David Nieuwenhuizen has three feature runners at the rescheduled Gauteng Guineas meeting, which is now to be run at Turffontein Standside tomorrow evening.

Nieuwenhuizen’s Querari filly Mill Queen has not had an ideal preparation but he is still upbeat about her chances.

He said, “We couldn’t get Gavin Lerena for the Three Troikas and she was drawn wide so we decided it would be an unnecessarily hard race and pulled her out. But she is very well, although it is a bit unsettling to have a postponement as it is not easy to keep a horse in the right place for the extra few days. This is the biggest race of her career to date and I think we have The Paul Peter filly Summer Pudding to beat. Paul Peter is quite confident but we hope we can do it. Mill Queen might go for the second leg too over 1800m, and a sprint-miler type like her might get it depending on how the race is run. But we are not thinking of that right now.”

Mill Queen ended her campaign as a two-year-old with a 0,80 length second in the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes to the subsequently named Equus Champion two-year-old Gabor. However, she had to come from a wide draw that day and did not know the track, which was unlike the winner on both counts.

In her only start this term she won the Grade 3 HSH Princess Charlene Starling Stakes over 1400m on November 2, despite not having enjoyed a smooth preparation into the race.

Nieuwenhuizen said after that win, “Thank goodness Gavin (Lerena) has a good feel for a horse. He rode her with a bit in reserve and it looked like she did need it. She still has to mature mentally and physically, she is a late maturer who is still furnishing, so hopefully she will get a lot better. She is doing extremely well despite being backwards and that is just down to her ability, so we have to look after her. She is a filly who gives her all, so we also have to be careful with her in work.”

Lerena will be back aboard tomorrow evening.

Nieuwenhuizen is bullish about the chances of Factor Fifty and Flichity By Farr in the Non-Black Type Allez France Stakes over 2400m. Lerena was unable to stay aboard Flichity By Farr, as he is contracted to ride for the owners of Chitengo, and he is replaced by high-flying Craig Zackey.  

Nieuwenhuizen said, “They are both very well and I expect two big runs. Factor Fifty is an up and coming filly and is the stronger of the two so takes more work, but Flichity has proven class. They are very close and I hope we can have a win with either of them.”

By David Thiselton

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