was a big improvement on her unplaced debut and she could be anything in this field at her first start in the province. Justin Snaith’s Trippi filly Sunset Tripp won at the first time of asking over 800m. She ran unplaced behind Arria next time and has been rested 13 weeks. Snaith can never be underestimated and Richard Fourie comes to town to ride her.
Bremner Duo
Yvette Bremner saddles a coupling of the Lecture gelding Pacyano and the maiden Blast. Pacyano came out firing on all cylinders to win on debut, but is 3kgs worse off with Frederick Fox for a quarter length course and distance beating second time out. He did not enjoy the polytrack when unplaced in the Nursery, and that run is best ignored. Blast looks to have a very difficult task and while receiving weight, is still a maiden.
Greeff Cruising
Alan Greeff saddles a Sail From Seattle coupling
Alan Greeff saddles a Sail From Seattle coupling. This includes recent polytrack maiden winner Roaring Sea. He is well held by Shine Like A Star on his debut run. The promsing Seattle Joe won on debut and was then thought good enough to travel to Cape Town for the Met day Listed Juvenile Feature. He finished unplaced there six lengths behind Arria but was reported not striding out. He ran a fair third at his return run behind Frederick Fox last time and is now all of 3kgs better off with the Greeff runner.
Star Material
The race looks tailormade for the very smart Shine Like A Star. He has them all held and beyond the unknowns of Marshall’s and Snaith’s fillies, he could be an exotic banker on a tough programme. Frederick Fox and Seattle Joe (if sound) should prove best of the rest.
