Arabian Beat and Abashiri will be making their seasonal reappearances at the big Turffontein meeting on Saturday.

Their respective trainers had divergent opinions on the chances of the two top class Gr 1 performers.

Arabian Beat, a three-year-olds Black Minnaloushe colt who only just failed from a wide draw in the Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m at Greyville in his last start, runs in the Gr 2 AmTote  Merchants over the 1160m, course and distance of his Gr 1 SA Nursery victory. Dominic Zaki said he would be close to his peak and added, “His preparation has gone smoothly and I give him a big chance with that low weight.” He carries only 53kg off his 110 merit rating in the handicap event and regular pilot Craig Zackey is aboard from a nice middle draw of 10.

The long-striding Abashiri, a three-year-olds gelding by Go Deputy, has tremendous scope and should love the 1600m course and distance of the Investec Dingaans. However, Mike Azzie cautioned, “He hasn’t run because there was nothing suitable on the program for him, but has had gallops and we have him as fit as we possibly can. However, there is nothing like one run under the belt, so I’m approaching the race with caution.” Abashiri jumps from a tough draw of 12. On the plus side the ever-professional Anton Marcus is aboard.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Arabian Beat (Nkosi Hlophe)