It is said that you only need one ticket to win a lottery.
Well, trainer Mike de Kock looks to have the winning ticket in Race 7 at the Vaal on Thursday 21 April despite trainer Lucky Houdalakis going all out and saddling four runners.
De Kock’s Good Queen Bess will be having her second run after a long break. In her comeback run she showed little signs of ring-rust, running on well towards the end. With that warm-up behind her, this Kingman filly should come on in heaps.
The extra distance should also be right up her alley now that she has matured and with Richard Fourie in the saddle, bettors should hold no fears of a misjudged pace.
Good Queen Bess is regally bred by one of Europe’s top sires, Kingman, out of Golden Reign, a half-sister to 2015 Epsom Derby winner Golden Horn, who is owned by Anthony Oppenheimer.
Good Queen Bess, owned by Mary Slack, obviously carries a heavy weight of expectation as she is probably earmarked to join the mares at Wilgerbosdrift.
She stormed to a 2.75-length victory on debut as a three-year-old but has only run three times since. She will be turning five on 1 August and one can’t help but wonder if De Kock is prepping her for a big one before she is summoned to Wilgerbosdrift.
The runner most likely to chase home De Kock’s charge is the Paul Peter trained Fromheretoeternity. This Captain Of All filly won well last time out and should be fitter than Good Queen Bess.
Fromheretoeternity is now rated 90, compared to 71 on the first day of the current season. Despite her continuously increasing rating, she keeps on winning, begging the question what her ceiling actually is. Two of her last four victories have also come in the company of the opposite sex, so further improvement is more than just likely.
Clive Robinson
