Bachata ready to prove his heart is at the right pace

Danie Toerien

One of the most interesting runners on Tuesday at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth is the Vaughan Marshall trained Bachata, who lines up in Race 5, a MR 101 Handicap over 1400m.

This gelded son of Rafeef was victorious on debut over 1200m at Kenilworth, after which Marshall took him to KwaZulu-Natal where he ran a cracker in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes over 1400m, finishing third, just 1.4-lengths behind Viking Leader.

In both his first two races, Bachata was the fastest finisher, suggesting he would appreciate a bit more distance.

His next mission was the Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes for juveniles over 1600m – proof that Marshall regarded him very highly. Unfortunately, he made no impression, finishing stone last of 13.

At the heart of that poor performance was the fact that Bachata suffered from Atrial Fibrillation – a condition characterized by rapid and irregular beating of the atria, the upper chambers of the heart.

In horses, this condition causes poor performance, exercise intolerance and difficulty breathing.

According to Marshall, Bachata has fully recovered and is set to continue his career.

“We’ve always thought a lot of him. We just want to get him back to his best,” said Marshall on Monday.

“He is a very decent horse and will be if we can get him right. He is over it and has given no indication of it ever since. We just have to hold thumbs.”

So far this season, Marshall has saddled seven winners while 19 of his runners have finished runner-up.

“Our stable is a bit out of form,” he said.

While there are many other trainers who would envy such statistics, Marshall believes he should be doing better.

Asked whether he doesn’t perhaps set the bar too high, he said “we have to”.

But back to Bachata. “He is fit and he is well, his work has been good and he is looking magnificent, but he does give the other runners a lot of weight.

“To say that I fancy him … I do.” But Marshall also added he doesn’t want to make a prediction because he wants Bachata to convince everyone that he is fine.

Marshall also singled out two other runners worth a shout on Tuesday.

“It’sgood It’snice (Race 4) has a decent chance. It was a comeback run from gelding last time out. He has come on a lot.

“Tequila Tango (Race 2) has a big chance.”

Danie Toerien’s selections:

Race 1: 12 Peach Cobbler, 7 Addicted To You, 5 Impedimenta, 10 Miss Smiley

Race 2: 10 Tequila Tango, 1 West Monroe, 11 Okayama, 14 Cairn William

Race 3: 5 Red Hot Rifle, 2 Mercury, 6 Speak No Evil, 3 Future Call

Race 4: 1 Vercicat, 8 Above The Law, 2 Ile Moris, 3 It’sgood It’snice

Race 5: 7 Le Soleil, 5 Bachata, 1 Royal Light, 6 Bright Fate

Race 6: 3 Money Extractor, 5 Miss Attitude, 7 Chinwag, 6 Quandura

Race 7: 6 Star World, 2 Music Of The Night, 8 Jordash, 3 Champagne Castle

Race 8: 4 Margate, 1 Ayzal, 7 Red Flag, 6 Take It As Red

Race 9: 8 Major Apollo, 3 Galactus, 1 Barney Mcgrew, 5 Ruby Rex