South Africa
Trimming the fat the recipe for repeat victory
Weather and interruptions have conspired against them but William Robertson could be the on again in feature dash.
Unlike his preparation before winning the 2025 edition of the Group 1 TAB Computaform Sprint, William Robertson has been a little on the heavy side this time.
Sounds harsh but it is quite true in the mind of his five-time group one trainer, Corne Spies.
William Robertson has the task of toppling popular pick Buffalo Storm Cody in the 1000-metre short course highlight and after winning the same lead-up race again this year, Spies is feeling better about his evergreen seven-year-old's chances.
"He has had an interrupted training program with all of the rain we have had and because of that we had to give him a couple of starts where he was really underdone," Spies said.
"As he is getting older, he has learnt to take it easier in his work and just do enough.
"In his early races this preparation, it took us a good couple of runs to get him back in the game and shed the kilos that he's put on.
William Robertson has the task of overcoming young opposition with, on a head-to-head basis, the Tony Peter-trained pair of Buffalo Storm Cody and Taxi To The Moon holding the advantage.
That is not concerning his trainer though.
"He has come on very, very well since he won the non-black-type race at Scottville in January that he won easily," Spies said.
"He won the JJ The Jet Plane Stakes which he won last year as well in early March."
Spies ran William Robertson in an open handicap at Scottville over 1160m on March 21 where he finished sixth in what was intended to be a springboard into this race.
"It ended up pouring down with rain as he was heading to the start," Spies recalled.
"It was a really soggy track and then with top weight on he wasn't disgraced but I was expecting a better run.
"But that is not the race we were going for and this weekend is the big one.
"He's in a very good space."
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