Justin Snaith is optimistic that there will be no repeat of the start problems that cost Star Express all chance last time when the four-year-old lines up for the Gold Bracelet at Greyville on Saturday week.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount became fractious, in the words of the stipes report, when leaving the pens in the Garden Province and in no time she was four lengths last. She finished with only one behind her.

Snaith said yesterday: “I hope she doesn’t do that again because she is a huge runner in the Gold Bracelet but sometimes the biggest problem comes at the starting stalls. You get the horse spot on, it’s a big day and the horse is super-excited and you can’t control what happens at the pens.”

Star Express has long been held in high regard by the Snaith stable and in the Klawervlei Majorca on Met day she was only beaten half a length by Nightingale. She was also fifth in the Maine Chance Paddock Stakes, beaten little more than two lengths.

Michael Clower

The two-day Gold Cup Festival of Racing, taking place at Greyville next Saturday and Sunday, brings the curtain down on the season and while some of the categories for the Equus Awards are already fairly settled as far as likely candidates are concerned and up for debate, there are still a number of questions to be answered come the final two race meetings.

Two categories that go down to the wire almost every year are Champion Two-year-old Male and Filly. As things stand at present Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship winner Brave Mary, Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Green Plains and Gr2 Golden Slipper winner Desert Rhythm would appear to be the principal contenders for the filly’s award. Of this trio, only Desert Rhythm is an entry in the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes next Sunday and victory there will go a long way to cementing her place at the top of the pile.

In the male category, Gr1 SA Nursery winner Mustaaqeem will be an automatic contender as will Gr1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion winner and unbeaten Sand And Sea along with Gr2 Golden Horseshoe winner Purple Diamond. The latter pair are both entries in the Gr1 Premiers Champion Stakes.

Other categories that are far from settled are Champion Older Male and Champion Middle Distance.

Obvious contenders for both categories are Legal Eagle, Whisky Baron and Marinaresco. Legal Eagle and Whisky Baron are done for the season but Marinaresco will enhance his chances in both categories if he triumphs in the Gr1 World Sports Betting Champions Cup next Saturday.

In the older male category, Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner Captain America must be in contention as well as in the Champion Miler category where he will be up against reigning Horse of the Year, Legal Eagle.

Champion Stayer has always been a bone of contention with the only Gr1 that falls into this category (2400m and further) being the Gr1 SA Derby, obviously restricted to three-year-olds. All other staying stakes races over ground are Gr3 or Listed, including the eLAN Gold Cup that has been down-graded from Gr1 to Gr3 in spite of a Gr1 stake of R1 million.

However, no matter the down-grade, it still ranks as the country’s leading race over ground through tradition and also as most of the country’s best staying horses compete on a level playing field.

Derby winner Al Sahem will be in contention and the Gold Cup is likely to have a major influence on the Equus judges.

Carry On Alice, retired after her triumph in the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint, and who won a Gr1 in each of the four seasons’ that she raced, has surprisingly not won an Equus award although featuring prominently in nominations each year.

She is a strong contender this year for Champion Older Filly or Mare and also Champion Sprinter.

Silvano has sewn up the Champion Stallion award for the second time ahead of the recently deceased Captain Al while Klawervlei are way clear of perennial rivals Summerhill Stud in the leading stud category. The human categories are all but done-and-dusted. Markus and Ingrid Jooste under the Mayfair Speculators banner will again walk off with the trophy as leading owners. Champion Trainer elect Sean Tarry has enjoyed a phenomenal year and has left his rivals trailing. At time of writing he had sent out 211 winners for record stakes of over R35 million, R15 million more than nearest rival Justin Snaith.

Similarly, Anthony Delpech is unchallenged for the Champion Jockey title ahead of Gavin Lerena.

The Equus Awards will be held at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg on Tuesday evening, August 15.

Andrew Harrison 

A post on social media this morning got it just about right at Greyville yesterday. “A Roy Moodley benefit,” it read. KZN’s leading owner was in the winner’s enclosure five times and to make it more exciting, three of them look to have a bright future.

Moodley’s winners were shared between Alyson Wright and Duncan Howells with champion jockey elect Anthony Delpech aboard four of and Keagan de Melo plucking one plum.

Three of Moodley’s winners were saddled by Howells who has pinched what is beginning to look like an unassailable lead in the KZN trainer’s championship. He was four clear of reigning champion Dennis Drier going into the meeting and is now seven clear with four meetings to go before the end of the current season.

Moodley’s run started in the third where the talented but often temperamental Roy’s Hollyhock was extricated from a seemingly precarious position at the top of the straight by Delpech. “She blew the start but I knew that if I gave her a clear run in the straight she would win.” Even that did not go quite according to plan as Delpech had to extricate himself from behind a tiring runner. But once clear, Roy’s Hollyhock motored home to win as she liked.

A race later it was the turn of Roy’s Zara, a second for the Howells, Delpech combination. The daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown made light of her wide draw and put three lengths over her rivals at the wire. It was not the strongest field but the lightly raced Roy’s Zara won well enough to suggest that over a bit of ground she can be really useful.

The Wright-trained Roy Is Second made light of her name to go one better in the sixth. A home-bred by Horse Chestnut, this was her second win from 15 starts and she finished well to catch long-time leader Dundrum, who for once was relatively well behaved at the gate.

Roy’s Regis has taken to the poly and made it two from two on the surface with a commanding win in the seventh. Always handy under De Melo, the Australian-bred son of Choisir led early in the straight and was never in trouble.

The last hurrah was left to Delpech and Wright. Veteran Roy Royale stormed home in the last to catch long-time leader The Lion Guard on the line to end a memorable day for Moodley.

The day was marred by three horses coming down in the fourth but thankfully all three riders and their mounts appear to have escaped with minor injuries.

Honeymoon Cove, who was over racing, clipped the heels of Roy’s Zara approaching the 600m mark and falling with apprentice Khanya Sakayi. Fonteyn then made contact with the fallen Honeymoon Cove and lost her footing dislodging MJ Byleveld. Warren Kennedy aboard Liberty Market was unable to avoid the pile-up and also came down.

The horses escaped unscathed but all three jockeys we taken to hospital for precautionary check-ups but appeared to be only shaken

Chairman of the stipendiary board, Shaun Parker, said that no-one was to blame and it was an “unfortunate racing incident.”

Andrew Harrison

The Gold Cup Festival of Racing, a first for South Africa, takes place over two days, Saturday and Sunday next week, July 29-30. The Saturday sees the running of the Grade 1 World Sports Betting Champions Cup and eight other races and Sunday the running of the Grade 3 eLAN Gold Cup supported by two Grade 1 juvenile features, the Premiers Champion Juvenile Stakes and the Thekwini Stakes on a 10-race card. All of these races could influence the outcome of the Equus Awards, horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars that will be announced on Tuesday, August 15.

The two-day festival of racing is the grand finale to the current horseracing season that officially ends on Monday, July 31.

The festival kicks off with an exciting Gala Dinner in the Silver Ring Room at Greyville Racecourse on Thursday evening ,27 July 2017.

“The Gala Dinner launches the inaugural Racing Festival in style,” says Gold Circle’s Marketing Executive Graeme Hawkins. “The evening promises to be a great mix of good food; good wine, excellent entertainment and a wonderful opportunity for guests to mingle with Celebrities and sporting heroes across the spectrum,” he added.

Guest speakers will be former Springbok and Springbok coach Nick Mallett, former Bafana Bafana star Delron Buckley and current Comrades Marathan Champion Bongmusa Mthembu while celebrated artist Aaron McIlroy will provide the entertainment.

The 3-course buffet dinner will include wine and malt and additional entertainment will be provided by the Break-Thru Dance Company, with horseracing’s  own “funny man” Paul Lafferty acting as MC.

For bookings and further information please contact Nosipho Hadebe on 031 573 2682 or nhadebe@prosportinternational.com

By Andrew Harrison

The battle for the KZN Champion Trainer’s title offers punters an opportunity to cash in with two trainers locked neck-and-neck for the championship.

It’s down to the wire and with just five meetings left to the end of the current season it is still touch-and-go between Duncan Howells and defending champion Dennis Drier. The title is decided by number of wins in the province and Howells currently leads on 68 with Drier a close second on 64. Third on 56 wins is Dean Kannemeyer.

With both trainers all-out to increase their winning tally punters can be assured that each of their runners will be revving at maximum for the next fortnight.

The pair saddle eight runners each at Greyville today, including a couple of reserves, which adds some needle to the afternoon’s events.

Howells does not have a runner in the card opener but the rumour mill has been grinding that Drier has a smart first timer in Bad Attitude that will be ridden by Anton Marcus for Mayfair Speculators.

However, the gelding will need to be all of what is expected as he faces a few form runners in the likes of Paul Gadsby’s colt Lucius Fox, Northern Rebel from Mark Dixon’s yard and two first timers from strong stables in Twister Vortex and Bobby Shafto from Sean Tarry and Johan Janse van Vuuren respectively.

Both have runners in the second where Drier saddles Blazing Heart who has been showing signs of coming to hand and races in pacifiers for the first time.

The Howells-trained Steve Rubell found some market support on debut but it was over a year before he made another racecourse appearance. It was a modest effort on the poly but there may be big improvement to come. He could pay to follow in the betting.

However, Kannemeyer’s colt Badawee has more obvious credentials and could upstage them both although he has drawn one outside of Steve Rubell in Marriott Road.

The Big Chill does duty for Drier in the third and Roy’s Hollyhock for Howells and with the scratching of the likely short-priced favourite, Torrey Pines (coughing), the contest between the two becomes that much more relevant.

Roy’s Zara and Victory Cross will do duty for Howells in the fourth, both in with chances as is Queens Chapel for Drier whose two best recent efforts have been on the poly.

Howells has a bye in the fifth but Drier sends out Delirious Nomad, a winner of his last start and improved in blinkers. He takes on stronger here where Master Of Mischief is over his favourite course and distance and could make it home for Wendy Whitehead in what is an open affair.

Hallowed Spring (Drier) and Mythical Magic (Howells) are a possible exacta proposition in the sixth, the two drawn alongside each other with two lengths separating them when last they met, Hallowed Spring going the better. However, Roy Is Second could upset this prediction. She is re-united with Anthony Delpech after contesting the KZN Breeders Levelling the Playing fields series and although a little up in class she goes very well over course and distance for Delpech and Alyson Wright.

Roy’s Regis rounds off the day’s contest for the two championship rivals and could add to a possible good day for owner Roy Moodley who has a number of runners in with strong winning chances. The Australian import won really well first up on the poly track and may have too much fire power for his older rivals who are a fairly average bunch. Roy’s Regis along with Torrey Pines could prove a lucrative double on the day.

Andrew Harrison

Bela-Bela will end her great racing career in the World Sports Betting Champions Cup at Greyville on Saturday week.

Bela-Bela VDJ 2017 (Nkosi Hlophe)`

Owners Varsfontein indicated in the stud’s newsletter at the end of last week that the triple Grade 1 winner will be retired to stud at the end of the season and Snaith Racing, successful with Futura two years ago, yesterday confirmed her a Champions Cup runner with Anthony Delpech again in the irons.

The four-year-old is 11-2 third favourite with the sponsors and if she wins she will be the first of her sex to land the Champions Cup in at least the last 16 runnings.

Goodtime Gal, unplaced behind Bela-Bela in the Maine Chance Paddock Stakes in January but beaten less than three-quarters of a length when third in the Klawervlei Majorca three weeks later, heads the 12 runners for the Final Fling Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday. Mike Robinson has booked Greg Cheyne for the four-year-old.

Justin Snaith, who has won three of the last four runnings of this 1 800m Grade 3, will be double-handed with A Time To Dream (Bernard Fayd’Herbe) and Harvard Crimson (Corne Orffer).

By Michael Clower

The battle for the KZN Champion Trainer’s title is down to the wire and with just five meetings left to the end of the current season it is still touch-and-go between Duncan Howells and defending champion Dennis Drier. The title is decided by number of wins in the province. Howells currently leads on 68 with Drier a close second on 64. Third on 56 wins is Dean Kannemeyer.

Dennis Drier(Nkosi Hlophe)

Leading KZN trainer by stakes won is Sean Tarry on R5.56 mllion, just over R1million ahead of Howells who is R200k ahead of Drier.

Howells had edged ahead by five going into Saturday’s Greyville meeting but Drier cut that back to two with a treble on the day before Howells came back with a double.

Drier kicked off with Lady In Black in the first, another promising filly by Dynasty and now unbeaten in two starts, and Premier Dance cut the Howells lead to three. But the Ashburton-based trainer countered with Accidental Tourist winning the fourth.

Rocky Valley defied top weight in the sixth to give Drier a treble but Howells fired back with Russian Speed holding on narrowly to win the ninth.

Howells and Drier saddle eight runners each at Greyville tomorrow which adds some needle to the afternoon’s racing as Howells goes into the final fortnight of the season with a four-win lead hoping to clinch his second title.

By Andrew Harrison