Jack Milner: Ancient Times is unbeaten in three races over 1900m on the Polytrack at Fairview and the Gavin Smith-trained runner will be looking to extend his tally to four wins from four starts in Race 5 on Friday.
Ancient Times lines up in a MR 86 Handicap and the main challenge for the three-year-old old gelding is whether he can deal with a large penalty.
The Querari gelding has won three of his last four starts, all by large margins, and as a result his merit rating has risen from 72 to 87, which equates to a penalty of 7.5kg.
It is also worth noting that the defeat in his recent form was over 1400m, which is clearly a distance short of his best.
It is also in the form lines that some his reopposing rivals, such Palo Alto, Arion Express, Capernaum and Super Noir, were all well-and-truly thrashed by Ancient Times when they last met.
The closest a rival in this race got to Ancient Times that day was Meercat and he was 3.75 lengths adrift.
Juan Nel’s charge is now 5.5kg better off and with Luke Ferraris up they will fancy their chances of reversing the placings this time.
But jockey Lyle Hewitson certainly knows how to get the best out of Ancient Times and has won on both occasion he has been in the irons. In any case, the wins were so easy it is difficult to calculate how much extra he still had in the tank.
Smith has his runners in impeccable form right now and Ancient Times is not the only one on the day who can add to their winning count at the meeting. He and Hewitson should also start the day well with a victory for Lemon Pepper who has been fitted with blinkers.
Ancient Times lines up in a MR 86 Handicap and the main challenge for the three-year-old old gelding is whether he can deal with a large penalty.
The Querari gelding has won three of his last four starts, all by large margins, and as a result his merit rating has risen from 72 to 87, which equates to a penalty of 7.5kg.
It is also worth noting that the defeat in his recent form was over 1400m, which is clearly a distance short of his best.
It is also in the form lines that some his reopposing rivals, such Palo Alto, Arion Express, Capernaum and Super Noir, were all well-and-truly thrashed by Ancient Times when they last met.
The closest a rival in this race got to Ancient Times that day was Meercat and he was 3.75 lengths adrift.
Juan Nel’s charge is now 5.5kg better off and with Luke Ferraris up they will fancy their chances of reversing the placings this time.
But jockey Lyle Hewitson certainly knows how to get the best out of Ancient Times and has won on both occasion he has been in the irons. In any case, the wins were so easy it is difficult to calculate how much extra he still had in the tank.
Smith has his runners in impeccable form right now and Ancient Times is not the only one on the day who can add to their winning count at the meeting. He and Hewitson should also start the day well with a victory for Lemon Pepper who has been fitted with blinkers.