VODACOM Durban July favourite, Igugu, is in good shape ahead of this Saturday’s Woolavington 2000 at Greyville, while her stable companion Berry Blaze is getting bigger and stronger by the day and looks to be her only danger.

Mike de Kock says that Igugu had been freshened up after her Triple Tiara win.

“It was necessary, so she won’t be quite at 100%”, he said.

 However, de Kock is reputed to turn out some of the world’s fittest horses, so this should have no bearing on her performance.

 De Kock added that he felt she would take to any track. 

Her only previous experience of a tight right hand track was when winning the weight-for-age Grade 3 Joburg Spring Challenge on the Turffontein Inside track over 1450m by a comfortable 2,75 lengths, beating such good horses as Headstrong, Miss Turbulence and Alderry.

Igugu didn’t beat strong fields in any of the Gauteng Fillies Guineas, SA Fillies Classic over 1800m and SA Oaks over 2450m.

Igugu might have a race on her hands.

However, she won those races by a sum total of 20 lengths and her times over her preferred trips in the Fillies Classic and Oaks were better than the subsequent male events on the same day.   

Berry Blaze was beaten 11,5 lengths by Igugu in the SA Fillies Classic, but as de Kock said this Irish-bred filly is six months younger than her contemporaries and is improving rapidly.

She has a great presence, being a big, imposing sort and has impressed in her two runs at Greyville.

In the first of them she beat a competitive field in a Progress Plate over 1400m in very soft going by a comfortable 2,25 lengths.

Then she lost a couple of lengths at the start in the KRA Fillies Guineas and after rounding the field came with a withering finishing run, failing by just 0,5 lengths to get to the classy Beach Beauty, despite first hanging right and then hanging left away from the stick.

On pedigree she should love this extra distance. – Gold Circle Press Release.