The Dean Kannemeyer-trained Afrikaburn became the first colt of Trippi’s South African-bred progeny to win a Gr 1 when winning the Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1 400m last season and joining him as contemporary three-year-olds with exciting potential this season are two Sean Tarry-trained colts, Zambezi River and Trip To Heaven.

Afrikaburn has a tremendous turn of foot. In his recent reappearance in the Gr 3 Kuda Matchem Stakes over 1 400m against older horses, he took a while to get going in the straight but then took off late and this has prompted Kannemeyer to consider fitting quarter cup blinkers next time out.

Afrikaburn will avoid the Gr 3 Cape Classic on October 25, so his next big race target is likely to be the Gr 2 Selangor Cup over 1600m.

Zambezi River was slow away on his debut over 1000m at the Vaal last week, but cut through the field like a hot knife through butter late in the race and appeared to do it effortlessly.  He won easing up by 1,5 lengths, despite having drifted from 3/1 to 5/1 in the betting. Both Afrikaburn and Zambezi River were bred by Drakenstein Stud.

On Saturday the Highlands Farm Stud-bred Trip To Heaven, returning from a 125 day layoff, was very impressive when stretching further and further clear under a hands and heels ride to win a Maiden over 1 200m on the Turffontein Inside track by 7,75 lengths.

Tarry provided Trippi with his first ever South African-bred Gr 1 winner, the filly For The Lads, who won the Golden Slipper over 1 400m at Greyville but she unfortunately lost her way as a three-year-old last season.

Another promising colt from Trippi’s current three-year-old crop is Punk Rocker who won the Gr 3 Godolphin Barb Stakes over 1100m at Clairwood last season. However, he is still being rested at present.

The Kannemeyer-trained colt Tripandie also looked promising when winning from a tough draw over 1 200m at Clairwood last season. Kanemeyer said he would take a “soft route’’ with him and he will have to win another race before he thinks about running him in three-year-old features. There are also some promising fillies among the three-year-old Trippi crop.

The Mike de Kock-trained One Fine Day finished an excellent second against the boys in the Golden Horseshoe last season to give Trippi and Drakenstein a Gr 1 one-two. She is entered in a Novice Plate over 1 000m at Turffontein this Saturday.

The Charles Laird-trained Klawervlei Stud-bred Beloved Country has won three out of five starts, including a Listed and a Non-Black Type event, and is being aimed at the R1 million Cape Yearling Sales Graduates race over 1200m next January at Kenilworth.

The speedy Justin Snaith-trained Arria is a Listed winner and she will be making her reappearance on October 26 at Fairview in a Graduation Plate.

The Snaith-trained Cotton Candy, who won two out of seven starts last season and was stakes placed, has had a successful operation to remove a fetlock chip and has been doing very well in training. Of the older Trippis, the Mike Bass-trained five-year-old mare Hammie’s Hooker should have a halcyon season now that her nemesis Beach Beauty has been retired. Bass also trains the Gr 1-placed four-year-old Trippi filly Lanner Falcon, who finished second in the Gr 3 Diana Stakes in her reappearance. She will be kept to trips from 1 200-1 600m this season. Shingwedzi is another Bass-trained four-year-old filly that should make an impact.

Geoff Woodruff has the Gr 1-placed Not Sulking, who is recovering from injury, but should be back racing in about February next year.

Bass’ useful Trippi gelding Paterfamilias is back in work after injury, but his Trippi stable companion Abercrombie is still being rested.

The lightning fast Louis Goosen-trained gelding Trip Tease has won seven out of eleven, including a Gr 3 on turf and a Listed on the sand, so he could make an impact in the big Highveld sprint races.

Of the two-year-olds the Snaiths have a colt out of the Gr 1 winner Sparkling Gem that they have high hopes for. He should be watched out for as he is likely to be racing soon and should win first time out. Justin also spoke highly of another young two-year-old Trippi colt that has just arrived. It is tough for any sire to make it as buyers are notoriously fickle and a stallion can go out of fashion virtually as quickly as it takes their progeny to complete a race.

There have been one or two detractors as it took a while for a Trippi to win a Gr 1 and most of the good ones appeared to be fillies. However, that all looks likely to change this season.

Picture: Drakenstein Stud

Regardstobroadway, a three-year-old filly by Var, won on debut with Anton Marcus up over 1000m on the Greyville polytrack on Sunday and broke the class record in the process. This powerfully built bay is not happy around the starting stalls, but “horse whisperer” Glyn Redgrave has been working with her on that issue. She looks like a real racehorse. She led from start to finish on Sunday and still appeared to have plenty in the tank at the line. Furthermore, the filly she beat by a length, the Paul Gadsby-trained Miss Varlicious, who is also by Var, is held in good regard.

African Dream is a four-year-old filly by Mogok who has won four out of eight starts. All of her wins have been over 1200m. However, in her last start towards the end of last season at Clairwood, a horse next to her played up in the pens and as a result African Dream rushed forward and cut parts of her mouth on the front of the pens. She was downgraded by the starter as a result, so will likely be loaded late next time out. She has been put through plenty of schooling at the pens in the last few weeks. African Dream is entered in a Conditions Plate over 1200m on the polytrack at Greyville this Sunday. Her immediate big race target is the Gr 3 Magnolia Handicap over 1160m at Turffontein on Sansui Summer Cup day, November 29.

Riff Raf is a big three-year-old colt by Royal Air Force and stands over a lot of ground. He won his second start over 1400m on the polytrack with consummate ease after going close on debut  over 1400m at Scottsville. Riff Raf has an excellent attitude and showed that he was thoroughly enjoying himself in a canter on the bottom sand at Summerveld yesterday. He was striding out well with his head in his chest under Anton Marcus. Freedman said that Riff Raf was still just a “big baby”, so there would be no rush with him. However, the Listed KZN Guineas Trial over 1600m at Greyville on November 9 is a possibility.

All three of these horses look to be full of ability and can be followed.

Picture: Nkosi Hlophe

This might have scuppered the plans of last season’s Equus Champion two-year-old Harry’s Son, who was among a 15-strong Paul Lafferty-trained string that was due to campaign in the Cape Summer Of Champions Season. Lafferty said the 40 day delay would have a snowballing effect as it would mean the horses would have less time to recover from their arduous journey down to Cape Town before some of their chief targets.

If travel is not possible before the 40 day period is over, a flight down to Cape Town close to the date of the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas on December 20, which is Harry’s Son’s chief target, could be an option. Another option is that he could be re-routed towards a Johannesburg campaign instead. However, it is early days in the problem that faces Lafferty and not only is he awaiting the decision of the veterinary authorities, but any proposals made will still have to be discussed with connections.

Among other good horses in Lafferty’s intended Cape Town string were Garibondy, Flying Loot, Goldie Coast and some promising two-year-olds. Meanwhile, Dennis Drier’s entire Cape Town string had fortunately already arrived in Cape Town before the horse tested AHS positive at Summerveld.

Picture: Trainer Paul Lafferty and Harry’s Son (David Thiselton)

Vaughan Marshall said: “I’ll have to see but it’s more than likely.” However the combination of a 6.5kg penalty and a wide draw means that Durban Golden Horseshoe winner Afrikaburn will miss the Classic.

Dean Kannemeyer said: “He was a little shaken up after his second in the Matchem and he will either go straight for the Selangor on 22 November or have another run before that. At this stage I don’t know if I will even have a runner in the Classic.” Light The Lights, beaten only a length and a quarter when fifth in the Premiers Champion, will also miss the Cape Classic. Glen Kotzen has decided to send him to Port Elizabeth for the Listed Racing Association Stakes at Fairview the previous day. Justin Snaith, who has six in the Classic, is having second thoughts about running impressive wide-margin debut winner Heartland and said: “I can’t gallop him beforehand so I doubt if he will run.”

Picture: ML Jet and jockey MJ Byleveld (Nkosi Hlophe)

The four-year-old Horse Chestnut gelding was just outside the top 20 on the first Summer Cup log, so might have to win the Michaelmas to get in. He has drawn 12 out of a list of 24 entries in the latter event. The Michaelmas meeting will see the first turf racing at Greyville since the spring treatment, but in order not to give the track an early pounding, only two races on the eight-race card will be on the turf and the rest will be on the polytrack.

Bold Inspiration has had seven career starts for five wins, but has won all three of his starts since joining Laird with consummate ease. Laird said the big horse had needed gelding upon arriving in his yard and had given the impression of being a Gold Cup type, so could “only get better” with age. He reckoned that as an up and coming sort this could be the “right Summer Cup” for him. He didn’t view Bold Inspiration as a J&B Met type, so the KZN Champions Season will likely be his next big campaign after the Summer Cup (presuming he gets into the latter race).

Laird’s Australian-bred Rock Of Gibraltar filly Rich Girl is on top of the Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Cup log at the moment, thanks chiefly to her runner up finish in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson over 1200m at Scottsville in May. The R3,85 million race, the richest horseracing event the country will have ever seen, will be run at Turffontein on November 1 over 1400m, a distance she is yet to prove she gets. However, Laird is confident she will stay the trip, provided she is ridden the correctly, and with Anton Marcus likely to be in the irons there is every chance that she will be. Rich Girl has shown outstanding speed in her sprint races, but is likely to be held up off the pace in the Ready To Run Cup, so a lot is likely to depend on how much cover she gets and how well she settles. Laird has won the Ready To Run Cup before with an Australian-bred filly, in 2010 with Hollywoodboulevard, who upset the mighty Igugu.

Laird has some classy sprinters at present and two of them, Viva La Var and Pej,  will be aimed at Johannesburg features, while another two, Normanz and Beloved Country, will be aimed at Cape Town’s big races. Viva La Var, who recently won his debut for Laird to remain unbeaten in four career starts, is being aimed at the Listed Golden Loom Handicap over 1000m at Turffontein and his long term aim will likely be the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over the same course and distance next Autumn. Pej, a speedy four-year-old filly by Kahal who has won five times in eleven starts, will be aimed at some of the fillies feature sprints in Johannesburg.

Normanz, a four-year-old gelding by Var who won the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint last season, made his reappearance on Sunday at Greyville on the polytrack. He had a slow start and nothing much else went right for him, so he did well to finish just two lengths back. Laird was pleased with the effort and is aiming him at the Gr 1 R1 million Betting World Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth next January.

Beloved Country, a Trippi filly who has won three out of five starts, will be running on the same day in the R1 million Cape Thoroughbred Sales Book 1 Graduates race over an ideal trip of 1200m. Laird doesn’t believe the latter race will be ultra strong as a lot of the best graduates will be racing in the Cape Summer Of Champions classic events.

Picture: Bold Inspiration and jockey Anton Marcus (Nkosi Hlophe)