iCatcher

THIS week I am highlighting a filly that took a massive step forward having switched to good ground at Haydock on Thursday. Cabrera may not be the sort of horse that will be mixing with the big guns at Royal Ascot next week, however I feel she is more than capable of winning a fillies’ race like the one she was second in last week.

Cabrera was slow away from the stalls taking 3.05 seconds to reach 20 mph, but crucially also slowly into stride even after that. She was already 0.63 seconds behind Power Of Destiny, the winner, by the end of the first furlong, that’s the equivalent of 3.75 lengths. This enabled Power Of Destiny to settle in a handy position while Cabrera was forced to sit a little way off the pace at the rear of the field. In fact she was 0.94 seconds, or 5.5 lengths, behind the eventual winner after half a mile.

Up the home straight she was met with traffic so it wasn’t until the final couple of furlongs that she was able to challenge. She then completed those final two furlongs 0.5 seconds quicker (3 lengths) than Power Of Destiny and got within a neck of her.

As well as the bare timing information, her stride data also backed up how strong her challenge was to the line. Where Power Of Destiny’s average stride length shortened from 7.31m to 6.86m in the last two furlongs, Cabrera only shortened up from 7.47m to 7.29m.

Her opening mark of 80 seems fair, but I expect on the back of this performance, her experience will be best placed against the novice fillies still. She may even get a little further if they keep her on better ground through the summer.