The Justin Snaith-trained Master Of My Fate colt Innamorare won impressively over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Durbanville today to upheld the form of another couple of promising three-year-olds, the Brett Crawford-trained Futura colt Le Morne and the Vaughan Marshall-trained Grade 3 Cape Classic contender Dave The King (Global View).
Innamorare was having his second career start on June 15 when beaten 3,25 lengths over 1200m at Kenilworth by Dave The King, who was making his debut.
Innamorare won comfortably over 1400m next time out at Kenilworth in July.
However, in his first start as a three-year-old over 1400m at Hollywoodbets Durbanville in September he was beaten 0,75 lengths by Le Morne, to whom he was giving 2kg.
Le Morne remained unbeaten in three starts when following up over that same course and distance, beating the 73-rated older horse Tizona, to whom he gave 1kg, by 0,40 lengths.
However, the three-year-old beaten 2,40 lengths in the latter race, the Marshall-trained Scalini, provided some formlines to other strong three-year-old races.
Innamorare was backed into 18/10 favourite today.
He travelled beautifully in the running towards the back of the field in the nine horse field.
In the straight he quickly made up the ground on Blackberry Malt (Ideal World), who had come from a handy position to hit the front.
They duelled briefly but in the end Innamorare won easing up by 0,40 lengths under Richard Fourie.
Innamorare went into this event for three-year-olds merit rated only 84.
However, under the Classified Stakes conditions he was officially 1,5kg under sufferance with the best-weighted runners.
There was surprisingly not a single filly entered in this race, despite them receiving a 3kg allowance under the conditions.
It is an intriguing time of year, as the three-year-olds sort out the pecking order.
It is usually at this time that a few pundits start saying it is “an exceptional” crop, because a lot of them put in seemingly top class performances.
However, the “top class” band becomes thinner and thinner during the Cape Summer Season – the cream usually emerges from certain formlines which turn out to be genuinely good, whilst some impressive winners turn out to have been winners of weaker form races, and fall by the way side.
Nevertheless, Innamorare is going to provide a reference point to a few formlines and might turn out to be a feature contender himself.
