Trainer Alan Greeff should have a good meeting on Friday at Fairview, as he has a few of his stable stars running. Golden Palm ended her two-year-old season with four wins from five starts, including a feature race success at Greyville on 27 July.
The Master Of My Fate filly found her still-unbeaten stable companion Anotherdanceforme 2.35 lengths too good on debut over 1000m at Fairview on 21 February, but she has improved with every run since then. Jockey Richard Fourie took over the ride for her second start, and she was a wide-margin winner over the same course and distance on 7 March.
The combination of Richard Fourie and Alan Greeff are not often seen at Turffontein in Gauteng, so punters should have taken notice when, just three weeks later, she showed up for a feature race over 1160m.
Another easy success followed that day – a well-backed winner once again.
Greeff then decided to test the filly around the turn and over 1400m, and at odds of 1-5, she won by 10 lengths over Fairview 1400m on 30 May. Now that her talent has been exposed, it was just a question of which centre and what race Greeff would choose next.
Once again, Greeff does not often raid KwaZulu-Natal, so her appearance there for the Group 1 Thekwini Stakes over 1600m at Greyville was expected to be a true test. She passed that with flying colours, beating Tina Lovelace by 2.80 lengths.
Only five runners line up in Race 5, the Racehorse Owners Association Listed over 1600m. Three of those are her stable companions. Both Augusta Rosso and King Prawn are still improving and show ability, but they are nowhere near the form of Golden Palm. Richard Fourie should remain unbeaten aboard her.
The recently deceased and fierce rival of Greeff, Gavin Smith, passed away on Sunday but will still be represented in the race by his gelding All Systems Go. If there is to be a danger to Golden Palm, it might be him, as he is improving and was an impressive winner of his second start.
Earlier on the card, Royal Kingdom can double up on his good handicap win earlier this month on the Polytrack. He is improving, and the 1400m turf in Race 4, a MR 74 Handicap, looks an ideal race for him.
Clive Robinson
