SNOWDANCE turned in a spectacular performance to leave the opposition for dead in the World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas at Kenilworth last Saturday.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe went for home on the 11/10 favourite well over two furlongs out and she strode further and further away to win pretty much as she liked.

She was five lengths clear early in the final furlong but was eased in the closing stages and came home, ears pricked, to finish over three lengths clear of Australian-bred stable companion Oh Susanna who is a daughter of Street Cry.

“I thought it was a bit early to go on but she is such a good horse that I decided to let her take it up and quicken away,” said Fayd’Herbe. “I have ridden a lot of good fillies but the last time I rode one this good was Sun Classique over 10 years ago.”

The time of 1m 38.4 sec was the fastest in this race in the last 12 years and this was Fillies Guineas number five for Justin Snaith who said: “From the day that she arrived in our yard every jockey that has sat on her has got off and said that she is a superstar.

“We are being careful in the way we pick our races this season and so she probably won’t run again before the Majorca on January 27th.”

The Captain Al filly is out of Spring Lilac, a Group 3-winning daughter of the celebrated Michael Smurfit-bred Mystic Spring, a former broodmare of the year.

She cost R2 million (at the time around €123,500) at last year’s National Yearling Sale and was bred by Vaughan Koster.

The Green Point Stakes, run 35 minutes later, attracted even more interest than the classic as it featured a showdown between Horse Of the Year, Legal Eagle and Edict Of Nantes, the horse on whom Frankie Dettori won the Cape Derby, with stars like Captain America and Sail South thrown in for good measure.

SUCCESSIVE

Legal Eagle won the mile Grade 2 for the second successive year but he got the better of the younger horse by only half a length with the pace-setting Captain America the same distance away third.

All three are due to run in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate in four weeks’ time.

Former champion Anton Marcus, who rode the winner, said: “I have a lot of respect for Captain America so I was loathe to get into a dogfight with him too early, particularly as Sean Tarry had left a bit in the locker, but it is going to be close again in the Queen’s Plate. One is the improver and the other horse (Legal Eagle) is holding his form.”

This was the second start of the season for Legal Eagle who had run well in a sprint first time and Tarry said: “This second run is always the tricky one. Nobody expects anything first time out but for this one you have to leave the horse a little bit underdone.

“At the same time you can’t let him fluff his lines. Now we know exactly where we are with him and hopefully there is enough left in the tank to find another gear in the Queen’s Plate.”

Both Legal Eagle and Edict Of Nantes are owned by Markus Jooste and the former has found one too good for him in the last two runnings of the Met. This fact, coupled with his defeat in the Premiers Champion also over 10 furlongs, has had many taking the view that he doesn’t quite get the trip.

Derek Brugman, Jooste’s racing manager, takes issue with this, saying: “He may be better over a mile but he does get 10 furlongs. If last year’s Met had been run on true weight-for-age terms - as it will be this time - he would have won it.”

Secret reveals her talent

The Magnier colours were carried to victory on the Kenilworth card by Best Kept Secret, a Captain Al three-year-old out of Spring Lilac’s Group 2 winning half-sister Secret Of Victoria. This one cost R5.25 million (just under €330,000) and is trained by Mike de Kock.

Kasimir, bought by Peter Doyle for R1.2 million for a partnership that includes Linda Shanahan, Diane Nagle and Investec boss Bernard Kantor, made it three off the reel in the graduation plate and now goes for the US$ 500,000 CTS 1200 on January 27th.

Frankel holds fire

Miss Frankel, the only offspring of the great horse in South Africa, has had to be rested for several months after suffering ligament damage when odds-on for her handicap debut at Kenilworth. She finished only fifth of seven.