THE VELOGIC TROPHY : CHERRY ON THE TOP FOR RULE THE NIGHT?

Veteran trainer Alain Perdrau is represented by just two runners in this Sunday’s 33rd meeting and it is correct to state that his hopes lie squarely on the shoulders of RULE THE NIGHT in the main event over the 1450 metres. It has been a magnificent debut season for this Four-year old and another winning showing will put the cherry on top of the icing for him.

Rated at 46 when he arrived in Mauritius, RULE THE NIGHT was only billed as a promising sort. However, he served notice of his ability very early on in his debut, winning by a whopping 4.9 lengths! This gave way to brilliant wins in the first leg of the Three-year old championship, as well as the first feature race of the Barbe Cup weekend. He then took out the Lightning Cup, while he was last seen scoring a dominant win in the Princess Margaret Cup, a feat more impressive as that race was at weight-for-age.
He returns to competition after a long break, showing no sign of rust in his workouts. With Kersley Ramsamy on board once again, this excellent partnership is the one to beat here.

WALL TAG (Derreck David) has had an exceptional season of his own. In 10 outings, he has won six times, the most out of any horse this season, and finished runner-up three times, including in his last start. It can be said that his highlight came in the Hinterland Cup, where he got the better of the aforementioned Rule The Night after a titanic finish. He appears to be in good shape and form, and the least that can be said is that his chances in this race are genuine.

BUDAPEST made his long-awaited return to racing in the 30th meeting. He did not disgrace himself, landing 6th, 5.5 lengths behind Horse Guards and that was despite his saddle slipping sideways. He is in a vastly improved shape and with the in-form Manoel Nunes up once again, he is entitled to have a major say chance here.

If 2017 and ’18 were excellent campaigns for NOTTINGHAMSHIRE (Yashin Emamdee), 2019 has been far tougher. He did win a race back in May, but he has not come close to confirming since, finishing unplaced in each of his last three races. Back from a break, he has looked well at track work, especially giving a certain White River something to think about in their sparring sessions. He is not prevented from being bang in the shake-up in this.

KING’S COUNTY (Nooresh Juglall) has not quite replicated the form of his debut season in 2019. There have been some encouraging moments, such as winning on Maiden Cup day, while he was runner-up to Horse Guards in his previous start. He may be running against tough opponents but nevertheless, he can go one better if he manages to reproduce his last showing.

ERNIE (Krishna Mudhoo) makes his 10th start of the season here. It has been a mixed bag for him, winning once and finishing in the money on three occasions. At best, he can bag a lower placed finish.

ARGO SOLO (Dinesh Sooful) and PROCAL HARUM (Swapneel Rama) complete the line-up. The former bled in his last start, while the latter has not performed to expectations so far. Both are rated as just outsiders in this.

Posted by Minority Voice on Nov 9 2019. Filed under Hippisme. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry