Race Preview: 20 April 2024 – Hollywoodbets Kenilworth

 – Written by Mark van Deventer

TALK TO THE MASTER will be hard to beat in Race 2, a Juvenile Plate over 1200m on Saturday’s Champagne Stakes undercard at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. As always in contests with unraced or lightly raced horses, over-confidence must be tempered somewhat, but his form withstands scrutiny.

A solid second on debut to Handsome Prince on 27 December 2023 was followed by a fine second to Little Ballerina in the Cape Racing Sales Cape Slipper. That has turned into a key race as not only has Little Ballerina gone on to win the Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Nursery, but five other individual winners have come out of it. TALK TO THE MASTER went on to score in late February in a super-quick adjusted time for a two-year-old, and with further progression the ante-post even money favourite should go in again. Bernard Fayd Herbe keeps the ride.

THE ABDICATOR goes from strength to strength, and he appeals in Race 8, a 1000m Middle Stakes dash. Sure, TOUGH TERRAIN has run him down before and ICY BLAST is better off at the weights so he is no good thing, but the feeling persists that we have not seen the best of this rapidly progressive No Nay Never three-year-old gelding trained by Brett Crawford.

At one stage a bit of a tearaway, he is being coached to settle and Richard Fourie will try to stretch their unbeaten partnership to three from three. THE ABDICATOR is quoted at 22/10 in early markets. NORDIC CHIEF and PIROSHKA are others to consider on collateral form.

Crawford might also fancy his chances with BIG UNIT in the following race, a Class 4 over 1600m. The Master of My Fate colt has solid recent form over seven panels and now goes an extra 200m which should suit. Draw 11 is a hindrance and there are several plausible threats (ALL ABOUT RONNIE, UNICORN ALERT, LE LEGIONNAIRE, FAIRE ADVANTAGE and CARRIACOU), but BIG UNIT has already earned some neat figures that are good enough to win at this class level.

Not only is he ultra-fit; a versatile running style also counts in his favour (can go handy or come from off them), which gives Louis Mxothwa positional options. In a race with lots of speed signed on (SHAVOUT nearly always rushes furiously to the lead), Mxothwa may choose to settle BIG UNIT for a closing burst.

This is a tough race to call where, at a price of 5/1 or better, an each-way play about Crawford’s charge could be the answer.

– Images by Chase Liebenberg

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