Durban July winner Marinaresco will gallop at Kenilworth on Wednesday and he begins his campaign over 1 200m in Saturday week’s WSB Cape Merchants instead of the expected Green Point Stakes over a mile.

Candice Bass-Robinson said: “We are changing his programme this season. Rather than have two runs over a mile he will run six furlongs, a mile in the Queen’s Plate and then 2 000m in the Sun Met.  He needs to be fresh for a mile and he possibly had a race too many over that trip last season.”

Marinaresco

Marinaresco has top weight of 62kg in the Merchants while Legal Eagle, who beat Marinaresco less than half a length in last year’s Green Point, heads the 13 nominations for the Grade 2 and is expected to run. The big names likely to take him on include Captain America, Edict Of Nantes and Gold Standard.

MJ Byleveld had the first five-timer of his career at Fairview on Friday. Three of the five were for boss Vaughan Marshall but Piet Botha has been given a week’s suspension for causing “bunching and interference” when five of the 11 runners in the concluding mile handicap at Kenilworth nine days ago were hindered.

A number of horses are understood to have tested positive for caffeine in Kwazulu Natal, including some normally based In Cape Town. Caffeine is a stimulant and therefore prohibited. However its use this time is believed to be wholly innocent. Contaminated feedstuffs are the most likely cause.

NHA Racing Control boss Arnold Hyde said at the weekend: “We are carrying out investigations but it is quite sensitive. We will put out a press release when we have all our ducks in a row.”

By Michael Clower