Trainer Paul Peter has always felt Smorgasbord would be a top-class performer and after his debut win Peter’s assertion looked spot on.
In his next start he gave away ground at the start and still managed to fly up for second spot to finish a one-length second behind Sheela in the Grade 2 SA Nursery over 1160m at Turffontein.
He then went off as the 1-4 favourite to win the Highveld Winter Juvenile Stakes (Non-Black Type) over 1400m at Turffontein but this time found Rain In Holland too good.
Although he has not yet run a bad race and continued to place in his next two starts, it appeared the gilt had peeled off his reputation. It must have been a tough decision to make, but after his well-beaten fourth place in the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes behind top filly Desert Miracle, Smorgasbord was gelded.
There is no question this three-year-old son of Twice Over has talent and hopefully he will now be able to keep his mind on the job of racing
He makes his comeback at the Vaal on Thursday 30 December and will line up in Race 7, a merit rated 96 Handicap over 1200m. His last race was two months back and hopefully he will not be need of the run because if Smorgasbord gets his mojo back, there are plenty of feature races coming up in which he can compete.
He was fitted with blinkers in his last start but they have been removed for this race.
Gavin Lerena takes the ride for the first time.
The main threat is likely to come from Spanish Boy who has notched up three successive seconds – over 1000m, 12000m and 1475m – in his last three races.
Unlike Smorgasbord, trainer Lucky Houdalakis has decided to fit a set of blinkers to Spanish Boy for this run in the hope it will get a little extra out of the-five-year-old Silvano gelding. He will get 5kg from Smorgasbord and he once again has the services of jockey Muzi Yeni, who no doubt would love to get his mount’s nose down where it matters most after the three frustrating runner-up spots.
Preview By Clive Robinson
