Candice Bass-Robinson, who had a five-timer at Kenilworth on Saturday, said the unbeaten Grade 3 Cape Classic winner Charles Dickens would avoid the Grade 2 Selangor Cup on November 19.
However, she will be trying to find a sprint race for the Drakenstein Stud homebred Trippi colt before his first big target, the Grade 1 R2 million Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas on December 17.
She said, “He doesn’t need another hard mile race before the Guineas but it is a long wait so we will try and just find a sprint race for him to keep his fitness levels up.”
The Bass yard have never been ones to over-hype any of their horses, but nevertheless Candice is clearly excited about this colt, who many are talking about as a superstar in the making.
She said, “He has only won a LIsted race and a Grade 3 so far, but it is the manner in which he does it.”
Comparing him to the legendary three-times Equus Horse Of The Year Pocket Power, who was trained by her father Mike with her as assistant, she said, “They are different types of horse. Pocket didn’t have the same acceleration. He used to unwind and he had stamina. He also had amazing longevity that enabled him to carry on winning all those big races for all those years. But he did not have the brilliance of Charles Dickens. So they are hard to compare. Charles Dickens also, of course, still has more to do. But he is a very exciting horse to have and I am enjoying every minute of him.”
The Bass-Robinson yard can look forward to a fine season as they have good representation in all categories.
There are a number of promising two-year-olds waiting in the wings.
Besides Charles Dickens, they have good three-year-old fillies too, as was outlined on Saturday by the two Drakenstein homebred daughters of Gold Standard, Golden Hostesss and Hold My Hand, who finished one-two in a Prestige Plate over 1400m off their 100 and 102 merit ratings respectively. The 100 merit-rated Who Do You Love (Rafeef) was just behind them at level weights, giving the yard a trifecta, and that was in fact her first defeat in her fourth start.
Resonate (Twice Over) is showing increasing promise as a sprinter and won the Listed Southeaster Sprint over 1100m on Saturday.
Trip To Fortune (Trippi) has stepped up to the plate since gelding and looks capable of competing with Jet Dark and Kommetdieding, who are the two highest rated runners in the country.
Marina was always going to come into her own this season and is going to be a big runner in the Grade 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes.
