Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Ludlow and Newcastle (UK) – 19 March 2026

Warren Lenferna

“Winter Pirate will have to walk from here to get beaten,” were the words of racecourse caller Alistair Cohen ahead of the first race at Hollywoodbets Durbanville yesterday — exactly what supporters of the favourite would have wanted to hear.

The What A Winter colt from the Eric Sands yard was heavily backed in the market and started at red-hot odds of 4/10. Keagan de Melo, who rides mainly for the Wernar family — owners of the colt — had plenty of time to look around and take in the scenery on the way to the finish line. The promising runner looks set to win his fair share of races going forward.

Galactus was victorious in the second race and produced a gutsy performance under the urgings of replacement rider JP van der Merwe. He is trained by Mike Stewart, whose stable is currently in tremendous form. Owner Jimmy Burgess made the trip to Hollywoodbets Durbanville and expressed his delight during the winning post-race interview with Brandon Bailey.

The well-supported Heavenly Prince and Quiet Place went eyeball to eyeball all the way to the line in the third race. Keagan de Melo managed to extract just a little more from Heavenly Prince to deny Quiet Place the bragging rights. The application of blinkers clearly helped the runner-up, whose effort was a marked improvement. He should not remain a maiden for much longer.

There were a few apprentice races on the card, and several young riders are attracting attention with their progress and talent in the saddle. One of those is undoubtedly Mxolisi Mbuto, who rode a superb race aboard the Adam Marcus-trained son of Horizon, True Horizon. Breaking from the ace draw, Mbuto guided his mount perfectly to win the fourth race of the day.

Sooty and the heavily backed Street Outlaw looked set to fight out the finish of the fifth race, but Lady Look Alike — for trainer James Crawford and jockey Luyolo Mxothwa — had other ideas and arrived late to snatch victory close to home. Dawn’s Early Light drifted in the betting as race time approached and failed to place.

Mauritian apprentice Varun Jodhee rode a mature race to take the honours aboard the Snaith-trained Music Of The Night in the second apprentice race, which was the sixth event on the card. There was little market support for the daughter of What A Winter, which caught a few punters off guard, but she produced a fabulous late finish to snatch victory from Girl Like Us and Black Erika.

Overall, the racing was competitive, the weather played its part, and several exciting finishes unfolded on the Country Course during the midweek meeting. Racing returns to Hollywoodbets Durbanville in the Western Cape on Saturday, 21 March.

David Thiselton

Athandiwe Mgudlwa suffered a neck sprain and concussion in a bad fall at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on January 25, but he is back riding work and hopes to race ride again on the 27th of this month at the Hollywoodbets Greyville night meeting.

Athandiwe recalled waking up in hospital and had no recollection of the incident at all and said the whole day was quite blank in his memory.

However, there were no broken bones or fractures and he said, ” I fortunately did not have to have any kind of operation.”

He has wisely taken the recovery step by step and done it thoroughly with no atttempt to rush anything.

He continued, “I am still having appointments to strengthen the neck muscles. I have had the follow up appointment and the doctor has given me the go ahead to proceed. I went as far as having an MRI scan and I have also taken the time off to make sure I am ok. Sometimes you rush an injury and a couple of years down the line it comes back worse. I have gone through every step to make sure I am alright. I still want to compete at the highest level, so it had to be done.”

Athandiwe might be back at the meeting at Greyville this Sunday, the 22nd of March, but only if he gets a ride that has half-a-chance. He said he was otherwise targeting the 27th.

He has been feeling good and strong while workriding and added it was probably a blessing he did not remember the incident as such a happening could play on the mind.

He said, “Not remembering is a way of protecting me as it helped me to be able to get on to a horse again.”

He added, “I’m grateful to be able to get on the horses and carry on doing what I enjoy.”

He is not attached to any yard at the moment and said he would start off by riding work as much as he could and hopefully pick up a couple of rides to get back into the swing of things.

He said, “Things look to have tightened up a bit in Durban, so it doesn’t look easy, but I ride light so I should be able to pick up a few nice rides.”

David Thiselton

The first entries stage for the Champions Day races to be held on April 4 at Turffontein Standside closed on Monday and the Gr 1 World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge over 2000m had some interesting entries.

The WSB Met winner See It Again, who comes off a second place finish in the Gr 1 wfa Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes at Turffontein,  is one of the raider entries.

His Justin Snaith-trained stablemate Okavango, who comes off a fine fourth in the Met and a win in the Listed King’s Cup, is also entered.

Both of these Cape horses are being prepared out of Summerveld.

The Nathan Kotzen-trained Madison Valley is a Summerveld resident who has also been entered, although he has a bit to find under weight for age conditions.

Kotzen’s former winner of this event, Royal Victory, is also an entry although he is now trained by Weichong Marwing.

Last year’s winner the Alec Laird-trained Fire Attack is entered and so is his former Betway Summer Cup-winnning stablemate Atticus Finch.

Tony Peter has two entries in The Ultimate King and The Equator, who both have tough tasks off 117 merit ratings.

This season’s Summer Cup runner up Olivia’s Way is an entry and she will have a tougher task under wfa conditions than she did in the Summer Cup, although going on the actual form of the Summer Cup makes her an interesting runner.

The talented Jimmy Don returned recently for a new stable, that of Joe Soma, after a layoff of about two-and-a-half years but Soma has worked miracles before in Gr 1 events.

The Gr 1 HKJC World Pool SA Classic winner and runner up Grand Empire and Trust are entered and another three-year-old, Copper Eagle, is also entered but will be severely under sufferance.

It is certainly going to be an intriguing race.

Alistair Cohen

Apprentices are largely involved at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Wednesday which always creates extra excitement. Some of which have been in good form across the country. Sifiso Bungane could the man to follow. He has some good mounts on the card.

The day is highlighted by a strong B Stakes over 1600m, race 7 over 1600m. Yamazaki is progressing with every start and he could be popping into the division at the right time with the right weight.

He might be an underachiever with one win from 11 starts but the consistency is due to be rewarded sooner rather than later. Beaten by Foudre in his last start was no disgrace. Foudre has won three on the spin and he reportedly has aspirations of feature races on the horizon. Yamazaki was four lengths behind over this trip at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth at the end of January. That form has already produced King’s Quest and In A Timely Manner as direct winners. Both those horses ran behind Yamazaki.

Justin Snaith has options countrywide at the moment and he has decided to keep Yamazaki going around the mill at home rather than have a tilt elsewhere.

Even though his numbers matches up with a few in this race, his formlines read more pleasingly than his rivals.

Handsome Prince is a good horse but he has stamina queries. If the track is running fast which should be the case after some intense weather, he could be effective. He has not lost any gloss from his two-year-old days. His most recent run came over this trip at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth when he ran behind the hugely-improved Chasingtherainbow. He was beaten by only two lengths. Corne Orffer takes the ride for Michelle Rix.

Boogiefied brings winning form into the race after defeating the luckless Show Off by 0,4 lengths over this course and distance. The concern is that Show off ran no sort of race subsequently. He will have claims under Keagan de Melo.

The first of the apprentice events in race 4 over 1250m where Gimme The Power looks like the horse to beat under Varun Jodhee. Her last two starts have been over this course and distance and she finished third. This does not shape up as a top field so she must have a top chance.

Mxolisi Mbuto is the leading apprentice in the country and his best ride is Black Erika in race 6 over 1250m. Typical Adam Marcus slow burn. Black Erika took her time to exit the maidens so she has a rating which makes her seriously competitive at her level. She won her maiden three starts back and since she has earned minor cheques. The small field should help her get into position because she has had to hustle around runners lately.

Bungane has a huge chance of scooping race 8 over 1600m with Backinthefastlane who has made steady improvement since getting out of the maidens. His last run was a fair fourth behind Money Extractor over this distance at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. He stuck around and he was only beaten by 5,1 lengths. Trainer Candice Bass has always had time for this horse and he should continue to progress within his level.

Enticement put up a fantastic debut last month when she finished second behind the hugely promising Grapes Of Wrath. She showed tons of pace and she was outrun by a filly with huge potential. She easily has the best form on offer in race 1 over 1000m and it would come as a major shock if she was turned over. JP van der Merwe is carded to take the ride for Justin Snaith.

There is very little to get excited about in race 2 over 1000m. Miss Smiley has shown enough hints of having a win in the tank at stages. She is not the most reliable but with 54kg, her best form should serve her well with a good winning chance under Muzi Yeni.

Ready For The Road ran his career best at his last appearance when close-up second behind Bonelli at this course over 1600m. He steps up to 2000m in race 3 and he should love the extra trip. Craig Zackey is carded to take the ride for Snaith. Every start has been vastly improved and if he continues on that trend, he should win.

Palace Gift is going from strength to strength and he seeks a hat-trick of wins when he lines up in race 5 over 1250m. Damyan Pillay is carded to take the ride for Shane Humby. It could be a shrewd move that the 4kg claimer has been booked.