The Western Cape’s loss is the Eastern Cape’s gain.
Unfortunately, things did not work out in Cape Town and fields were not of a decent size so the Eastern Cape has stepped in, as they have done before, and will put on a nine-race programme with some decent fields and what looks a competitive and exciting card.
On a difficult card one can take a chance with Quick Count In Race 1 and The Sands in Race 8.
Var filly Quick Count has been improving with each run so her last effort when never really in the race was a bit of a shock to the system. One should just put it down to having an off day as even a post-race veterinary examination could not find an adequate reason for the moderate performance.
Quick Count had been runner-up in her two previous outings.
Firstly, she was only 1.75 lengths behind Princess Of Winter over 1200m on the Fairview Polytrack. Then the three-year-old filly was runner-up behind well-backed stable companion Opulence.
The run behind Princess Of Winter was particularly good as she had a terrible draw to overcome.
Jockey Kendall Minnie has been aboard for all four of the filly’s races and will be on top again.
Trainer Jacques Strydom seemed to get the best out of The Sands in October and he did beat subsequent recent winner Masterful.
His next two starts were fairly good behind Zig Zag and Undisclosed, so another win did not look too far away. His unplaced effort last time was probably caused by his wide draw and not getting into the race at any stage.
The Sands is much better drawn and an each-way bet could pay off.
His biggest danger, Great Guy, does look a threat based on his good local debut but a record of just one win in 24 starts for Great Guy tells a story.
Preview By Clive Robinson
