Candice Bass-Robinson runs three horses at Fairview tomorrow following last week’s successful foray when she won with two of her four Port Elizabeth raiders, and seemingly this is going to be a regular thing.
She said: “I will go on sending horses to PE every week for the next two months because there is less racing in Cape Town. At one time we used to race twice a week there and now it’s often only once a week.”
An analysis on the SA Horseracing website shows that the total number of scheduled racemeetings in South Africa will drop from last year’s 432 to 427 this year with the Eastern Cape losing three (72 to 69) and the Western Cape dropping from 77 to 75. Some of this is due to the way the calendar falls but it is particularly noticeable in Cape Town at the moment with only four meetings this month. Last year there were just five in February but a fixture was inserted at Durbanville on the Saturday after the Sun Met, so preventing this time’s blank fortnight.
Bernard Fayd’Herbe, who won on odds-on shot Big Fish for the stable last Friday, rides two of the three raiders – 4-1 chance Profound in the 1 300m maiden (race three) and Celestial Prince who is 16-10 favourite for the 1 900m maiden (race five). Lyle Hewitson partners 15-2 stable companion Master Design in the latter race.
The betting on the big two in the trainers’ championship is now closer than it has been all season. Justin Snaith, bidding for his third title and with stakes of nearly R11.4 million, is favourite at 11-10 with World Sports Betting but three-time champion Sean Tarry is only R600 000 behind him and is on 12-10. Mike de Kock, champion eight times and on 7-1, has stakes of nearly R9 million and is the only other quoted.
Anton Marcus is beginning to look generous at 15-10 to become champion jockey for the fifth time. He went into last night’s Greyville meeting on 122 winners, nine clear of 28-10 second favourite Muzi Yeni with former champion Gavin Lerena (82) on 33-10, the same price as the current champion Lyle Hewitson (93).
Marcus has five rides at Kenilworth on Saturday but only one is favourite, Red Rascal, a rare ride for nephew Adam in the 1 000m handicap. The four-year-old, who won his last start, heads the market at 4-1. S’Manga Khumalo rides at Kenilworth for the second Saturday in succession and he will be in action in every race except the last. Five of his seven mounts are for Joey Ramsden and the betting would suggest that his best chance is on 7-1 shot Apollo Ace in the 1 000m handicap.
BLOB Paul Reeves is calling for the present 8.15am official scratching of reserves to be put back to 9.00am, the deadline for declaring blinkers, tongue ties etc, saying: “Sometimes runners are scratched between the two deadlines. Extending the time would give that much more chance of reserves getting a run and so filling the fields. Punters want runners and so do owners.”
However National Racing Bureau boss Aveen Sewpersad is unimpressed and said: “The 8.15 am time is linked to racehorse transport because horses start leaving stables for the racecourse around 8.30am.”
By Michael Clower
