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Posted 2014-11-28 00:19:17  
SPEED AND STAMINA ON SHOW ON SUMMER CUP DAY



There are feature races at various points of the distance spectrum on Saturday's Summer Cup card but what three of them have in common is that they are large-field handicaps and, if past years' results are anything to go by, ripe for an upset.

The exception would appear to be the Gr 2 Ipi Tombe Challenge over 1600m, a fillies-and-mares event that is set to be dominated by the younger brigade. Pine Princess, Gr 1 placed as a juvenile, came out to win the Yellowwood Handicap against older  fillies and mares last time out and she looks the one to beat, given that she receives 1.5kg from key rival Carry On Alice and looks better suited to this testing mile than her rival. Carry On Alice, though, promises to provide stiff opposition. She enjoyed a superb juvenile campaign last season, twice taking on male opposition at Gr 1 level and ending up with a win in the SA Nursery and close second in the Gold Medallion. She closed the season with another Gr 1 placing when going down narrowly to Same Jurisdiction in the Thekwini Stakes at the end of last season. She made a smooth enough comeback earlier this month when winning over 1000m and is set for a big effort.

It's difficult to look beyond the two young guns, while the best of the older contingent, on current form, look to be Erin, Arcetri Pink and Mohave Princess.

The Gr 2 Stronach Group Racing Merchants over 1160m sees Normanz (pictured) attempting to regain the winning thread. The winner of the Gr 1 Golden Horse Sprint last season, he was rested for nearly five months after his big win and not much can be read into his comeback effort, where he finished fourth of five runners, under a huge weight, on Greyville's Polytrack. He once again faces a stiff task at the weights, but will enjoy the Turffontein straight course and has the services of Sean Cormack. His class may pull him through here, but he faces some serious opposition, many of whom will be poised to take advantage of any weight concession.

Lightly-raced Trip To Heaven only has three starts under his belt and will find it tough going against these battle-hardened veterans. However, he oozes promise and, following a runaway maiden win, there was a lot to like about his third in the Graham Beck Stakes behind champion Harry's Son. Racing off joint bottom weight, he may well be able to get away from them. Stablemate Blazing Al is another one with big claims here, coming into the race in good form, with two wins and three seconds from his last five starts, including the runner-up berth in the Golden Loom Handicap earlier this month.

There is a strong contingent of visitors from KwaZulu-Natal and none of them can be ignored. Showmetheway faces a tough task under top weight but he is as genuine as they come, while Kingston Boy and Flyfirstclass, both of whom are more handily weighted, also boast consistent form and are capable of making an impact in this line-up.

One Man's Dream comes into the race off a hat-trick and has obvious claims with Piere Strydom up, while Snowdon is one of the class acts of the race and goes well over this course and distance, although he can be a bit in-and-out these days.

Deliver The Power is back in form after a long stretch on the sidelines and is not out of it at his best, while Chekilli is another one who has claims if he reproduces top form but has not been seen out since things went awry in the Golden Horse Sprint and he finished last. He's miles better than that but it's hard to gauge his current wellbeing.

Precursor is another one who comes in off a hat-trick but needs to convince that he can reproduce his sand form against this level of opposition on turf.

The  Hardware Warehouse Magnolia Handicap (Gr 3) is also run over 1160m and is restricted to fillies and mares. It's arguably the toughest race on the card, with just about every runner having a realistic claim.. Most of the focus will probably be on the promising Lazer Star, unbeaten in two starts. She now takes a steep rise in class but, racing from near the bottom of the weights, she may well prove able to take on her more proven rivals here.  However, trainer Sean Tarry sends out a strong-looking pairing and the rejuvenated For The Lads may end up the one they all have to beat. A Gr 1 winner as a juvenile, she has had her share of problems and appeared to have lost her way completely last season, but she shaped encouragingly when winning a handicap at the Vaal last time out. She probably prefers further, but that last run showed she retains plenty of speed and her class could well come to the fore here.

Stablemate Rainy Day has shown some promise and was not disgraced in the Cape Fillies Guineas last season, a race that probably came too soon for her and where she did well to finish just 3.50 lengths off champion In The Fast Lane. She then returned from a break of nearly a year to finish fourth in a handicap last time out and, if not undone by the second-run-after-a-rest syndrome, could prove very competitive here.

Victoria Young has done little wrong in three starts: a winner on debut, she chased home champion Majmu in the Fillies Nursery and was then rested for six months and made a promising comeback when  third to Lazer Star. With the benefit of that run under her belt, she could well reverse the form here.

The list of contenders does not end there but Virgo's Babe and Winter Star may prove the pick of the remainder, having bumped plenty of strong of opposition without disgracing themselves.

The Gr 3 Racing Association Handicap, run over 3200m, offers the stayers a welcome opportunity to share the stage on a big day. It's one those races where tactics will lay a huge part and current form is not always the best indicator as there are a few here who have shown ability in the past but are not noted for their consistency.

Joey Soma's Savage Wind has put together a solid run of form in staying events and his last run, when downfield in the Java Handicap, can be ignored as he is much better than that. He's well-weighted in the context of his best form and is a tentative selection to register a long-overdue third career win.

Baracah, third in the Java, has bumped some strong opposition in the past, and looks to be one of the leading contenders here, while the de Kock pairing of Taarish and Kingston Mines cannot be ignored.

S'il Vous Plait and Storm Warning, are two others who are much better than their failures in the Java Handicap suggest and they also need to go into trifectas and quartets.

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