Henk Steenkamp
Two top East Cape fillies will be aiming to pick up the pace of their careers as three-year-olds at the Fairview Polytrack on Friday.
Happy Holly (Gavin Smith) and Splicethemainbrace (Alan Greeff) should fight it out for the win in the Fillies Guineas Plate for three-year-old fillies over 1400m.
They were the top two-year-old fillies in the province last season but were a bit disappointing in their respective races in the new season.
It was Happy Holly’s poly debut last month when she needed the run over 1000m. She should be fitter to run better this time and is way better off at the weights with Splicethemainbrace.
Happy Holly finished 0.1 lengths behind Splicethemainbrace three runs ago and is now 8kgs better off. With a handy galloping weight of 52kgs she is the one to beat.
Splicethemainbrace makes her poly debut and it should be interesting to see how she takes to the surface.
Before her disappointing run in September she won five out of five. If Splicethemainbrace is back to her best, she will be a huge factor.
If the two top choices disappoint, Can’t Say No, must be included as the backup.
The Fillies Guineas Plate is race 6 on the card of 8 races and 9 fillies will face the starter at 15:30.
The first race is at 12:30 and a strong head wind is predicted for the meeting.
The Place Accumulator gets underway with the second race at 13:05. Oliver Twist (Smith) looks like a banker in the first leg.
The Pick Six looks very competitive and starts with the third race at 13:40.