Report-back, Meydan # 1
January 11, 2013Alexandra Palace gets up
January 14, 2013GRADE 1 Woolavington winner Viva Maria arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday morning ahead of her attempt at the Grade 1 Maine Chance Paddock Stakes over 1 800m at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Nathan Kotzen, Mike’s Summerveld assistant, is in Cape Town with her and said that the out and out galloper had travelled well. He added that running from the front was the style she enjoyed, so she was likely to race that way on Saturday. This should ensure a good gallop for a race that was run at a farcically slow pace last year, as she really had them strung out in the Woolavington and won her last start over 1 600m at Clairwood in similar fashion.
The four-year-old Jet Master filly had a holiday at the farm of her owner’s and breeder’s, Lammerskraal Stud, after her Woolavington win. She has had two comeback runs and Kotzen said, “She is now spot on.”
1 Comment
The long straight of the Kenilworth New Course can be very testing. In last years Paddock Stakes, Beach Beauty, set sail for home early in the straight but couldn’t hold on even in a slow run race and got collared just before the finishing post. The same with the best miler in the country, Variety Club, he skipped clear early in the straight, in last years Queens Plate and looked a winner 150m out, only for Gimmethegreenlight to swoop past him in the last 70m. Although, Viva Maria’s style might be to free wheel from the front, but it might not be so easy to string this quality field out, as she did in the Woolavington and she might just find the 3 year olds breathing down her neck in the last 100m. She may have a better chance if she kicks on from a handy position, especially if the south easter is blowing, but on the other hand, sometimes it is not good to mess with the tried and tested