The weekend sees a feast of action around the country and the quality meetings at Greyville tonight and at Turffontein tomorrow both include feature events.
Exit Here (Nkosi Hlophe)
The Gr 3 Kings Cup over 1600m is to be run on the poly tonight and this looks to be a good programming change as it is could easily be called the Greyville Poly Championships.
It is an intriguing race, but the class of Exit Here could settle the arguments and he is tipped to beat Olma, Stormy Eclipse, In Other Words and It Is Written, although Marchant and Uncle Tommy are a pair who niggle at the back of the mind as upset material.
Dean Kannemeyer could have yet another good night on the poly. Cape Town horses often arrive in KZN attractively handicapped because the superior class of horse in the Mother City tends to suppress their merit ratings. The talented Kannemeyer-trained sprinter Captain Al Fredo could be such a horse. He has some big fish to fry during the South African Champions Season, so off just a 98 merit rating he could start off on a winning note tonight in the second race, a MR 102 Handicap over 1000m.
Kannemeyer’s classy filly Real Princess is weighted to romp home in the fourth race as she is 4,5kg better off with any other horse according to official merit ratings. Furthermore, she has won over the 1400m course and distance before. She has been reported to have made breathing noises but Kannemeyer was annoyed to learn this and said, “What I see as breathing noises and what they label as breathing noises are two completely different things.”
Olma (Nkosi Hlophe)
One of the most interesting runners on the night could be the Gavin van Zyl-trained Chesa in the fifth, a MR 70 Handicap over 2000m. It has for a long time been a practice among punters to regard horses coming off their maiden wins with caution. However, the KZN handicappers definitely seem to be treating maiden winners more leniently these days and cases in point have been seen in the last week through Roy’s Twilight and Desert Fighter, who both won their first handicaps starts. Chesa has been merit rated only 61, but three horses have come out of his maiden win over 2000m and won and another two have come out and finished second. A tongue tie has made all the difference to him and being by Ideal World he is also improving all the time. He has been putting up good work at home and could beat home the like of Selvan’s Jet, from whom he gets 2,5kg.
Variable Pitch should win the first tonight.
The well-bred Gypsy Pirate could fight out the third with the hard-knocking Coastal Spell and the likely improver Enticer.
The seventh is a boat race and Wealthy is fancied to just touch off Koncealed.
The last could see the in form Dennis Drier yard notching up another winner through Delirious Nomad.
On the Turffontein Inside track tomorrow the Listed Drum Star Handicap over 1800m is the headliner and this is always a difficult race to call as some use it as a preparation event. The smashing looking individual Romany Prince might be using the race as a stepping stone to the Gr 1 SA Classic over 1800m, but having run on quite well from last in the Gauteng Guineas after being dropped out from a wide draw, he could win this from pole position under Jockey’s Championship contender Anthony Delpech.
Real Princess (Nkosi Hlophe)
Diesel Jet is an effective frontrunner so could be dangerous on this tight course from a fair draw of six. Judicial’s sustained finishing run from off the pace makes him more suited to the Standside course but his class could pull him into the first three. Master Switch set the pace last time in a handicap over 2000m and destroyed them by 4,5 lengths so could be running off capped merit rating, having been given the maximum eight point raise. He won’t be allowed an easy lead here but is still one to consider. Easy Lover has a good turn of foot from off the pace on his day and should be cherry-ripe, so can’t be ignored. Shea Devon could bounce back over a course and distance he enjoys and Dante’s Legacy should be considered for exotics too.
In the second race the Querari filly Touching, who is a half-sister to the multiple Gr 1-placed Tellina, will attempt to make it seven wins out of seven Juvenile Fillies races contested this season by national champion trainer Sean Tarry. If this amazing streak continues the pundits will be searching through the archives to see if any records have been broken.
By David Thiselton
