Keagan De Melo strode out of Cape Town in style today after a hattrick of wins and one brave ride that brought home the victory for a long time maiden.
De Melo rode an excellent hattrick for three different trainers at Durbanville with SANSKRIFT, as replacement rider for the Hong Kong bound Aldo Domeyer, HILDEGARDE, for Adam Marcus, and, he saved the best for last onboard, LIP SERVICE for Joey Ramsden.
The first winner was for the Bass-Robinson yard on the promising Duke Of Marmalade filly who looks a nice type and winning in style out of a stallion that produces horses for ground.
The best of the three was on the long time maiden Lip Service who looked the right horse drawn in pole position and in form, however nothing in racing is that simple. De Melo opted for a rails ride from that pole position and after hitting the bend in the leading group, the gap didn't look too wide on the inside with Tuyuca not making it easy for De Melo who had the horse under him. An enterprising and what seemed like a brave move saw him stick to his guns and push through along the rails to scream home for the victory. Whether he literally screamed for a gap or not, he made sure that Joey Ramsden finally trained this filly out of the maidens. Her form isn't bad in the maidens against some nice type and although no Hollywood babe, she will win again. The second filly looks promising and is one to be with next time out.
The Turffontein card was cut short by two races and punters would have been a bit grateful to the weather. The meeting saw upset after upset in the early races and only marginally better results in the later races. Onto Scottsville go the punters for a nice card including some minor features.
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