CATFISH (13) earns top billing after putting Vaal away by six and a half lengths over 1200m, a result that reads strongly alongside his broader profile of four wins and five places from eleven starts. His 1000m record is excellent, with three wins and five places from eight attempts, and the Blaine Marx-Jacobson partnership has already produced four wins from six rides. ECHO CHECK (6) brings the clean winning sequence, having beaten Lion Rampart at Vaal after a four-and-a-half-length BM96 win at Turffontein Inside, and he is proven at the trip. CITY OF LOVE (11) arrives in sharp order after a well-backed Greyville win and a prior head second, with enough 1000m substance to be a genuine danger. UMZINGELI WENYATHI (16) is rarely far away, has a perfect place record from four runs at this track and distance, and the light weight keeps him right in the contest.