Clever tactics won’t stop Another Affair

ANOTHER AFFAIR, the Oaks runner-up and St Leger rabbit, returns at a mile on Saturday with the exact weight she had carried on June 27, 110lb, when wiring KING ARTHUR at six and a half furlongs, a near 10-length victory, which announced her as the lone threat to ABOVE AND BEYOND in the fillies' classics.

Outclassed by ABOVE AND BEYOND in the Guineas a month later, she returned to run a cracker in the Oaks, cutting six lengths off her Guineas defeat, which many later attributed to the winner's career-ending injury discovered after the event.

However, ANOTHER AFFAIR had become a transformed horse since trainer Gary Subratie fitted the figure eight for her runaway victory against KING ARTHUR, which she again proved in the St Leger, tearing away on the lead down the backstretch, only to be passed by stablemate WOW WOW and MAHOGANY coming off the final turn.

Returning against KING ARTHUR, who was barely ahead of her after nine furlongs in the St Leger, ANOTHER AFFAIR has nothing to fear from the gelding with whom she had sat level and dismissed in June.

A major threat

EROY, however, is a major threat to the filly, even with topweight 126lb. Taken out of his comfort zone on last, sprinting six furlongs against the now seemingly unstoppable SIR ALTON, EROY ran a brave race with 126lb, beaten in stakes-record time of 1:11.1 in the Ron Ron Trophy.

Imported SIR ALTON had previously clocked 1:04.4 for five and a half furlongs, which he proved was no fluke by landing the Ron Ron, followed by a near one-second improvement at the distance on Sunday, which took him within a second of EROS' 27-year track record.

A line through SIR ALTON, who is back on Saturday's card as an up-in-class, 1-9 favourite, should point directly at EROY franking the form, now that he is back at a mile where he had defeated none other than St Leger winner NIPSTER.

However, EROY, with the big weight, could have problems matching a light ANOTHER AFFAIR down the backstretch. When he won at a mile, EROY had topweight but NIPSTER, who only lost by a neck, was only three pounds off the American at 123lb.

EROY got the jump on NIPSTER at the half-mile, Omar Walker stole a march on Robert Halledeen and rallied the American in deep stretch to win a three-way photo involving GREEN GOLD RUSH, charging with 116lb for third.

The splits for that race, an opening quarter of 25.0 and a half-mile in 48.2, enabled EROY to slip NIPSTER and hang tough in the stretch run. However, against ANOTHER AFFAIR, running with 110lb, topweight EROY will be asked to do much more for the first half-mile, which won't be to his liking when the filly kicks with the featherweight.

Richard Azan has thrown in VOYTEK as a rabbit to unsettle ANOTHER AFFAIR. However, Dick Cardenas is far too smart to fall for that tag-team tactic, nor does he have any need to. VOYTEK should only be taken for what he is, a mere distraction.