One World (Liesl King)

Marcus holds the key to One world

One World can keep his unbeaten record in the Cape Guineas at Kenilworth tomorrow when his proven fighting qualities should enable him to again account for Chimichuri Run as well as Soqrat and Cirillo in the smallest Guineas field for 15 years.

The odds-on favourite is trained by Guineas master Vaughan Marshall bidding for win number six and partnered by a big race supremo riding like a man inspired. “We are up against one of the best front-running riders in the country and from the front he very rarely gets it wrong,” is how Joey Ramsden puts it. “He is one of those jockeys that sees you damned if you take him on and damned if you don’t.”

One World (Liesl King)

One World (Liesl King)

Chimichuri Run (best-priced 5-1) looks the most obvious danger after going under by only half a length in the Concorde Cup when S’Manga Khumalo felt his mount reached the limits of his stamina. He will delay his challenge much later tomorrow and it’s worth remembering that the Sean Tarry runner appeared to be going the better when he began to close last time.

Stable companion Cirillo (15-2) won the CTS Ready To Run the hard way and with considerable authority. Lyle Hewitson takes over from Marcus and is still widely underestimated. Hardly a day goes by when the champion does not serve up a reminder of just why he was the first apprentice to win the title since Michael Roberts.

Soqrat (4-1) is the only Grade 1 winner in the field and has long been held in high regard by Mike de Kock who is bidding for his fifth Cape Guineas. He should get into the shake-up but he doesn’t make the same appeal as the favourite.

Two of the last five Cape Classic winners have gone on to land the Guineas and Twist Of Fate is a big price at 14-1 to make it three but this race has a proven capacity for producing shocks. Seven of the last ten favourites have bitten the dust and in the last five seasons the winner has twice started at more than 20-1.

If there is to be an upset this time then you might want to consider Majestic Mozart. Long held in high regard by his trainer, Aldo Domeyer’s mount has been backed from 25-1 to 12-1 in the last five days and significantly he will race with a tongue tie for the first time.

Perhaps the bet of the day will prove to be the 11-2 offered by the sponsors against Marcus winning the World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas as well as the Cape Guineas because Front And Centre has looked something special from the start. True, she has never taken on anything resembling this calibre of field but the 2-1 favourite possesses the acceleration of a top class horse.

Furthermore the stats are very much in her favour. Favourites have won four of the last five runnings and since Field Flower sprang a 50-1 shock nine years ago no winner has started at a bigger price than 11-2.

Just about the only pointer against her is that she is not the winner of the Odessa/Choice Carriers/WC Fillies Championship. The winner of that race has gone on to land the Fillies Guineas five times in the last eight years and there is no denying the claims of this season’s winner scorer Clouds Unfold (3-1) who beat Temple Grafin (15-2) with some authority.

Ghaalla (7-1) came into her own when upped to a mile last time. She could make the frame but the local trainers will be surprised and disappointed if she proves good enough to beat all theirs. Justin Snaith has the best record with five winners in the past 11 seasons and Silvano’s Pride (backed from 14-1 to 9-1 this week) is on a hat-trick. She needs to improve again to make the frame.

Brave Move looks the part in the WSB Victress Stakes and maybe last year’s Guineas hero Tap O’Noth can win the WSB Premier Trophy.

By Michael Clower

Amor Ardiente (Candiese Marnewick)

Amor Ardiente can go in again

Ashburton-based trainer Belinda Impey operates a small string out of the Ashburton training centre but she has more than her fair share of winners given the quality of horse that she has in her stable.

Quite simply, if they are good enough she will get them to perform, a prime example being Be The Right winning at Greyville last Sunday, a gelding that she nursed through a myriad of problems.

So, the Computaform comment behind the name of Amor Ardiente in tomorrow’s fifth race on the Greyville poly, ‘amazingly useful sort’ is a little demeaning.

Amor Ardiente (Candiese Marnewick)

Amor Ardiente (Candiese Marnewick)

Be that as it may, Anton Marcus was quick to book his place in the saddle after steering the gelding to a convincing win last time out, and in a small field where many are returning from time off, Amor Ardiente could be one of the better bets on a seriously tricky card.

He is still relatively easy to back at 22-10 in the opening market with Winter’s Coming and Blackball market rivals.

Winter’s Coming got home narrowly from the lightly weighted The Poet last time out but The Poet’s form has not been all that great since. Blackball has consistent form in smart company but does have a big weight and with only a barrier trial to his name since early July he could be found short if it comes to a tight finish.

The opening leg of the Pick 6, like the balance of the card, is wide open with many runners having dropped in the ratings. Biker Babe is on the up and has made good improvement for her new stable and can follow up on her last easy win. Missibaba is current ante-post favourite and has been close-up in recent starts over shorter but has a chance from a good draw. Bridal Veil and Fullfillyourdreams are others to consider.

Marcus has stuck with the ride on Elusive Diva, a beaten favourite a beaten odds-on chance under Marcus in her last three. She is due a change of fortune. Silver Prancer is another that has been knocking at the door for some time now and will be a threat along with Moon In June who was a beaten odds-on chance at just her second start and looks capable of good improvement.

Sentido was another beaten favourite last run but he has been holding form and may be worth another chance in a weak field in the sixth. Honest Prince is in good form and although battling for a second win he has not been far back of late and has a handy weight which could swing it in his favour.

In the seventh, Peter Piper has not been far back to stronger at recent outings but has dropped in the ratings and looks to have a bright chance in this field. A threat could be War Trumpet who is lightly raced but has been taking on stronger in Cape Town. He trialled well enough but meets a competitive field. Queensbury Rules and Hidden Influence are others to consider.

In the last, Greenlight Gatsby is lightly raced and although he disappointed on the turf last time out his poly form is not bad. Lucara has been knocking at the door for some time now and goes well over course and distance. He rates a strong chance in this field. Another with a chance is At The Opera who took on way stronger last run. He has shown some promise although his only poly effort was below par.

By Andrew Harrison

Soqrat (JC Photographics)

Marcus aims for a Guineas double

Anton Marcus has a chance of achieving a Grade 1 double this weekend as he rides the favourite in both the WSB Fillies Guineas and the Cape Guineas, which for the first time in history are being run on the same day, but he could be denied by the Mike de Kock-trained Soqrat or the outsider Majestic Mozart.

Vaughan Marshall is going for his third successive Cape Guineas and it is believed he will become the first trainer in history to achieve this feat. He has a fine chance of doing it with the unbeaten One World, who like 2016 winner William Longsword and 2017 winner Tap O’Noth is by Captain Al, who was the third of Marshall’s five Cape Guineas winners to date. 

One World will be hard to beat under Marcus. He is a relaxed, long-striding sort who is able to dictate and then show a kick and he can find extra when challenged too. 

Soqrat (JC Photographics)
Soqrat (JC Photographics)

He beat Chimichuri Run by only half-a-length in the Concorde Cup over 1400m last time, which was run on the Kenilworth Old Course, but gave the impression he had a bit in hand. As a galloping type, he should prefer the New course on Saturday.

Chimichuri Run was running all the way to the line in the Concorde Cup so will give One Man something to think about again. 

The progressive Cirillo is another danger, especially as he is drawn two. He proved last time in the Ready To Run over 1400m he can do it from the front and has champion jockey Lyle Hewitson up. In his only previous attempt at 1600m he was beaten four lengths by Soqrat in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes, but he was caught wide throughout that day and also hit the front too early. 

With two front-runners involved the race could play into the hands of Soqrat, who will attempt to give Mike de Kock a fifth Cape Guineas win. He has won his only start over this trip, doing it comfortably in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes last season, and packs a powerful finishing run. Furthermore, he has a plum draw of four.

Twist Of Fate beat Cirillo over 1400m in his penultimate start and then had to be switched outward in the Concorde before running on strongly. He is a scopey sort and Joey Ramsden is sure to have him in tip top condition but he does have a tricky draw.

The strapping Majestc Mozart who was charging home in the Ready To Run after being dropped out from a wide draw. This Dynasty colt will relish the step up in trip and is drawn in pole.

Van Halen is full of class but has to put a poor last outing behind him.

Sacred Arrow and Crown Guardian look held.

Soqrat is tipped to beat Majestic Mozart with One World, Twist Of Fate and Cirillo next best.  

The WSB Fillies Guineas is not a strong renewal and the Brett Crawford-trained Dynasty filly Front And Centre can remain unbeaten as she has won all three of her races effortlessly. Clouds Unfold drew away nicely to win the Western Cape Fillies Championship (WCFC) over 1400m and should relish this trip. She also has a plum draw of three so will be a big danger. Temple Grafin is held by Clouds Unfold, losing to her by 2,25 in the WCFC and now drawn very wide. Ghaalla won the Grade 3 Fillies Mile but the form looks suspect with 88 merit rated I Like It a narrow second and Ronnie’s Candy managing a close third despite pulling ad racing wide.

Silvano’s Pride has a lot of substance and will be improving all the while being by Silvano so is a threat despite a wide draw as she looks to be a relaxed type. Golden Chance has class and is unexposed as she steps up from 1200m so is a dark horse. PE raider Just Chaos won the RA Stakes well last time, but is up against it here. Second Request was running on well in the Ready To Run and could earn. The selection is Front And Centre to beat Clouds Unfold with Silvano’s Pride, Temple Grafin and Golden Chance next best.

By David Thiselton

Clouds Unfold (Liesl King)

Front and Centre is all business

Brett Crawford is aiming to bridge a 13-year gap with Front And Centre in Saturday’s World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas. Anton Marcus’s mount hasn’t yet developed the aura of Bad Girl Runs – she went on to win the Paddock Stakes – but the Kieswetter filly has won all three starts with a devastating turn of foot and is the favourite. 

It hasn’t all been plain sailing because she was forced to miss the main trial, the Western Cape Fillies Championship, with muscle enzyme problems but her trainer is convinced that she has put those firmly behind her and that she is back on song.

“She has been 100% since her win on November 21 and she worked well last week,” says Crawford. “All is in order and I am very happy with her.”

Front And Centre is 2-1 favourite with the sponsors despite having raced at a lower level than the likes of Clouds Unfold (3-1) and 7-1 shots Temple Grafin and Ghaalla. But Crawford doesn’t see this as a problem,saying: “She has always shown us that she has something special and everybody that has been on her has said that she has given them a good feel. Furthermore she has gone about her business in an ultra-professional manner.”

So the jump in class shouldn’t be a problem? “I don’t know that it is a jump. She is rated 101 and there are only three rated higher. She is a massive runner.”

Clouds Unfold (Liesl King)
Clouds Unfold (Liesl King)

Clouds Unfold created a big impression when coming from someway back to win the WC Fillies Championship with authority. The decision to run Saturday’s race a fortnight later than usual means that there is a seven-week gap between the trial and the race – too long in the eyes of some trainers who have felt it necessary to get another run into their charges.

Not so Candice Bass-Robinson with the second favourite. “I galloped her on the course last week and I believe that put her pretty much spot on. She will be fine over the extra furlong – she switches off easily in a race and she is out of a Montjeu mare.”

This will be her second run back and Candice, like many punters, is a firm believer that it is the third run that usually sees a horse at its peak. But she has got round this by staging her own race in private.  “They cancelled the one she was due to run in so I put six of mine up against each other at Durbanville. As a result this will effectively be her third run back.”

She also runs 16-1 shot Santa Clara who was third in the WC Fillies and second in a subsequent progress plate. “She is tough and game, and she always runs well. I don’t know that she can beat Clouds Unfold but she could finish in the money if things go right.”

Temple Grafin (7-1) has a length and a quarter to find with Clouds Unfold on WC Fillies form and events have shown that it was no disgrace to be beaten by Nous Voila in a subsequent sprint. “We are very chuffed with her and she is bred for this mile,” says Glen Kotzen, successful with Princess Victoria seven years ago. “She has pulled a bad draw so it is going to be tough but the longer straight gives her a chance. It’s her third run after a break and it’s what we have been aiming at.

“Coral Bay (25-1) is also drawn badly at nine. I was disappointed with her last time but we have been waiting for the longer run-in and hopefully we will see her doing her best work because she is a talented filly.”

In the Cape Guineas Joey Ramsden is bidding for his third win in eight years and all-the-way Cape Classic winner Twist Of Fate is as big as 13-1 largely because he was beaten over two lengths into third in the Concorde Cup. “He didn’t have a great trach wash the week before but the low draw made me run. Maybe it shouldn’t,” reflects his trainer.

“I am hoping the longer straight will suit him. There looks to be a lot of speed in the race with three or four strong pace horses whereas usually there are none. I don’t know whether or not that will help and with his wide draw it’s going to depend on how he gets in. I used to think that he was better switched off and coming with a late rattle but he is not.”

By Michael Clower

Marcus marks a milestone

There is no better rider in the country than current National Champion Lyle Hewitson but he has a long, long way to go to even get near the one hundred Gr1 winners of Anton Marcus. But as long as he continues getting the winners home as he did at Greyville yesterday, punters won’t mind if they are lowly maidens or Graded races.

Marcus’s milestone went almost unnoticed until Arnold Hyde, acting CEO of the National Horseracing Authority, stepped out of the woodwork yesterday to present Marcus with a memento for his achievement of one hundred Grade 1 victories in a career spanning nearly three decades.

Anton Marcus (Liesl King)
Anton Marcus (Liesl King)

Born in 1970, the 48-year-old is still at the top of his game as he showed when coaxing Legal Eagle to a thrilling victory in last Saturday’s Greenpoint Stakes at Kenilworth.

The fact that he has a current winning strike rate of close to 32% and is three winners behind log leader Muzi Yeni who has had almost three times as many rides, tells the story.

Marcus opened the day on the odds-on favourite Enterthedebutante for Ashburton-based Kom Naidoo who said the filly will now be put away. “She wasn’t supposed to be precocious, but she showed a lot of speed at home so I decided to run her.” It was a decision well made.

Hewitson scored in three of the next four races, each one a copybook ride. On Donnan and Mystical Summer, second and fourth races respectively, he sat off the pace and produced his mount with telling late runs.

It was a change of tactics for Nathan Kotzen’s Donnan who had been showing early pace in his previous races. This time with the blinkers off, he settled nicely and ran on when it counted.

Hewitson rode a similar race on Wendy Whitehead’s filly Mystical Summer who caused a major boil-over in the exotics, starting at 25-1 and paying R18 a win on the ‘nanny’. This was only Mystical Summer’s second run for Whitehead after showing very little in her previous starts.

The late switch of tracks from Scottsville to Greyville saw the draws turned upside down in the sprint races. With the draws down the Scottsville straight hardly an issue, outside draws suddenly did become an issue on the Greyville turn. One to suffer was the well fancied Socrates who was not able to get up handy as is his want and Marcus was forced to tuck-in towards the back of the field. Socrates was doing his best work late but Hewitson was wide awake on On The Boulevard. Handy throughout, Tony Rivalland’s gelding kicked when it mattered.

It was two more for visiting jockeys as Donovan Dillon recorded a double. Dennis Bosch expressed reservations about Mutawaary’s chances after the switch to Greyville but Dillon rode a driving finish to nail hot favourite Candy Galore on the line. Slow out of the gate, Dillon bided his time until the home stretch where he gave his mount a clear run at the wire to get home in the last jump.

He had it easier in the next as Doug Campbell’s runner Stand By Me put some moderate recent form behind him to come home lonely in the seventh. The Gary Rich-trained Don Pierro, often a handful in the mornings,gave apprentice Khanya Sakayi a difficult ride, refusing to stay on a straight course under pressure but doing enough to finish a comfortable second.

Rich had to be content with another second in the last as Clouds Of Witness was just run out of it by favourite Walterthepenniless to give Dennis Drier and Sean Veale a double.

It was anyone’s race come the final furlong as pacemakers Victorious Man and All Aboard clung to their lead but Clouds Of Witness and Walterthepennisless gradually clawed their way past with the blinkered ‘Walter’just getting the upper hand.

By Andrew Harrison

Strawberry Pavlova (JC Photographics)

Flower in bloom for Ferraris

The Vaal stages a ten race meeting tomorrow and the exotics look the way to play it with some fair opportunities in some races coupled with other races which are competitive.

There is a ready made banker in the first leg of the PA over 1600m in the form of Blossom who is impeccably bred being by Silvano out of the Triple Tiara winner Cherry On The Top. She is trained by the latter’s trainer Ormond Ferraris and was a touch unlucky on debut when running on strongly from last over 1400m for a narrow third. She will relish the step up in trip and faces an uninspiring field.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 Missouri has his second run after a layoff and gelding and runs off an attractive mark of 73 considering he finished just five lengths behind Monk’s Hood in the Dingaans last year. He should have benefitted from that last run and will appreciate the step up in trip so van reverse form with Nephrite. The latter has to be included as he showed a good turn of foot in that aforementioned 1400m contest and is now back to the merit rating of his last win, which was over this trip.However, he did not run so well on Saturday so the tip for second is Proud Dynasty who looks sure to enjoy the step down in trip having not found extra over 2000m and 2200m in his last two and now being four points lower in the merit ratings. Those three will have to be enough for the Pick 6 as the harder races later on will need a wider selection.

In the first leg of the Jackpot over 1600m Mr Cuddles is an improving sort and although his best race was over 2000m he went close over 1700m before that and faces an uninspiring field here. Brave Detailled over 1700m in his penultimate start and held on for second so also has a shout with known good judge of pace Piere Strydom up. Colonel Caramel has never earned a cheque in thirteen starts but did actually catch the eye staying on in a recent 1700m event and it is interesting to see Muzi Yeni staying aboard having ridden him last time. Others who can be included in the Pick 6 in a race which could produce an upset are Chief Blackhorse, Blanco and the joker in the pack, Captain’s Alpha, who has some good recent form over sprints and now tries further again despite having failed when stepped up to 1400m before.  

Strawberry Pavlova (JC Photographics)
Strawberry Pavlova (JC Photographics)

In the next race over 1000m the strapping Royal Cavalier is a well regarded horse and is progressive so is the one to beat having gone close last time out over this trip in an Assessment Plate. The only other one who is suggested for the Pick 6 is Seventh Son as he goes well for Strydom and is only two points higher for his win last time over 1200m.

The seventh race is a tough MR 90 handicap over 1400m where a case can be made for just about every horse and it is suggested the whole field should be included. The tip to win is Big Mistake as he beat Flying Winger the last time he went over this sort of trip and the latter then came out and won again, so the other option is to banker him. However, he did receive a five point raise for that win so it would be risky.

In the eighth race over 1400m Zulu Dawn is the one to beat. She is a courageous front-running sort and is only two points higher than her last win, where she beat I Like it over 1450m. The latter went on to only just fail in the Grade 3 Fillies Mile. Pale Lilac is the other one to include as she has shown some class before and has first time blinkers on over a trip which is on the sharp side.

The last leg of the Pick 6 is another tricky 1400m fillies and mares handicap. Wine Festival is a possible banker but beyond her it is wide open. She hails from Cape Town from where horses often arrive at other centres with suppressed merit ratings due to the class of horse down there and she duly won her first two starts on the Highveld, which were both over 1600m. She has only been raised a total of five points so can defy the handicapper again over a trip she is effective over. Gold Dawn has always struck as one who can progress as she gets older and is capable of a strong finish so she has to be included despite getting a two point raise for her close second over 1200m last time. My Dream Chaser looks to be a sort with plenty of scope for improvement as a still immature looking horse. Ponchielli, Tricia and Sammi Moosa are others with form chances. 

By David Thiselton

Hawwaam (JC Photographics)

Punters to wait on Hawwaam

Hawwaam, Mike de Kock’s exciting Dingaans winner, is a 10-1 chance with Betting World for the Sun Met but punters should not back him unless and until his trainer reports him a runner because, as of now, he looks like being still in Gauteng when the historic Kenilworth race is run on January 26.

In an interview with Charl Pretorius’s Turf Talk, de Kock spoke of the present much stricter African Horse Sickness regulations which led, in part, to Soqrat and Ghaalla taking 27 hours to get to Cape Town and added: “Hawwaam would have been on the same float but his value and reputation are too high to have risked an arduous trip. Everyone rightly expected Hawwaam to take on Vaughan Marshall’s One World and the other classic contenders but at the end of the day we are the ones who have to travel and the risk is all ours.”

Present plans, according to Pretorious, are that the colt will run in Turffontein’s Tony Ruffel and Gauteng Guineas rather than the Met.

Rainbow Bridge was installed 3-1 favourite when Betting World opened its Met book on Monday but Do It Again has since been backed from 4-1 to 7-2. However the Sporting Post’s disclosure that Bernard Fayd’Herbe weighed in half a kilo overweight in last Saturday’s Green Point makes Rainbow Bridge’s performance even better than it looked. It is not that uncommon for a jockey to come back a little heavier than he weighed out – it is even possible for sweat-soaked colours to account for this – and the rule sallow for half a kilo. However this is the equivalent of half a length over a mile, and theoretically enough to make the difference between fourth and first for Rainbow Bridge.

By Michael Clower

One World (Liesl King)

Marshall bids for third successive Guineas

Vaughan Marshall is bidding for his third successive Cape Guineas on Saturday – and his sixth in all – but, unlike William Longsword in 2016 and Tap O’Noth 12 months ago, One World is both unbeaten and odds-on at  8-10.

Anton Marcus’s mount has earned a reputation for outbattling challengers. Remember Kasimir in the Matchem? And last time in the Concorde it was Chimichuri Run. He also seems to have a fondness for leading from some way out.

“He doesn’t have to be in front and actually I would prefer it if he got a lead,” says Marshall. “But he has done everything we have asked of him. I have been very happy with him and I think he has come on from that last run. The horse is fit and we have Anton up so half the battle is won. We just need a bit of luck, and that is a big thing in this game.”

One World (Liesl King)
One World (Liesl King)

Chimichuri Run (best-priced 11-2) has only half a length to find on Concorde Cup running when he came at One World as if he was going to beat him. S’Manga Khumalo reckoned that the mile just got to his mount.

“It may have because he did challenge quite early,” agrees Sean Tarry who looks like adopting more patient tactics on Saturday. “He doesn’t need to be used as he was but it was his first go at the trip. The fact that he has now run the mile should help his stamina.”

Tarry, champion trainer in three of the last four seasons, has yet to win the Cape Guineas but it can only be a matter of when and he has a second strong contender in 8-1 chance Cirillo who ran out an emphatic winner of the  1 400m CTS Ready To Run. Champion Lyle Hewitson, who rode the colt in the Cape Classic previously, is in the irons.

“He is a top horse,” enthuses his trainer who would not be drawn into comparing him with Chimichuri Run (“not at this stage”). “I am not certain that he will actually be better over the extra furlong but he will certainly get the mile.”

Mike de Kock had been expected to run his runaway Dingaans winner Hawwaam who would have challenged One World for favouritism but instead relies on Soqrat in his bid to win a fifth Cape Guineas. The Premiers Champion winner was to have run in the Dingaans but was ruled out with a temperature.

Matthew de Kock reports that it only sidelined him for two days (“We didn’t feel that it was necessary to take a chance as we also had Hawwaam in the race”) and adds: “He has seen the course and is doing very well.”

Indeed he looked good when galloping at Kenilworth last Saturday and is only rated 1.5kg behind One World.

De Kock has won the Cape Fillies Guineas three times. What are the chances of last month’s Fillies Mile winner Ghaalla making it four?“That was her first time at a mile and she was crying out for the distance,”says Matthew. “She has a wide draw (12) so we are going to need a bit of luck but she will be very competitive.”

By Michael Clower

Socrates (Candiese Marnewick)

Play it safe with Ambra

Following heavy showers at Scottsville over the weekend, and a Pen reading of 31 with some areas recording 40, Gold Circle yesterday took an early decision to move the race meeting scheduled for Scottsville today to the Greyville turf.

Times remain the same but race eight will now be run over 1800m.

The money came in spades for Upskilled when making her debut at The Vaal late last month. It was a gamble that went astray as she found one too good for her and her backers will be hard-pressed to get their money back at Greyville today as she is destined to start at much shorter odds than the 20-1 initially on offer on debut and the 7-10 when rolled over the same course and distance last Saturday in a work riders plate.

Socrates (Candiese Marnewick)
Socrates (Candiese Marnewick)

Paul Peter is riding a hot streak at present but Upskilled faces another difficult race as the likes of Ambra, Sand Queen and Marzipan Path will be no pushovers.

Sean Veale is up from Cape Town to partner a few for his boss Dennis Drier including Ambra who made marked improvement at her second start behind I’m Free. Significantly that was in yielding going and rain this past week will likely produce similar conditions at Greyville today.

Sand Queen is sure to improve on a promising debut effort while Marzipan Path, second at her last two and the now blinkered Paarl Rock are others to consider.

African Angel finished a close-up third behind second-placed Ambra when last they met and while Drier has elected to keep Ambra to a sprint, Mark Dixon has opted for an extra two furlongs for African Angel. She does not have the best of draws over the tight Scottsville 1400m but is improving quickly.’

Her biggest threat is the Drier-trained Tarocco. Beaten favourite in both starts so far, she has a plum draw and given her pedigree this seven-furlong trip should be right up her street.

Ashburton-based Shame Humby is a trainer who is shy of publicity but there is no doubting his ability as a trainer. He got one on the board with Cause And Effect at Greyville on Sunday and it may be a toss-up between his two runners Socrates and Neala in the fifth.

Socrates has an exemplary record, winning four of his eight races and he may prove the pick ahead of the carrot-loving Neala. Although Buffalo Soldier has not franked the form of Socrates’s last run, there were excuses so Socrates can follow up on his last victory.

But the opposition is strong. Autumn In Seattle is quick as is On That Boulevard who gets plenty of weight and Lyle Hewitson is in superb form. Calvary appears to have a touch of class and Louis Goosen has three useful sprinters in the line-up.

The Goosen-trained fillies Imbali and Bonnie Dawn are both speedy and in with chances in the sixth although again it is a difficult handicap. Imbali is back on her favourite surface while Marcus has taken the ride on Bonnie Dawn, always a good sign.

Clinton Binda has been a regular visitor to KZN in recent weeks and saddles Sugoi who was not far back in an Assessment Plate at the Vaal last time out while Candy Galore comes off a two-race winning streak and a stable that is bang in form.

Don Pierro is not the easiest at home and gives Gary Rich many a sleepless night but he has ability and can build on his forward showings in his last two starts. He does not have the easiest draw but looks good enough to get the better of Viking Red and Two Stroke.

Walterthepenniless has been costly to follow but he gets the blinkers on this time around and he could get one over All Aboard and Victorious Man in the last.

By Andrew Harrison

Chimichuri Run (Candiese Marnewick)

Bremner scores second out of province feature

It is unusual for a Port Elizabeth horse to be seen running in features in the major centres of Cape Town, KZN and Johannesburg let alone winning them, but Yvette Bremner has already achieved the latter feat twice this season.

On Saturday her assistant trainer Carl Hewitson took the speedy Rebel King filly Princess Rebel to Kenilworth to run in the Grade 2 Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m and she led from pillar to post under Carl’s SA Champion Jockey son Lyle to win by a cosy 2,25 lengths, beating the like of Magical Wonderland.

Last month the yard took their exciting three-year-old gelding National Park to run in the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein and he slammed some good horses, including the highly regarded Chimichri Run, by 5,8 lengths under Ryan Munger.

Chimichuri Run (Candiese Marnewick)
Chimichuri Run (Candiese Marnewick)

National Park then started favourite for the prestigious Grade 2 Investec Dingaans over 1600m but finished a disappointing fourth, beaten 7,4 lengths by the top class prospect Hawwaam.

Carl said he believed the altitude might have affected the horse in the Dingaans and indeed there is anecdotal evidence that coastal horses raiding the Highveld hit a flat spot at about the 19 day mark that can last for a week. National Park’s Dingaans run would have fallen exactly in this period and Carl also pointed out the race had not panned out well as he had found himself having to do “the donkey work” in front, unlike in the Graham Beck when sitting just off the pace.

National Park is currently having a rest, but Carl said he had been “going bananas” in his paddock and looked keen to get back into work. He will be brought back shortly and aimed at the Grade 2 Gauteng Guineas.

Carl said the yard would like to keep four-year-old Princess Rebel to the minimum trip of 1000m as her career record over this trip to date read six wins and two seconds in eight starts. This was despite her staying on strongly on Saturday over the tough Kenilworth 1000m.

The yard are thus likely going to avoid the Sceptre Stakes in Cape Town, as that is over 1200m, and are leaning towards the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein as her next out of province target. They also have no plans at present for the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint, which is over 1200m at Scottsville.

By David Thiselton