Two jockey greats, Piere “Striker” Strydom and Michael “Muis” Roberts, now trainer of See It Again, confer after the latter had won the Gr 1 Splashout Cape Derby (Picture: Wayne Marks).
Piere ‘Striker” Strydom put to bed any thought that, but for interference, See It Again would have beaten Charles Dickens in the Gr 2 WSB Guineas.
He said he had been going well at the time of being hampered, but not well enough to have beaten the winner, whom he said had “won easily.”
However, that does not mean he wasn’t impressed by See It Again’s performance and, looking forward to Saturday’s Gr 1 Daily News 2000, he elaborated, “He has definite ability and looks to be the best horse in the race … they have got him to beat.”
However, he has one or two concerns about See It Again ahead of the three-year-old classic to be run over 2000m at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
He said, “He always jumps slowly and he takes time to get going, so Greyville is not exactly what he is looking for.”
He continued, “The race panned out well last time, I was lucky to get a good position. If he can get a good position again, he can win it.”
However, See It Again is now draw seven out of ten as opposed to three out of nine in the WSB Guineas.
Strydom does not want to be too far back, knowing the big Twice Over colt takes time to get going and that the Hollywoodbets Greyville straight is short.
However, he said the tactics he ended up employing would depend a lot on how well See It Again jumped.
Bearing in mind the colt can not be relied on to jump quickly, Piere’s next words were not surprising.
“I will just have to make the best of the hand I am dealt,” he said.
He concluded, “I hope he wins by many lengths, so his position as July favourite can be justified!”
See It Again is by Twice Over and is a three-parts brother to dual Durban July winner Do It Again, who is on track to making a record-breaking sixth appearance in the big race this year.
See It Again’s July weight, as it stands, will only be effected if he wins well enough to be raised by more than four merit-rated points.
At present he is already carrying the maximum 57kg a three-year-old is allowed to carry under the conditions of the race.
However, there could be a problem if he is raised more than four points, because that would make him the highest net merit-rated horse in the race.
The weights would then have to be constructed around him.
If, for arguments sake, he is raised to a merit rating of 129, his net merit rating for the July would then be 125, which would be the highest in the race as things stand.
In constructing the weights, he would then initially be accorded 60kg and Do It Again and Safe Passage, both net merit-rated 124, would be given 59,5kg.
The minimum weight for a three-year-old clause would then be excercised and See It Again would drop down to 57kg.
However, that would leave Do It Again and Safe Passage as top weights on 59,5kg.
The latter pair would then have to be raised to 60kg and the rest of the field would have to be dragged up half-a-kilogram with them.
So under that scenario, See It Again would carry 57,5kg.
