Andrew Harrison

The outside of the Hollywoodbets Scottsville straight course is something of a no-go area for most jockeys with the inside track the preferred way home.

Anton Marcus, once quizzed as to why jockeys tend to avoid the outside told something of a home truth. Paraphrasing, ‘If you go outside and get beaten you get vilified by trainers and the public. If you do take a chance and win, you are just lucky.’

Muzi Yeni has one of the thickest skins in racing given all he has gone through in his career, and had no hesitation in taking the shortest way home on Alyson Wright’s charge Fate Of Fortune, racing in first time blinkers. He hopped the seven-year-old out smartly and took no prisoners. The gelding was in front early and at halfway had lengths on his rivals. If the general perception held any water, Fate Of Fortune should have been reeled in by any metric. That was not the case, as Fate f Fortune kept rolling strongly with daylight between him and Cappellino with Yeni complimentary of the track manager.

Interestingly, in the next race, riders drawn in the outside gates were seemingly in two minds. Do you go in or stay out?

Eventually they took a half-hearted approach, racing down the middle. Nicholas Patel took the inside rails run on Riverstone that for a few strides looked to have been the right strategy but Tristan Godden kept to the middle and Licence To Thrill finished with a flourish along with Icy Blast, the two swamping Riverstone over the last 50m.

There is still a torrent of water to flow under the bridge before the end of the season but you could have written your own ticket about Serino Moodley at the start.

With one month down, it is tight at the top of the current Jockey’s log with Craig Zackey’s double yesterday taking him to 19, one ahead of Moodley who also had a double, with Yeni, Calvin Habib and S’Manga Khumalo all within striking distance. Zackey is in pole position given his country-wide support in strong stables.

David Thiselton

The most welcome aspect of the KZN Racing Awards held on Friday night in the Classic Room at Hollywoodbets Greyville was that only KZN horses were eligible i.e. horses whose home is a KZN yard – and it was thus the Stuart Ferrie-trained Gladatorian who was named KZN Horse Of The Year and the stalwart bay  walked away with two other awards too.

The Highveld region’s awards are called the Highveld Feature Season awards, so out of province horses can be awarded if they do well enough in the features, but the KZN Racing Awards have never had a qualifying clause like that. The awards were thus wrought with confusion in the period of a few years when it was not just limited to KZN horses. Some horses who happened to have run three times in the province were eligible in those days and there was also the use of words like “KZN domiciled”, but that method of naming the award winners thankfully looks to have been scrapped.

The other change was there was only one winner for the age group awards and not a winner for each gender.

The Stuart Ferrie-trained Gladatorian’s marvellous five-year-old season included winning the Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m, finishing a narrow third in the Gr 1 wfa Gold Challenge over 1600m and he won the Gr 1 HKJC Champions Cup over 1800m. The Erasmus Thoroughbreds CC-bred Vercingetorix gelding also finished second in the Gr 2 Allied Steelrode Onamission Charity Mile at Turffontein among other good performances. He was named KZN Horse Of The Year, KZN Middle Distance Champion and KZN Champion Older Male.

The two-year-old winner was the Tienie Prinsloo-trained Vercingetorix filly Quickstepgal, who represented Rakesh Singh, but has subsequently been sold to the Laurence Wernars family. Quickstepgal, who was bred by Marsh Shirtliff’s Greenacres Trust, won three out of five starts, including the Tote Strelitzia Stakes and Listed Ridgemont Devon Air Stakes and she was runner up in the Gr 2 Splashout Golden Slipper.

The Peter Muscutt-trained Soqrat colt I Salute You, owned by Messrs Tony Zackey, E C Abraham, T Herdon, K Nattar & Miss Trinisha Pillay and bred by Shadwell Stud, was the three-year-old Champion having won the Listed WSB Sledgehammer and Listed Michel Nairac Appreciation Stakes, both in open fields.

The Gareth van Zyl-trained Drakenstein Stud-bred Duke Of Marmalade gelding King Pelles was a dominant winner of the Champion Stayers Award, having closed out his season with victories in the Tote Derby, the Durban Gold Vase and the World Pool Gold Cup, all Gr 3s, and he had earlier won a Gr 3 in Cape Town too. He is owned by Lucky Vest 12 CC (Nom: Mr Ravi Padayachee), Messrs D D MacLean, Gary Player Stud Farm (Pty) Ltd & N V Parmanand.

The Hollywood Racing-owned Hemel ‘N Aarde Stud-bred What A Winter mare Asiye Phambili was voted Champion Sprinter and Champion Older Mare. In Gareth van Zyl’s care she won the Grade 2 Sceptre Stakes and Grade 3 Southern Cross during the Cape Summer, before being transferred back to Duncan Howells for Champions Season, in which she was a narrow second in the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint and a highly creditable third against the boys in the Gr 1 wfa Mercury Sprint.

Gareth Van Zyl retained his Champion KZN Trainer title with 49 wins, comfortably clear of Dean Kannemeyer and Garth Puller who had 43 wins each in KZN. Gareth, who has now won the KZN championship three times, delivered a touching speech in which he thanked his father Gavin for keeping a KZN yard going which enabled him to have something to fall back on when things began “crumbling” in the Cape.

The Champion Apprentice Award was shared by Brevan Plaatjies and Mxolisi Mbuto who each rode 14 winners in KZN, although Plaatjies’ additional winners around the country were enough to secure him the Equus Award as National Champion Apprentice.

Hollywood Racing, the national Champion Owners, were duly crowned Champion Owners of KwaZulu-Natal while Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein emerged as leading breeders in the province for the second consecutive year.

In the special awards’ category, Tawanda Taruvinga was voted KZN’s Racing Personality of the Year. Tawanda’s infectious smile, fiery passion, creative talent, and effervescent personality have made him a popular figure amongst the local racing fraternity and a valuable asset to Race Coast KZN’s social media and broadcast teams.

Anita Akal presented her annual award to Race Coast KZN’s Marketing Executive Stephen Marshall, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the sport of horseracing in general and to the success of Champions Season 2025 in particular.

RACE 1

(9) TANZANITE has plenty scope to improve after her debut effort and should get much closer. (8) MEDITERRANEANFLAME comes from a yard whose form is starting to turn so she must be respected together with Jason Gates who is riding extremely well. (3) FANTASY GIRL wasn’t far in the last start and can get much closer. (1) NIGHT IN JAPAN is unreliable but can feature on best form. (Devonne Govender 9-8-3-1).

RACE 2

(12) POP CHART produced a solid performance on debut and expected to take a power of beating. (2) AMERICAN PITBULL ran a cracker in the last start at big odds and can get closer. (1) AWAY WITH RED is holding form in recent starts and will be in the firing line. (9) BUGLE made good improvement in the last start and can build on that. (Devonne Govender 12-2-1-9).

RACE 3

(8) ACTION AMERICA ran a cracker in the last start and will be a strong contender here. (3) PIBE DE ORO is knocking on the door and will have a huge winning chance here. He is holding some good recent form and can do work in a race so be a strong challenger to the top selection. (1) EL CAPITAN is holding form and will be in the mix, include. (2) AMERICAN MATADOR is capable of winning but is unreliable, he has a good draw and top rider up. (Devonne Govender 8-3-1-2).

RACE 4

(6) LANCIAFIAMME is holding form and has always been rated by the yard, he will make his presence felt here. (7) IMAGINABLE is in top form, his last two wins have been impressive and he can reel of another win here but does meet stronger. (1) STRATHCLYDE has plenty of ability, although he hasn’t been in the best of form recently he can win this if bringing his “A” game. (2) MASTER FORESTER is never far back and get into the quartets. (Devonne Govender 6-7-1-2).

RACE 5

(1) CHERE FOR ME ran a decent race at big odds, she gets the claimer up and the stable are in top form hence she is the top selection. (9) CHRONICLESOFNANIA ran a cracker in the last start and repeat performance will see her fighting out the finish. (8) COURAGEOUS is capable of much better, she has a much better draw and won’t be far. (4) STAR OF ELENA was well beaten in the last start after shedding her maiden tag. She is back on turf and much better effort is expected. (Devonne Govender 1-9-8-4).

RACE 6

(4) GOLDEN GREY is holding top form and will be the banker in all bets. He was ultra-impressive in his last start and looks set to deliver a bold showing. (2) ONE GIANT LEAP hasn’t been far in recent starts, she has scope to get into the action so include into the placings. (3) CHEERFUL CHARLIE B is capable of getting into the places on best form. (7) ROCK OF FUTURA has scope to progress and can get much closer. (Devonne Govender 4-2-3-7).

RACE 7

(3) NORTH STAR impressed on debut and is expected to go very well in this field, she looks to have plenty of ability and could go through the divisions. (1) BUFFALO BILL ran a cracker after winning his maiden in style, he is another who has plenty of scope and must be respected. (6) MUNCHKIN is a very honest type and another decent run can be expected, include into the placings. (5) WISSA’S ON FIRE is never far back and can run into the quartets. (Devonne Govender 3-1-6-5).

RACE 8

(9) SWEET AND TRUE clearly prefers the Turf and will be the value selection in this line up. He has run some decent races on the turf and will go close. (5) IGUGULETHU has been consistent and another honest run is expected. (4) EXQUISITE brings decent enough Cape form into this and that generally stands up strong in the province so she needs to be respected. (10) TRAVEL MASTER is never far back and is capable of getting into the mix so include in larger perms. (Devonne Govender 9-5-4-10).

Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Brighton (UK) – 31 August 2025

Andrew Harrison

It’s pretty run-of-the-mill racing at Hollywoodbets Scottsville today until the last race on the eight-race programme.

It is easy to fall into the trap of pumping up a horse’s ability after only one win but Mike and Mathew de Kock look to have an exciting prospect in the three-year-old colt Exocet. He boasts a smart European pedigree and made short work of the opposition on debut over Sunday’s course and distance.

Second-placed Mfethu has done little to frank that form but Exocet won with authority and Richard Fourie has been booked for the ride.

It may not be all plain sailing and visiting Clinton Binda could have a say when he saddles Chapbook for the Hollywood Racing.  Second time out the son of Rafeef finished runner-up to recent Gr1 winner and Equus Champion Jan Van Goyen at just his second outing and followed up with a comfortable victory.  Given that Jan Van Goyen is out of the De Kock stable they should have a good line on what to expect from Chapbook although Jan Van Goyen’s Gr1 win was over a mile.

 These two colts look progressive and could fight it out. Also in the line-up to keep them honest is the year older Tripping Thunder. Lightly raced, he was rested after his maiden win but it was his first local appearance after showing solid Cape form which is generally a little stronger than local. Nathan Kotzen saddles Now I Got You who has plenty of miles on the clock but has been in good form of late and has a money chance with his handy galloping weight. 

It is a competitive card  starting in the first, a maiden over 1100m. There are many first timers but there is some solid form behind some the exposed runners. Tingamabob is back from a break but comes with good Cape Town form. If not short of a gallop she could prove difficult to beat. Belligerent has improved with every outing and found strong market support last time out. Rachel Venniker’s 1.5kg allowance should add to her chances. Light Of Gabriel was supported at long odds at her second start and did improve nicely. She does look held by Belligerent on that showing but does appear to have more to come. 

The second could rest between That’ll Be The Day and Holy Star. That’ll Be The Day ran out of steam late when trying further last time out and this shorter trip could suit but Holy Star has not been out of the money in his five starts and two of his best efforts have been over course and distance. He will be a big runner. 

Only eight runners line up in the C Stakes over 2400m, start of the Pick 6. Mike’s Mazarin has his third run after a break and is back over what looks to be his optimum trip. He is lightly raced and can still improve but does have a big weight. Continentalexpress also has his third run after a break. The step up in trip will suit so keep an eye on the betting. Escapologist loves this course and distance. He is in good form and should run well again. 

The fourth is a competitive handicap where Prom Queen has the widest draw to contend with but is holding form well and should be involved in the finish.  Sign Of Fate is drawn one gate inside of Prom Queen but has been close-up in her last three and is also a strong contender. Greenhouse took on males last run and was much improved in blinkers. A repeat showing puts her in with a shout. LA 

The fifth is a difficult handicap. Schipole shed her maiden at long odds but was a little disappointing next time out but she makes her seasonal debut and can make the required improvement. Copacabana won well enough last time out with the blinkers off after showing steady form prior to that. She has a good draw and can follow up. Flying Reign Storm is 2.5kg better off with Copacabana on their last meeting  beaten just under four lengths. She started at any price that day. Amafort is similarly 2.5kg better off with Copacabana on this latest meeting. She was beaten nearly five lengths but does run well on this course. 

Binda could hold the key to the sixth with Inafix. He only got a two-point raise in the handicap for his latest Turffontein win and although he has a fair weight he can follow up in a competitive race. Galla Vanting was much improved with first time blinkers. He has a light weight and a repeat showing can see him into the money. 

The seventh is a Middle Stakes over 1200m and another competitive race. There was a short head between King Of Spin and Bourbon Warrior when last they met. King Of Spin is now 2.5kg better off at the weights which should see him finish ahead once again. However, the recent form of both horses has been on the poly. Licence To Thrill has been in good form over course and distance and should be in the mix once again along with Riverstone who was only a neck back in their last meeting.