| Race Day Preview Day 32 Saturday 08th September 2012 | ||||
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ARIMA RACE CLUB RACE DAY PREVIEW DAY 32 SATURDAY 8th SEPTEMBER 2012
Babes’ in the spotlight+
THE “babes” will be in the spotlight when horse racing continues at Santa Rosa Park, Arima, on Saturday. The West Indian-bred two-year-olds will be making only their second appearance of the season and they will actually be lining up in the feature attraction of the 32nd round of the Arima Race Club’s 2012 Season. The Nursery Stakes is the penultimate event of the eight-race card and is billed to be contested at 4.51 p.m. Eight juveniles have been declared to square off over 1,000 metres in the $100,000 contest. The field is headed by Safra Tilah, who will face two of the horses she defeated on Emancipation Day as well as five newcomers. The Glenn Mendez-trained daughter of Cougar Cat should be the overwhelming favourite to prevail again, especially after she smashed the 800-metre track record on August 1. The extra distance should be no problem for Sarfa Tilah and it will be a very difficult task to deny her owner, GNT Racing, the $60,000 winners’ cheque.
Something Black, who challenged Safra Tilah for favouritism in the only juvenile race of the season, is back for another shot. However the lovely-looking son of Charismatic Cat needs to improve significantly to have any chance as he faded tamely in the homestretch after being prominent for a long way on August 1. Kiss The Sky, also trained by Rohit Dube, finished well to be fifth that day as a rank outsider and the half-sister of 2009 Guineas winner Santa Rosa Boy will definitely relish the step up in distance. The others will all be facing the starter for the first time, but Star Dreamer was actually supposed to compete on August 1 when she refused to go into the gates and was withdrawn. The half-sister of Damage Control was among four Harold Chadee runners last time out, but the prolific owner/trainer will only be represented by two on this occasion. Chadee’s other candidate is fellow Jamaican-bred filly, Always Ready, a progeny of the very successful sire War Marshall.
Like Chadee and Dube, Shaffique Khan will also have a double-pronged attack. And like Chadee, he is also the owner both Cat Whiskers and Readyforstanley. Like Something Black, Cat Whiskers was sired by Charismatic Cat, and Readyforstanley was bred by trainer Douglas Bennett.
Bennett will actually be represented in the event by Afterthebooks, who has been going very well at gallops and is one of only two males (Something Black in the other) in the event. The field is rounded out by Black Pepper, a daughter of 2000 Gold Cup winner Adawar who is trained by Express horse racing reporter Glen Mohammed. One Fortheroad will be in action right after the “Nursery” in the curtain event against a bunch of 60-40 rated horses. The fact that the Jamaican-bred three-year-old is in this 1,350-metre contest probably tells us that he will not be in the Trinidad Derby on Republic Day (September 24). One Fortheroad has not progressed in the expected manner after finishing fourth in the Guineas in only the fourth start of his career on Easter Monday (April 9). But the Juan Navarro-owned chestnut should be good enough to dispose of his ten rivals if he does not find the trip too sharp.
The field for the 5.30 p.m. event also includes Big Daddy and Super Grey, the 12-year-old who has scored 23 times in his career and needs four more victories to become the horse with the most wins in the 18 ½ years of centralisation. This race will also be the final of three with HI-5 betting. Punters will also be attempting to select the first five finishers in the fourth and sixth events, both over 1,100 metres on the turf. The fourth has attracted 12 horses, rated 40 & lower, to do battle at 2.48 p.m. And just after 4 p.m. the 85-65 rated horses will take centre stage in the second feature. The field of 12 includes Joezel, Get It All, Fly Junior, Diplomatic Cat and Gone For Six, with Officer Ike set to come in if he race is switched to the main course.
After punters were unsuccessful in the Pick 6 last time out on Independence Day (August 31), there will be a carry-over of close to $8,000 in this week’s wager. It gets going at 2.10 p.m. in the third, a 1,200-metre contest which has attracted eight 45 & lower rated horses. After drawing a blank last time, Brian Harding, a veteran of three decades in the saddle, still needs four more to reach 1,000 winners in Trinidad. The nine-time champion jockey has to be perfect to reach the milestone on Saturday as he only has four bookings.
Post time is 1 p.m.
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 10 September 2012 15:15 ) |