With the Highveld feature race season fast approaching trainers will be revving engines for some of those big races. This can prove a tricky time for punters who will need to take form on trust, hoping that the obvious are fit enough to deliver.

Two that fit into that category at Turffontein tomorrow, where racing is on the stand-side track, are Gin Fizz in the fourth and Swept Of My Feet in the last.

Fortunately for punters, both trainers Mike de Kock and Paul Peter are in a rich vein of form at present and both runners, given their class, could go into their respective races a little underdone but still have enough class to carry them home.

The De Kock-trained Gin Fizz makes her seasonal debut and the fact that she has not been out since early May where she finished fourth in the Gr2 Fillies Nursery behind Basadi Faith. That she has been out for so long is a slight concern and she may be short of a gallop but should prove a touch too classy for this line-up. The year older Captain’s Reward is lightly raced, having only had two starts and winning on debut. She may have been just short of a run at her second start and given that she is relatively unexposed, she does rate a threat to Gin Fizz and is a must inclusion in the Pick 6.

Paul Peter and Warren Kenney are currently both top of the national trainers and jockey logs respectively. They look set for another decent afternoon but their best chance of a winner could be in the ninth where Swept Off My Feet could prove a little too good for the rest.

She also makes her seasonal debut, not having been out since contesting the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes on Gold Cup Day. She did not enjoy the best of passages that day and it is probably best to draw a line through that outing. She had only shed her maiden before going into that race but after showing up well in two sprints, she came into her own when sent over a bit of ground.

Her draw of 10 over this 1450m event is a concern but like Gin Fizz, she could prove too classy for her field. If there is to be a party pooper it could again come from a Sean Tarry runner. Colour Of Light came from a long way back when a close-up third last time out so gate seven should not be an issue and a repeat performance will make her dangerous.

With a day’s work of first timers in the opening leg of the Place Accumulator, it will pay to keep a close eye on the betting. Golden Belle and Empress Josephine are the two shortest first timers in the ante-post marker with Robbie Sage’s runner Varnica at the top of the boards.  She was a beaten odds-on chance last time out but with first time blinkers, the best of the draw and Muzi Yeni still hungry for winners after the championship was snatched from his grasp last season, Varnica can make amends. Piere Strydom has two rides for Ashley Fortune, and with husband Andrew in the background, this could prove a deadly combination. They team up with Single Red who was running on well from off them on debut and although she has drawn wide, Strydom is a master of the late arrival.

Pelican Bay is a warm 16-10 favourite for the eighth after a hat-trick of second places and could have his consistency rewarded. However, Strydom will be aboard the lightly raced Fortune-trained Etched In Blue. He ran a cracker in Graduation company first run out of the maidens and looks progressive enough to keep Pelican Bay out of the winner’s circle.

The Peter-trained Sarah is more than useful and although she shoulders top weight in the fifth, she does get 4kg relief in the form of apprentice Thabiso Gumede who has a number of rides for the stable. She is currently 15-10 in the ante-post market but she could face an uphill struggle against the likes of Double ‘O Eight, who came good last time out and Dorrie Sham’s filly Royal Lily.

At 7-1, Royal Lily looks fair value after some forward showings in good company last season. She has been rested but does have a touch of class.

By Andrew Harrison

The General Franco bubble burst as explosively and expensively as anything done by his controversial namesake in the 1 400m handicap at a damp Durbanville on Saturday.

The R4 million Frankel colt started a warm 17-10 favourite and, just as his trainer predicted, he was settled at the back. The commentator got excited when he made a bit of progress early in the straight but Richard Fourie was already, and ominously, niggling. The chestnut’s effort, such as it was, proved to be short-lived and fourth of five- over three lengths behind the winner – was the best he could manage.

Fourie had no excuses – “the handicapper got him” – and, while Michelle Rix, Harold Crawford and Spectra Force’s owners were celebrating, Justin Snaith was reflecting on the favourite’s high rating.

“I have been trying to prove the handicappers right, doing everything I can and using all my skill to build the horse up so that he could compete in a race like this but giving him 102 for a maiden …..” For once words failed even Justin Snaith.

To be fair to the handicappers they weren’t the only ones who got it wrong. Most of the media – and none more so than this writer – were bowled over by the colt’s debut win to such an extent that they refused to countenance that his next, stone-last, run could be nearer the real General Franco.

Snaith had better luck with Stopalltheclocks (Fourie) in the first and with the Greg Cheyne-ridden Mister Vargus in the Tellytrack.com Handicap – “Mister Vargus is one of the very few three-year-olds I’ve got that the handicappers haven’t absolutely taken to pieces.”

The rest of the day belonged to Glen Kotzen and Morne Winnaar. The Woodhill trainer landed a four-timer with Winnaar on all bar Point Of Sale on whom  Cheyne shrugged aside the foot injury he incurred in the pens (“I will worry about that tomorrow – let’s get through today first”).

Kotzen said: “Point Of Sale is out of a full sister to Big City Life and her next run will be in the Western Cape Fillies Championship – she will love the extra trip – while Follow The Star is a super filly with loads of ability. She is out of a Galileo mare so we are hoping ten furlongs will be fine for her.”

Winnaar won several races leading from the off last season and securing a reluctant Kotzen’s approval for this tactic (“I don’t like horses going to the front but the jock said we should let him stride”) proved decisive on Hubble in the last with the 9-1 chance scoring by a staggering nine lengths.

Vaughan Marshall brought off the biggest priced winner of the day when Anthony Andrews scored on Crusade’s Promise at 20-1 in the Interbet.co.za Handicap.

By Michael Clower

Corinne Bestel has one of the smaller yards in Summerveld but she has a racing pedigree second to none, being the daughter of Eileen Bestel. Bestel was among the first female trainers in the country along with Anne Upton and had the distinction of training the once world record holder for 1800m, Sabre.

It was a rare double for Bestel and staunch owner Georgina Buchanan at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday. The first timer Soiree got the ball rolling in the card opener as she got the better of the fancied Bling A Ding and Gareth Wright completed the double for the stable as the consistent Blaze Of Silk kept finding in the sixth to out-gun pacemaker Great Stohvanen inside the final furlong.

Bestel is not one to hold back when her runners are in with a shout and nor does Warren Lenferna who had those around him looking for earplugs as favourite Marsanne landed the odds in the fourth.

One of the allures of horseracing is buying a relatively cheap horse whose performance outdoes their purchase price but also has a fine story behind it.

Marsanne was a chance buy as she took a shine to Dave MacLean at the yearling sales at Gosforth Park, allowing him to pet her forehead. Enter Lenferna who was accompanying MacLean on the day. Marsanne took umbrage at his approach and latched onto his arm.

There was an omen according to Maclean and he subsequently landed the final bid on the filly.

Not having the best of legs, Marsanne was a late starter but under the patient care of Duncan Howells, she scored her third win from four starts yesterday and was possibly unlucky not to have a clean sheet, the saddle having slipped in her previous start.

MacLean races the filly in partnership with Howells, Lenferna and Frank da Ascencao.

Marsanne was the first of a Howells treble with Wildly In Love getting home by a short head in the fifth to deny Queen Of Alamo and apprentice Gabriel Pieterse his first winner.

The money came for Straight Up in the last and while there was a little squeaky bum time for his supporters approaching the last furlong, Mark Khan left the best for last as he pushed Straight Up past favourite Do Or Dare to win going away.

Apprentice Jabu Jacobs, making full use of his 4kg claim and carrying out the instruction of legendary jockey Gath Puller, rode perfect race on Jack Of Hearts in the seventh. In receipt of lumps of weight from the opposition, Jacobs set the pace the strapping son of Jackson. He then gave him mount a breather approaching the final turn and then chased for home at the top of the straight.

All along, Donovan Dillon had him in his sights as Zanzibarian loomed up alongside but the 8.5kg difference told in the final analysis with Jack Of Hearts eventually pulling clear to win rather comfortably.

Warren Kennedy took a tumble at Turffontein on Saturday and although only shaken according to his wife Barbra, he was booked off the rest of his rides on the day so the 48hr rule applied.

As a result, Callan Murray was called in as replacement and proved an able deputy as he and Gareth van Zyl posted a double with Horoscope Harry in the second and Noble Joshua in the eighth.

This coming Saturday, Hollywoodbets Scottsville plays host to a meeting for rural riders before undergoing its annual spring treatment.

By Andrew Harrison

The calculation of handicap weights is reliant on a panel of experts employed by the National Horseracing Authority in an effort to level the playing fields when it comes to races of this nature. In this age of computers and artificial intelligence, handicapping by formula is little more than inputting the required data and pushing a button.

So, given some of the ‘handcuffs’ that the handicappers are forced to adhere to often results in skewed assessments, and do not always reflect the handicappers view regarding what see as the correct weights.

Handicapping a race that has a 10kg weight range – 60kg as top weight and 50kg as bottom weight – leaves much to debate for punters trying to unravel the intricacies of the system.

Jack Of Hearts is bottom weight for the Greyville Convention Centre Handicap at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday and with apprentice Jabu Jacobs taking a further 3.5kg off the back of Garth Puller’s charge, top weight Just Cruised In might find his rival difficult to peg back.

Jack Of Hearts has hardly been out of the money in the lower divisions but he has drawn well and is distance suited which makes him a serious contender – also taking into account that his stable is in good form.

Brett Crawford’s gelding Ultra Magnus did the stable proud on Wednesday and his Summerveld satellite yard appears to be coming to hand again after a break for AHS vaccinations. Stable assistant Peter Matchett saddles Zanzibarian who has had a single outing this term after running up a string of wins at the tail end of last season.

His recent seven-furlong dash was just a pipe-opener and that should have brought him along enough to be a major contender here. The filly Red Al, Steam Ahead, Our Coys and Just Cruised In are threats but this could develop into a match between the bottom weight and all at the top.

Hollywoodbets Scottsville goes into hibernation after this meeting with just a rural racing festival on the cards at the end of the month before undergoing its annual spring treatment.

Trainers have been quick to take advantage of the turf track with the majority of the races filled with capacity fields and a host of debutants making the maiden races that much trickier. If one is not a student of the barrier trials, then you will have to rely on the betting market for guidance in these races.

With nine races carded, the opening leg of the Pick 6 comes in the fourth race where many will be relying on the Duncan Howells-trained Marsanne. A winner of her first two on the poly, she was a trifle unlucky not to keep her clean sheet intact after having her saddle slip in her third start, resulting in her hanging as Craig Zackery became unbalanced.

She meets the winner of that race, Linear, on 1kg better terms but Lezzeanne Forbes’s filly races in steel shoes which may, or may not be, an indication of her chances.

Candy Galore, narrowly beaten by the promising Travelling Light last time out, should have a bright chance in the fifth but Wildly In Love, much improved in a tongue-tie, and the lightly weighted Extravargant, will be dangers.

The sixth is a minefield but the ever game and diminutive Winter Blues did not have it all his own way in two recent competitive Pinnacle Stakes events and although he has to shoulder 61kg he could be good enough to hold off the attentions of Graduate and Rocket Fire who caught the eye last time out and is a must inclusion in all exotic bets.

By Andrew Harrison

Frank Lloyd Wright may not have the class of exciting stable companion General Franco but he could well beat him in the Play Soccer 6 Handicap at Durbanville tomorrow.

For a start Richard Fourie’s mount has to take on the older horse on terms six kilos worse than weight-for-age and that alone is worth more than five lengths over this 1 400m trip. But what clinches it, for the writer at least, is that the favourite is to be ridden with the future very much in mind, dropped out and taught to settle.

Durbanville, unlike Kenilworth, is a front-runner’s course. True, many of the races are won by horses coming from behind but anything turning for home three lengths clear can be very difficult to peg back.

The betting suggests that the bookmakers have taken on board Justin Snaith’s comments in yesterday’s Racegoer page about the General being dropped out and tucked in. He still heads the market and but he has been eased from 8-10 to 12-10 while Frank Lloyd Wright and Green Jacket have both shortened.

The dual champion trainer has long given the impression that he does not share the view of the handicappers – and reporters like this one – that General Franco’s impressive debut suggested he just might be the next superstar but said: “His gallop into this race was with a high-rated horse and he gave a good account of himself. This is the test to see if everyone is right about his ability.”

General Franco is Fourie’s pick of the three Snaith runners tomorrow but, when the trainer was asked if he shares the same view, he replied: “No. I think things will go Frank Lloyd Wright’s way and that he will be a hard nut to crack. Last time he couldn’t get to the front where he likes to be and the race didn’t pan out the way we had hoped. He strips a fitter horse this time and, with a small field, he will love it. Green Jacket is also quite consistent and, if he takes part, he could also fight it out.”

Meraki (15-2) has to give weight all round and, while his most recent run does not inspire confidence, it is worth pointing out that he meets Frank Lloyd Wright on 4k better terms than when he finished six and a half lengths behind that horse over this trip at Kenilworth in July.

Spectra Force (also 15-2) ran way below form last time – the course vet could find nothing wrong – but he did win his previous two, both over a mile. Pink Floyd has a better chance than his 15-1 price would suggest if you ignore his last run when he raced wide without cover and, perhaps understandably, tired in the straight.

By Michael Clower