Highveld Horse Of The Season Fire Attack might be Gr 1 Champions Cup bound if all goes well for him in the Sea Cottage Stakes at Turffontein on Sunday. (JCPhotos).
Highveld Horse Of The Season Fire Attack has not run since winning the Gr 1 HKJC World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge on March 29, but he comes back on Sunday in the Gr 3 4Racing Sea Cottage Stakes over 1800m, where he carris 60kg and gives 3kg to all of the othe runners.
Alec Laird said, “He’s just had silly little hiccups all along. Hehasn’t run for a little while, but he’sput up a nice couple of gallops.He’s obviously not at his absolute peak, but he’s fit enough to run the 1800m and he’s well enough to run a big race.”
Alec reckoned Choisaanada was the stand out among the opposition. The Erico Verdonese-trained Choisaanada will in fact land a R500,000 bonus if he wins the race as he would then have won all three of the Highveld Winter Series races.
Alec continued, “The plan is to enter Fire Attack in the Champions Cup if he runs a good enough race on Sunday. There’s a three-week gap andI wonder if Eight On Eighteen will even go for the Champions Cup now that he’s running in the July? Dave The King might become the horse to beat.”
He added, “Fire Attack will be at a disadvantage if we do come, because he’s never seen Hollywoodbets Greyville.But at least, if we do come with him, he’ll have seen it for next year.”
Fire Attack’s merit rating is now 126, so Alec will taregt the big weight for age races with him next season.
He thought one goal worth chasing would be the three wfa Gr 1 miles in the country, the L’Ormarins King’s Plate, the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and the Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge.
It is unlikely all three races have been won in the same season by any horse in history.
