Tulip Tree will be looking to extend her impressive record on the Turffontein Inside track when she lines up in Race 5 on Tuesday in a MR 94 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1600m.
The Stuart Pettigrew-trained three-year-old has only raced nine times for four wins, all of them coming on the Inside track. Her only defeat on this course came on debut over 1200m, a distance short of her best.
Overall, this daughter of What A Winter has been the model of consistency. Other than that first unplaced run and her four wins, the balance of her races have resulted in three second places and a fourth.
Of course, those sorts of results do not win any favours from the handicappers and she already has earned a merit rating of 101. That sees her coming into this race carrying 61kg and having to concede weight to all the other runners.
She does, however, run well for jockey Diego de Gouveia who has ridden twice for two wins, and he will be back in the irons for this run.
The main threat looks to be Unconditional Love, who ran against Tulip Tree on 2 March. On that occasion she was beaten into third place, 2.25 lengths back. But since then Tulip Tree has won again and when they meet this times, Brett Crawford’s charge will be 6kg better off.
The only issue is that Unconditional Love is carded to run before this race and one cannot be sure she will take her place on Tuesday.
If she does, this four-year-old daughter of Vercingetorix must have a winning chance. Kabelo Matsunyane is carded to ride.
Another runner to consider is Sister Light from the Sean Tarry stable. She has been running in some strongly contested races and has acquitted herself well. She lined up in the Listed Jacaranda Handicap last time and ran on well enough to finish a 1.90-length fourth to Bureau Des Legende.
Tarry has engaged log-leading jockey Keagan de Melo to take the ride and they will be receiving 5kg from Tulip Tree.
Clive Robinson
