The popular Charity Turf Challenge offers punters the chance to win R100,000 as well as a R20,000 stand alone prize on Vodacom Durban July day and the deadline for entries is 17h30 this Friday.

This fun competition can be entered online at http://www.racingsa.com/ or manually at both Tote outlets and on the racecourse.

Rabada (Nkosi Hlophe)

Class prevails and points gathered in Gr 1 and Gr 2 races are the key to success. Furthermore, the winners of the Tsogo Sun Sprint, the Rising Sun Gold Challenge, the Vodacom Durban July and the eLan Gold Cup earn five bonus points each.

In the three-year-old colt division many will think of Triple Crown hero Abashiri as an automatic entry. However, he is likely to have only one race during the SA Champions Season, the July.

It might be wiser to look for horses who are going to run in all of the classic races. Rabada is an obvious example.

The three-year-old fillies, and older fillies, should be seriously considered to have a lot of weight in numbers, because there are many opportunities open to them. A versatile horse like Lanner Falcon, who is effective from sprints up to middle distances, could accumulate many place and possibly win points, while classic fillies like Bela-Bela and Silver Mountain should also do so.

A male sprinter is probably an important inclusion, but difficult to choose because the Tsogo Sprint is a handicap, meaning a light weight winner will battle to earn further points in the Gr 1 Mercury Sprint. Furthermore, the Mercury Sprint looks to be at the mercy of Carry On Alice, who should also win the SA Fillies Sprint.

Some stayers events have been downgraded this year, but it might still might be worth including a horse on the up like Solar Star.

Shrewdies will have a horse for the open Gr 2’s and the Gr 1 Champions Cup as points gatherer of this type could make the difference between winning and losing.

By David Thiselton

Met day Listed winner Sergeant Hardy will face only five opponents when Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount bids to give Justin Snaith his third Somerset 1200 success in seven seasons at Kenilworth on Sunday.

Joey Ramsden, who has won the last three runnings (with Red Ray, Kingvoldt and Tar Heel), is doubly represented with previous winners Attenborough (Donovan Dillon) and Gareth Wright’s mount Dancer.

Vaughan Marshall and Riaan van Reenen are the only other trainers represented. The National Racing Bureau rang the other trainers with entries shortly after declarations yesterday morning but found no takers. However the Somerset is no stranger to small fields and in 2011 only five went to post.

The unbeaten Miranda Frost (Dillon) is expected to start hot favourite for the Perfect Promise Sprint on the same card even though the Ramsden-trained filly is up against seven previous winners.

By Michael Clower

Picture: Bernard Fayd’Herbe (Nkosi Hlophe)

Cold As Ice is to stay in Britain and presents plans are for her to remain at the English National Stud at Newmarket for her breeding career.

Ridgemont manager Craig Carey said: “Wayne Kieswetter is keen to mate her with Fastnet Rock and he and Brian Finch aim to have a lot of fun racing her babies in England.”

The Choice Carriers, Sceptre and Laisserfaire winner was retired after damaging a tendon when starting odds-on for the All-Weather Fillies & Mares Championship at Lingfield on Good Friday.

By Michael Clower

Chevauchee is to be upped to feature company after displaying her potential when chasing home Varumba in the Racing.It’s A Rush Conditions Plate at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Despite a five-month absence, a trip too short for her and without a gallop worth the name, the Australian-bred was narrowing the gap all the way to the line and an impressed Sean Veale said: “Over another 200m I would have run the winner down. This is a very nice filly and I don’t know why she’s not in Durban.”

A delighted Ridgemont manager Craig Carey, busy fielding texts from Brett Crawford at Turffontein, said: “He now wants to aim her at a couple of features including the Olympic Duel on May 21.”

It will be interesting to see what the filly can do when she is tried over a trip commensurate with her pedigree – she is by a dual Derby winner out of a daughter of an Irish Oaks winner.

Brett Crawford  (Liesl King)

Veale was also involved in an objection to the All To Come Maiden and reckoned he was robbed when the stipes ruled against him. The close circuit pictures suggested he was making a fuss about nothing because he never stopped riding Imperial Dancer and, even though he was only beaten five millimetres, Aldo Domeyer on 4-1 favourite Sherlock had his whip in the correct hand and the interference was minimal.

However it looked very different on the head-on in the boardroom. This showed the action all the way up the straight with Imperial Dancer the early villain, taking the winner several horses wide. In the final furlong, though, it was Sherlock who hung in, seemingly taking Veale’s mount with him.

Chief stipe Ernie Rodrigues said: “We have to be sure that the second would have won if we are to change the result and we took the view that the two horses moved in independently.”

It would do wonders for public relations, particularly among punters, if the boardroom films were shown on the close circuit and Tellytrack, preferably with a stipe explaining what happened.

Let no-one say this can’t be done. The technology is already in place and there is enough computer genius in the employ of the operators to make it work. There might not be time to show it in Tellytrack’s busy live schedule but there is more than enough during the late night replays and on-course between races.

Vaughan Marshall and his stable jockey won three of the last four with M.J.Byleveld giving a brilliant display of waiting in front on 16-1 shot Variance in the mile handicap, keeping enough up his sleeve to be able to kick beyond recall halfway up the straight.  “It was a very clever ride,” said assistant trainer Adele Alsop. “He caught them a bit flat-footed and the others then had too much work to do.”

Who is to say that they would not also have won the opening Maiden Juvenile had William Longsword not been scratched with a ‘stacked leg’ (Ms Alsop: “It’s a virus – the leg swells up. The stables around us have got it”).

A New Dawn had no problem justifying odds of 1-4 but he wasn’t that convincing even though Joey Ramsden rates him (“a smashing horse, looking for this trip and more”) and is considering a crack at next month’s Langerman.

Four-year-old Words Of Wisdom avoided banishment to Kimberley’s big hole by springing a 20-1 surprise under Heavelon van der Hoven in race four. “It’s tough in Cape Town when the younger horses are coming through so we had thought of sending her to a weaker centre,” said Piet Steyn.

Part owner Jaco Reverchon, a Cape Town architect, had his first winner when Robert Khathi sprang a 35-1 shock on the Paddy Kruyer-trained Foxy Princess and tool-making boss Jason Coenraad got the same buzz when Grant Behr on Elusive Rose fought off all-comers four races later.

By Michael Clower