Steamroller. The improving African Gladiator steps up in class in the Northern Cape Stayers Handicap at Flamingo Park on Monday
The maxim that weight stops trains may apply in Monday’s R100 000 Northern Cape Stayers Handicap run over 2200m on the Flamingo Park sand. The brilliantly consistent Eye Of The World stands out as the class runner but shoulders a hefty 64kgs.
Students of form are well aware of the apparent exponen-tial drag impact of weight relative to distance, and Eye Of The World will naturally have to be ridden very conservatively by top jockey Sherman Brown if he hopes to produce his usual powerful finish. On the flip side of the coin, Eye Of The World is only carrying topweight as he is the proven class and the best horse in the race.
And a recent review of international statistics of win strike rates of top weights interestingly showed that there is in truth very little difference between the strike rates achieved by topweights over 1000m versus that over 2000m. Horses carry weight on their shoulders, and one thinks naturally that the better horses have the stronger shoulders. Conversely, lighter weights don’t make slow horses run faster either!
Poser
Science and mathematical theory aside, we face a poser of either siding with the best horse in the race carrying a welter impost over a distance which is slightly further than that regarded as his optimum trip, or go with an improving galloper in African Gladiator, who appears to have unlimited petrol in his tank.
The eight horse field will be despatched at a point just past the pull up area and will travel the 2200m all the way around the stamina sapping sand oval. Tactically, there are a few likely pacesetters, with African Gladiator the probable biggest danger to Eye Of The World as an improving sand spider under a light weight.
Consistent
Topweight. Eye Of The World carries a welter impost but is the class horse and has earned the load.
Eye Of The World is trained by Jaap Visser and is consistency personified, with 13 wins from his 73 runs. A sound tough Windrush gelding (there are three progeny of this stallion in the field), he likes to be settled and run at the leaders late.
He has won twice and registered five seconds at his last seven starts over distances ranging from 1400m to 1800m, and meets Pear Rush on 2 kgs better terms from their meeting at his penultimate 1800m start, when Eye Of The World went down 1,75 lengths. Eye Of The World was well beaten in the corresponding race last year, when going down a 14 length third to the very capable Kensington Gore.
Diamond Rush
The game and consistent Pearl Rush could prove to be a thorn in the side of the topweight. She has won five of her last six starts, and is fit and riding the crest of a wave. The daughter of Windrush has also beaten Eye Of The World emphatically at her last two runs and in the Flamingo Park Handicap run on 18 March over 1800m, she ran handily and drew off to win by 1,75 lengths in receipt of 9 kgs. She is 2kgs worse off here and the extra 400m of this race may be a balancing factor in the calculation.
Gladiator
Cliffie Miller’s Modern Day gelding African Gladiator has turned his career around at his last two starts after a quiet start to his Northern Cape campaign. Formerly with Mark Dixon in KZN, he has won his last two starts by an extraordinary 27,5 lengths collectively, and steps up in class here with a 12 kg start over Eye Of The World.
African Gladiator faces a serious test, but his bold power style of galloping his opposition into the ground is bound to provide a fascinating spectacle as Sherman Brown keeps him within range. Gary Alexander makes a rare Monday trip to Kimberley with the Rock Of Gibraltar gelding Radiant Rock, who has his first ever run on the sand. Radiant Rock is a 6 time winner from 45 starts, but has failed to earn for over six months and betting may be the best guide as to his prospects on the surface.
Presidential
Fabulous. The Windrush filly Pearl Rush is one of the top female races in the Northern Cape and warrants consideration
Coerie Lensley’s White House has had two unimpressive runs on the Kimberley sand, since relocating from Port Elizabeth. He was a stayer of some class in his turf racing days in Cape Town, and carries a lightweight courtesy of the claiming apprentice. He in fact gets 16kgs from Eye Of The World. Karlo and Desert Rat are coupled with the topweight and both are in under sufferance and look outclassed in this company.
Tienie Prinsloo’s Vital Match has had four runs on the sand, and his best effort was his penultimate start over Monday’s course and distance. He made steady progress to get within 4,25 lengths of Desert Rat, whom he meets on the same weight terms here. It looks tough here for the Kitalpha 7yo.
Test
No quarter will be expected or given in a race where tactics and pace could play an important role in a test of physical prowess and nerves of steel. We are going with Eye Of The World, to beat African Gladiator and Pearl Rush. But watch the unknowns like the going and the wind.
