3 minute read
The main race on the card at Turffontein on Tuesday night is the Grade 3 Yellowwood Handicap for fillies and mares over 1800m.
Carrying top weight of 61kg is course and distance winner, Princess of Light. The daughter of Var won the Grade 2 Gold Circle Oaks at the end of the season and then returned to win a pinnacle stake by 4.5 lengths on her seasonal debut.
The Geoff Woodruff trained mare is clearly top class and should prevail here despite the weight. Donovan Mansour has taken the ride and the mare will jump from barrier four.
Pierre Strydom gets the ride on the stable companion Queen Mira (AUS). The daughter of Danehill Dancer out of Celtic Queen looked very promising when starting her career with a hat-trick, but she is winless in 19 starts since. She has however been contesting feature events and has placed several times including a second behind Igugu in the Grade 3 Johannesburg Spring Challenge.
Another import is the Glen Kotzen trained Queen's Command(AUS). Of note is that Sean Cormack has ridden both Kotzen entrants and he elected to stay with the daughter of Commands. Queen's Command won a MR87 Handicap over today's distance by 3.25 lengths back in August and then finished third behind Felix The Cat at Greyville by a very narrow margin at her last start two weeks ago.
The dark horse of the race is the Mike De Kock filly Sidera. The Galileo daughter won her first two starts and then stepped up in class to win the Gr3 Gommagomma Fillies Mile back in 2009. Despite two very lengthy layoffs, she hasn't shown that same level of ability since. This is her third run after the rest and stable jockey Anthony Delpech takes the ride for the first time since her return.
Stable companion Amur Affair has the services of Tshwaro Appie. The three year-old daughter of Tiger Ridge has recorded 2 wins and two places in six starts and carries 52kg. The filly has shown some ability and one can never ignore a De Kock runner, but she faces stiff competition here and is at best a place chance.
The inform Sean Tarry yard sends out African Icon. She was beaten by Amur Affair last time out and is also taking a big step up in class here. She has however been progressing nicely and is seldom out of the frame.
Princess of Light should have this field at her mercy, with Queen's Command, Queen Mira and possibly Sidera filling the minor places.