whipping boy The Cape Guineas in February is widely regarded as the premier event for three-year-olds, with pundits trying to narrow down the major contenders for months before the race is run. Trainer Mike de Kocks Flight Alert, recent impressive winner of the Dingaans at Turffontein, is being widely tipped as a shoo-in for the big race, but racing people in the Cape will be quick to point to last years race, when one Celtic Grove took a similar reputation over Sir lowrys Pass. History will show that Cape-trained Ethno Centric downed the Gauteng visitor and red-hot favourite by a short-head after a stirring duel down the Kenilworth straight. Capetonians, of course, like nothing more than sticking it to the Vaalies emotions ran so high after the race one might have sworn the Currie Cup was at stake. Capies will be hoping a challenger to Flight Alert emerges from the R150 000 grade 2 Selangor Cup for three-year-olds over 1 600m at Kenilworth on Sunday.
The Dean Kannemeyer-trained Roman Charger, winner of four of his six starts to date, will be many peoples idea of the likely victor here. In his most recent outing he beat four grade 1 winners Taupo Retreat, Clifton King, Free My Heart and Durban July hero Trademark at weight for age! Any way you cut it, that is excellent form, but the Charger has to concede weight all round in this race and a few of his opposition look distinctly above average.
Chief among these is the Andre Heyns-trained Superior Service, who is unbeaten on good going. He was beaten twice by Roman Charger during the wet Cape winter but picked up the winning trail when being confidently backed to beat the more than useful Top Slot in his first run over a mile at Durbanville and also wearing blinkers for the first time. As a son of Royal Chalice it was no surprise that Superior Service relished the extra ground. He seems to be improving all the time and in receipt of 1,5kg could give Piere Strydom on Roman Charger a lot to think about. linley was just half a length behind Roman Charger in their last clash and now also gets 1,5kg enough, in theory, to turn the tables and this one must have a chance. Eastern Cape trainer Alan Greeff has already proven this season that he has the firepower to win big races and his entry, Knockout, deserves the utmost respect. The only time this son of Kilconnel ventured out of his home province he performed well below his best at Greyville, reportedly hanging in the running. He has won seven of his 11 starts, though, including easy feature victories over his highly regarded stable companions Tatler and Scent Of The Chase. Many of the runners are lightly raced, or are trying the distance for the first time, so sudden improvement is possible. A surprise package could come in the form of Rhett, a son of under-rated sire Taras Halls. He has shown his best form over 1 000m in soft going, which is hardly the qualification required to win here, but he is bred to get the trip. Kenilworth best bets: Anthracite (race 4); Hundredpercent (race 7); Dolce Vita (race 9)Turffontein best bets: Demon lady (race 1); Kerrys Emblem (race 2); Sand Trap (race 3); Azabu Park (race 7); Deep Freeze (race 9)Scottsville best bets: Tawau (race 4); Mill Creek (race 5); Tolstoy (race 7)