Justin Snaith is hopeful that Kasimir, beaten less than a length when third to 25-1 surprise winner Russet Air in the Cape Flying Championship, can reverse the placings in the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes at the now famous Prawn Festival meeting at Kenilworth on Saturday week.

He reasons: “Kasimir went into this year’s Cape Flying a run short. There was a race put on but they cancelled it because there were not enough acceptors. However he pulled up well from the Cape Flying, looks amazing and I am expecting a good run.”

Kasimir won last year’s Diadem when Russet Air, one of only three three-year-olds in the race, was three and a half lengths back sixth. There are ten other entries this time including Bold Respect who was a short head second in the Cape Flying, stable companion Run Fox Run (fourth) and Chimichuru Run who was fifth.

But Snaith, unlike Candice Bass-Robinson with Russet Air, is not going to have a crack at the Computaform Sprint in Turffontein on May 2 – “I’m not a Jo’burg person” – but he is considering the Tsogo Sun Sprint at Scottsville four weeks afterwards even though the race is a handicap and Kasimir could well have to give weight all round.

The dual champion trainer said: “I regretted not running him in the race last year and, if I don’t go for it this time, there is not all that much for him – and I don’t see a lot of top sprinters around.”

Russet Air has the altitude problem to overcome on May 2 but Candice Bass-Robinson has already decided not to send the horse to Jo’burg weeks beforehand or to raid from Summerveld – “I am going to prepare him from Cape Town. His sire What A Winter did that and he won the Computaform Sprint in 2013.”

What A Winter was flown up on that occasion but in his two previous attempts (when he was second and third) he went by road only two days before the race so that the effects of altitude did not have time to set in.

The Milnerton trainer is also going to prepare her dual Bidvest Majorca winner Clouds Unfold for her Durban targets in Cape Town. “I believe they are better off down here where they know the tracks and so Clouds will have a prep run at Kenilworth and then maybe the Tibouchina at Greyville on June 13 before going for the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province which is her main aim.”

Saturday week’s Cape Derby has attracted 15 entries headed by Glen Kotzen’s Cape Guineas runner-up Viva Rio who is rated 4.5kg clear of the next best, the Brett Crawford-trained Concorde Cup winner King Of Gems.

By Michael Clower

Yesterday’s Hollywoodbets Greyville meeting on the polytrack saw Anton Marcus scoring a treble and closing the gap slightly on Warren Kennedy in the Hollywoodbets Sizzling Summer Challenge Jockeys table.

Marcus scored 51 points on the day to Kennedy’s 33 and is now 64 points behind with six meetings left.

In the trainer’s table Garth Puller had a second and a third from his seven runners and was able to pull further clear of his nearest rival Paul Lafferty, who only had two runners on the day.

Lafferty’s two runners included Bint El Malak, who gained seven more points with a sixth place finish in the fourth race to go 15 points clear of Jayden’s Shreya in the Hollywoodbets Sizzling Summer Challenge Horse table.

In the first race, a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1 000m, the Mike Miller-trained Fencing Master gelding Walls Of Dubrovnik converted favouritism after being hard-ridden by Eric Ngwane down the inside.

He had come from midfield in the small field of seven and just got up to beat Ziva Da Grace by a head.

In the second race, a Maiden Plate over 1 000m, the 1,5kg claimer Jason Gates took the raiding Clinton Binda-trained Kings Road to the front and kept him going despite the Vercingetorix gelding not negotiating the bend too well. The 15-2 shot beat the fancied Nikhils Inn by a quarter-of-a-length while the favourite Macallan found little and finished unplaced.

In the third, a Maiden Plate over 1 000m, the odds-on favourite Afriel went missing as she found little down the inside having been on the rail in the running.

Keagan de Melo hooked the winner Matadora’s Parade, a Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Toreador filly, to the outside and she won comfortably by 3,50 lengths despite starting odds of 13-2.

In the fourth race over 1000m the Yogas Govender-trained Querari filly Enrapture burst through the centre to win extending by a neck from Itsapleasure and the favourite Bell Jar.

Marcus rode the next two winners.

In the fifth, a MR 68 Handicap over 1 600m, he switched the Alyson Wright-trained favourite Roy’s Physco out before reaching the straight having seen the horse in front of him struggling. The big, rangy Australian-bred Casino Prince gelding made steady inroads and once he hit top gear he easily passed the leader Silver Cent and won by 1,75 lengths from a running on Peter Piper. Roy’s Physco is still immature and has scope for further improvement.

In the sixth, a MR 98 Handicap over 1000m, the talented Glen Kotzen-trained Querari gelding Calvary was too good. Marcus took him to the front and he won by 2,25 lengths.

In the seventh over 1200m the Shane Humby-trained Oratorio gelding Letaba jumped from a wide draw and was held back until the straight by Donovan Dillon. The big horse somehow managed to find his way through a maze of horses on the outside to win by a shorthead from Kingston Rock.

In the eighth over 1950m Yogas Govender clinched a double and Marcus a treble with the progressive Jackson colt Bayview Express.

Marcus gave him a fine ride. He continually improving position in the running and it paid dividends later. In the straight it was soon clear he would easily catch the leader but at the same time he had left the rest of the field flat-footed. Second-placed Double Gemini was beaten 3,25 lengths and the rest were unsighted.

By David Thiselton

Seasoned trainer Pat Lunn knows his way around a thoroughbred but competitive horses were hard to come by in the latter part of his career forcing him to hand in his trainer’s brief. Leading Highveld trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren was quick to recognise a good horse when he saw one and Lunn is now his KZN assistant.

Model Man and Northern Princess – who could ever forget the match race between Northern Princess and Senor Santa that attracted a massive crowd – were two of Lunn’s best horses but he also had a way with sprinters and his expertise was to the fore when Robberg Express won at Scottsville back in December last year.

A bleeder with dodgy engineering up front, Lunn did a superb job in getting the gelding to the races. “He’s a bad bleeder and does not have the best of legs,” Lunn confided after that win. “I did not do a lot with him before this race, hoping that he would run fresh. He’s a good horse.”

Rider Keagan de Melo echoed those sentiments and said his mount had strengthened up and was good enough to win a few more races.

Robberg Express gets his chance at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday where he takes on a useful field of sprinters in the sixth. That last win came in yielding going and with some precipitation predicted for the weekend, give in the ground and a light weight can see Robberg Express home.

Clinton Binda is becoming something of a regular to KZN and on a tricky card he could get Pick 6 punters off to a winning start in the third with the lightly raced filly Afriel. She does not face the strongest of maiden fields and was narrowly beaten in her second start at the Vaal. Anton Marcus gets the leg up. Of the balance Chanel allure started at long odds last outing but made marked improvement in blinkers and a repeat could see her finish in front of Noble Freedom again who has shown recent improvement. Upset material could come in the form of True Jewel who found strong market support at her last start on the Highveld and although finishing down the field may be worth including in the exotics.

The balance of the card looks decidedly tricky.

In the fourth, Popova has been showing signs of returning to form for her new stable and with a light weight and a good draw must have a big chance. Bint El Malak regained her position at the top of the log for the Hollywoodbets Sizzling Summer Challenge when finishing third on Wednesday after gaining entry via the reserve bench at Scottsville yesterday. Paul Lafferty has every intention of letting her line up again on Sunday, “depending on how she pulls up,” he said. She has been doing well from poor draws.

Itsapleasure is lightly raced but has shown promise while Suzie Woo has a tough draw to overcome but her form has been franked and she has been showing good work at home.

Louise Goosen saddles Gravitation in the fifth and the signs point to a good run.  He has only had three outings for Goosen, the first a disaster when dislodging his work rider, but he has since put up two good sprints. The son of Rock Of Gibraltar is bred for this trip and with a light weight and a good draw he makes plenty of appeal and Goosen is hopeful of a big effort.

Marcus has stuck with the luckless but always consistent Roy’s Physco but it has been a long wait between drinks. He looks the biggest threat to Gravitation as he is never far back and a second win is long overdue.

By Andrew Harrison

Eric Sands, who had to wait until the last before gaining Rainbow Bridge compensation on Sun Met day, has his horses in fine form and Still Tappin looks good for the Tabonline.co.za Maiden at Kenilworth tomorrow.

The Ridgemont filly with the North American pedigree has been placed on all four starts and, despite being drawn widest of all, she was only caught inside the last 100m when beaten by the smart-looking Voice Of Reason over this trip last time.

Admittedly she again has a poor draw but Anton Marcus can be almost guaranteed to make light of that. The selection is going to be a warm favourite – she was priced up at even money yesterday – but she has the best form and is rated 3.5kg better than the other six who have been given a mark.

Marcus may also win the Cape Town Prawn Festival Maiden on Al’s My Daddy for nephew Adam 40 minutes later. All the colt’s three runs have been good and he is 1.5kg top-rated. The main danger is probably Half And Half. The Justin Snaith runner was two and a half lengths further back sixth last time but Richard Fourie had to ease when suffering interference in the closing stages.

Water Spirit, 7-2 favourite for the Racing Association Handicap, is Marcus’s only other ride and comes here after running in the Pinnacle won by stable companion Front And Centre. This is obviously a considerable drop in class but she has been done no favours by the draw and it could pay to look elsewhere. The Greg Cheyne-ridden Gimme Gimme Gimme is a tentative selection and is attractively priced at 11-2.

Musical Glitch is the most experienced horse in the opening two-year-old race and, possibly significantly, the Glen Kotzen filly has been backed from 6-1 to 7-2.

Delta Queen, on the other hand, opened 5-2 favourite and has eased to 3-1 but it still might be worth taking a chance with the Dean Kannemeyer newcomer. By Var, Keagan de Melo’s mount is out of River Jetez who won the Met and a Group 2 in Dubai, and was a sister to Pocket Power. She cost R2 million and Dean Kannemeyer would not be running her so early in the season unless she was good enough to at least go close. Of those that have run Trickster makes most appeal.

Purple Cloud opened favourite for the other two-year-old race and the Candice Bass-Robinson newcomer has been firm in the market. The R800 000 purchase is by Soft Falling Rain out of a mare who won eight sprints. Aldo Domeyer’s mount gets the vote but watch out for fellow first-timer Soft Day.

By Michael Clower

The Highveld classic season begins tomorrow and the Grade 2 Gauteng Guineas and the Grade 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas form the respective first legs of the SA Triple Crown and Wilgerbosdrift SA Triple Tiara. 

The field lining up in the Gauteng Guineas shows just how strong the current crop of three-year-old males are around the country. Ikigai had shown touches of class before his last start in the Tony Ruffel Stakes and he then showed true class when destroying the field by 4,50 lengths. On pedigree he will enjoy the step up in trip and he has a fair draw. Shango looked immature in his races before the Dingaans where he then won impressively, so he has a fine chance too as he should have improved again since then. Green Laser is the dark horse having improved to win the Listed Sea Cottage Stakes over 1800m where he showed a good turn of foot. He has a good draw here.

Riverstown is another progressive and classy type and he should enjoy the step up to this trip, although he does have a tricky draw. Frosted Gold is a classy and courageous type but he looks held by Shango on the Dingaans form. This mile looks to be the top of his stamina range, but he does have a plum draw. Youcanthurrylove is a progressive sort who has won his last two handicap starts over 1800m with ease. His 1600m form doesn’t read as well but he has likely improved since last running over this trip and he will enjoy the standside track with its long straight. Eden Roc was a top class two-year-old who possessed a terrific turn of foot. However, he lacked scoped and has duly disappointed this term to date. However, he is drawn in pole over an ideal trip and can’t be written off just yet, particularly as he has “super sub” Raymond Danielson aboard. Leopold is well regarded and could earn a cheque.

In the Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas Summer Pudding is unbeaten and although her form has not worked out particularly well she is by Silvano so can up her game here again. Furthermore, she is drawn in pole over this ideal course and distance. Magic School has always struck as a classy sort and has proved it with a one length second to the classy Frosted Gold in the Graham Beck takes over 1400m and a close third last time in the Three Troikas Stakes over 1400m. She should relish this course and distance as one who can turn it on before staying on resolutely. On pedigree, being by Philanthropist out of a Right Approach mare who won over a mile, she should also love the trip, but on the downside she has a tough draw and the blinkers are on for the first time.

Mill Queen only just failed in the Grade 1 Thekwini over this trip ate the end of last season and in her only start this season she won the Starling Stakes over 1400m. She needed that run and showed how big her heart is by fighting off a challenger. She has not had an ideal preparation but her class coupled with her courage could pull her through from a good draw. Snow Palace has fine form if her last start is ignored. That was over 1800m in soft ground and she led, so can perhaps be forgiven, although there is some rain forecast. She is an effective front-runner at her best and her draw of two is ideal for her style.

Keep Smiling faces Summer Pudding on the same terms as when losing to her by 0,30 lengths in the Fillies Mile over course and distance so can’t be written off. Risk Taker packs a strong finish and is interesting stepped up in trip. Spiritofthegroove is well drawn and was only narrowly beaten in the Three Troikas, although she was well beaten in the Fillies Mile. Victoria Paige is progressive but has a very wide draw. 

By David Thiselton