Captain Splendid sets sail for Algoa

28 October 2016 - 10:11 By Mike Moon

Even racing folk, who tend to be in a dwaal, dissecting their last run of luck for clues to when the next one might arrive, have started muttering disconcertedly about "Zumagate". Aren't politicians meant to leave us to the important business of studying form? We can't escape the soap opera that is our public life. It's bizarre, reading and watching the news, getting sucked into the political intrigue - the House of Cards chicanery, the Game of Thrones bloodletting, the EastEnders pettiness - and then suddenly realising that it's not a made-up story. Your and my future is being shaped before us - and not by heroic actors with our wellbeing in mind.Even racing folk, who tend to be in a dwaal, dissecting their last run of luck for clues to when the next one might arrive, have started muttering disconcertedly about "Zumagate". Aren't politicians meant to leave us to the important business of studying form?Hopefully we'll have a brief respite from the ludicrous plot and the coarse acting this weekend. There's certainly some good action to divert us.Port Elizabeth stages a double-header - today and on Sunday, with the Grade 3 Algoa Cup capping the weekend.The bay in which PE nestles was given the name Bahia de Lagoa, meaning Bay of the Lagoon, by Portuguese sailors in 1488. The seamen figured at that point they were pretty close to the edge of the world and would fall off if they sailed much further, so they forced the captain, Bartholomew Diaz, to turn around and head home.The Algoa Cup is one of the Windy City's top turf events and has been won by notable horses down the years. As usual, a posse of raiders is riding into town to try to nick the R350000 purse.Cape trainer Justin Snaith is surely taking it seriously, saddling five of the 16 runners. He's in brilliant form right now, having led in five winners in Cape Town last week, so we'll start with his gang.Three of them - True Master, Masterly and Arezzo - are based in Snaith's Fairview satellite stable, so have the benefit of familiar surroundings. True Master is well drawn but is getting on a bit at seven. Arezzo starts out in the sticks, so Masterly looks the pick of the local yokels.Trucking in from Cape Town are Krambambuli and Captain Splendid. The former is having his second run after a break, so my inclination is for Captain Splendid, a progressive four-year-old with just 53.5kg to carry and the able services of Grant van Niekerk.Other visitors come from the yards of Vaughan Marshall, Brett Crawford and Sean Tarry. Crawford's Nebula might be handy off a low weight, while Tarry's grand old man, Halve The Deficit, has been showing signs of returning to his best and you can see him nailing a race like this as a career swansong.Of the PE-based contenders, Grant Paddock's Alghadeer and Alan Greeff's Welsh Emperor have the best credentials.A day earlier, Kenilworth will see a clutch of the most promising young horses in the country stepping out and laying early claim to being classic-generation royalty.The fillies' heat, the Choice Carriers Championship, carries the higher status as a Grade 2 event with a R400000 stake.Unbeaten in three starts, The Secret Is Out will probably start as favourite. But she hasn't been to the races since claiming the prestigious Allan Robertson Championship at Scottsville in early June, so has a bit of a fitness question mark hovering.By contrast, the Australian import Ektifaa has recently reeled off two smashing victories on the Highveld for Mike de Kock. If she has travelled well down-country, she will surely be a factor.Again by contrast, California Girl is stabled in Cape Town in the care of Geoff Woodruff's daughter Lucinda. The Trippi filly has also claimed two wins in quick time to set herself up for the Cape season.Chuck in the Cape Classic companion-piece at Kenilworth, the Michaelmas Handicap meeting at Greyville tonight and even a bit of galloping out at the Vaal tomorrow and you should have enough of a racing narrative to take your mind off the brain-drinking zombie show that is the national debate for a few days. ..

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