Azan has the Perfect Brew for Gold Cup

IF ever there’s a horse that fits the bill to mind his own business for the first five furlongs before using race fitness and handicaps to overhaul rivals in deep stretch of Monday’s Gold Cup, PERFECT BREW is surely a standout at 114lb, 10lb lighter than the 124lb he used to run down I’VE GOT MAGIC and JORDON REIGN’S at six furlongs, clocking 1:12.1

PERFECT BREW clocked 1:38.0 for a mile in June and showed his versatility by charging at SHE’S MY DESTINY at five furlongs straight mid-August, proving he has the pace and stamina to spring a Gold Cup upset.

There’s more than meets the eye in the Gold Cup, the possibility of a collapsing pace, which could lead to PERFECT BREW upsetting his decorated but highly suspect rivals at seven furlongs.

At first glance, Richard Azan’s Bern Identity-Moonlight Brew gelding appears overmatched, taking on proven grade-one runners such as SHE’S MY DESTINY, MAHOGANY and I AM FRED. However, the handicaps, race tactics and a torrid pace could expose chinks in the favourites’ armours.

SHE’S MY DESTINY and MAHOGANY have no choice but to try escaping each other on the lead. However, their attempts to slip the field won’t go unnoticed by two lightweights, I’VE GOT MAGIC and ROJORN DI PILOT, whose purpose appears aimed directly at SHE’S MY DESTINY.

Having put RUNAWAY ALGO to the sword in a questionably handicapped event, running 26lb lighter than the foreigner though finishing ahead of him in last year’s biggest race, the Mouttet Mile, SHE’S MY DESTINY appears an enticing prospect at 112lb.

A NO-HOPER

ROJORN DI PILOT might be a no-hoper but twice finished ahead of I’VE GOT MAGIC and is hardly off the board in his races. At age seven, he has retained speed and will certainly be a bother to other speedsters hoping to see out the distance, doing the dirty work for stablemate MAHOGANY, who has trained extremely well in preparation.

Matching speed spells danger for SHE’S MY DESTINY, especially if the likes of MAHOGANY reproduces his exercise gallop of 1:26.2 for seven furlongs, clocked out of the mile chute last week Wednesday. MAHOGANY easily put away SHE’S MY DESTINY in February at six and a half furlongs but underperformed in back-to-back races off lay-ups in April and July, suggesting all might not be well with the six-year-old, who had demolished rivals in last year’s Gold Cup after placing fourth in an attempt to steal the Mouttet Mile.

Not putting in another comparatively quick spin at exercise in almost two weeks makes MAHOGANY highly suspect with near-topweight 123lb, having the task to chase SHE’S MY DESTINY, ROJORN DI PILOT and possibly a hyped-up I’VE GOT MAGIC at 108lb.

United States-bred I AM FRED, who appeared to have established himself as the new king of grade one with four consecutive victories against the best of the best, from March to June, subsequently found a rejuvenated RUNAWAY ALGO too quick to catch in back-to-back races.

I AM FRED’s sparse exercise gallops, mainly out the straight chute, could be a sign that he might have regressed, casting doubt on his capability to chase and conquer as he had done when going on a rampaging four-timer earlier this year.