The highest rated race in the eight race meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville on the polytrack this Sunday is a MR 92 handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m. Sunshine Mint looks ready to pounce off a reduced merit rating, although she does have a tricky draw of eight to overcome.

This Await The Dawn mare had some fair form in the strong centre of Cape Town over this trip and now has her third run in KZN and it is also her third run after a layoff. She clearly needed her last start over this trip at Hollywoodbets Scottsville as she moved up well and then found little extra. Her merit rating has been dropped six points in total from the time she arrived in KZN and she is a contender here if able to overcome that draw. Ancient Spirit ran on well from way off the pace over this course and distance in her penultimate start to finish a 1,55 length fourth and was reported coughing. She now has a tongue tie on and from a handier position could be right there. Torbenite should also be involved in the finish. Last time she beat Sunshine Mint by 3,75 lengths at Hollywoodbets Scottsville and is now only 2kg worse off and drawn well in two.

The first leg of the Pick 6 is a MR 78 Handicap over 1600m and the progressive What A Blast goes for a hattrick. The wide draw should not bother him as he came from way off the pace last time with a telling run over this course and distance. He is off a three point higher mark and has a chance again. Antigonus will enjoy the step up to this trip and will also be running on. Peter Piper is nine-years-old but shows no sign of slowing down and can also be in the mix, although he is another with a tough draw. Podcast and Philos have good draws and are both one from one over course and distance so must also be included.

In the second leg of the Pick 6 over 2000m Elusive Quest went close over course and distance last time and gets a good opportunity here from a plum draw. Tallulah Jet has shown signs of ability and from a good draw could make her presence felt over a likely suitable trip. Hard-knocking La Duchesse should make her presence felt over a suitable trip if able to overcome the high draw.

In the third leg of the Pick 6 over 1400m Head Boy had some fair form in Cape Town from 1400m to 2400m and will be competitive here in this weaker centre. Tuscan Kiss is also from Cape Town and has a plum draw over an ideal trip. Galway, Just Prime and Icloud can also be included.

In the sixth race over 1400m Star Vega looks promising and will enjoy the step up in trip having run on strongly over 1200m last time. She does have tough draw to overcome though and hard knockers Spam Alert and Mitra Music can also be included.

In the last leg of the Pick 6 over 1200m Extravargant has ability and a plum draw over a suitable trip. Highveld raider Belton Road has dropped to a competitive mark and can make his presence felt if able to overcome a wide draw.  Pickawinner won his maiden well over course and distance in his penultimate start and has a 4kg claimer up from a fair draw so must be included.   

By David Thiselton

The Grade 3 Spring Spree Stakes over 1 200m heads the Turffontein Inside course nine race meeting tomorrow. Social Order could be the one to beat as he has shown good form lately over sprints and has a plum draw of five. The six-year-old Count Dubois gelding has been seen to be charging late in his last two starts over this trip and he has now dropped to a competitive mark.

Prince Of Kahal has won his only start over course and distance and is in good form so he will be a threat from a fair draw. Zouaves has class and some speed and from a fair draw of seven should be finishing strongly.

Russian Prince has promise and should start coming into his own this season so will be a threat off a competitive mark if able to overcome a tough draw. Will Pays has proven class and is a previous winner of this race but he does have a big weight to carry and a tricky draw.

Down To Zero will also be a big runner if able to overcome a high draw. Angel’s Power finished second in this race two years ago off what was effectively a one point higher merit rating so from draw two must be considered.

The Non-black Type Ladies Stakes is a handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m and it is wide open. Lawdy Miss Clawdy won a Pinnacle event over this trip at the Vaal easily last time and has a fair draw of five.

If she can repeat that effort she will be right there. Rock A Roll Dancer is in good form and has a fine record over this trip but she does have to overcome a tricky draw of nine.

Operetta has to be included as a consistent sort who has taken well to blinkers, winning both starts with the headgear on over 1000m, and she has a good record over this trip too.

She jumps from a fair draw and with Warren Kennedy on she looks the Paul Peter stable elect.

Stablemate Afrostar has class coupled with a plum draw of three, but she does have to carry topweight and is likely looking for a touch further.

She will be staying on, as she did last time over this trip at the Vaal, but she faces Lawdy Miss Clawdy on the same terms from that race despite having been beaten 2,25 lengths.

Spiritofthegroove has plenty of resolve and looks promising. She possesses a strong finish and will have to produce it from a tricky draw of ten. She is 3,5kg under sufferance according to official merit ratings but has only had three runs and looks capable of rising above her current mark. Witch Of The West has to be considered as she is 4,5kg better off with Rock A Roll Dancer for a 1,40 length beating, although that was over 1 450m and this will be on the sharp side.

It is tough to find a best bet on the day and Rockin Russian is chosen, despite being 5,5kg under sufferance on official merit ratings with her stablemate Second Request in the eighth, a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1 450m. The 1,5kg claim of Kabelo Matsunyane will alleviate that to some extent and she is also drawn well over an ideal trip.

Second Request has not run since March, but if close to her peak will be hard to beat as she does possess a fine turn of foot and should be effective over this trip running fresh. Both should be included in the Pick 6 and Jackpot, but Rockin Russian is made a PA banker.

Bohica will be a popular choice in the fifth race, a MR72 Handicap over 1 600m, having won well from the front second time out over 1 400m when still extending at the line.

He starts off on a reasonable mark but could be given some cheek by Melchizedek, who is at last showing signs of the potential he has always had.

From pole position over a suitable trip the latter should run well, although officially he is 1kg under sufferance.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 over 1 600m Reach For The Line has been a major disappointment after seeming promising early, but he ran well last time from the front over 1 450m so is obviously off a competitive mark and this is the trip of his only win.

However, the topweight Lone Survivor is the selection as he was likely ridden too handy last time and can make amends with S’Manga Khumalo up from a good draw.

In the last leg of the Pick 6 over 1 450m Ghalyoon has plenty of scope for improvement and should have come on from his fair debut over 1 400m when green so he can do well here from a good draw.

His stablemate Arnica Mountain is a R360,000 Flower Alley gelding out of a placed full-sister to Mother Russia, so is an interesting first-timer.

Quest For Good found support on debut over this course and distance and ran a fair race so can also be involved from another good draw.

By David Thiselton

African Warrior, winner of both the KZN Yearling Sale Million and the Umkhomazi Stakes, has to give away a minimum of 8kg to the entire opposition in the Sophomore Sprint at Kenilworth on Saturday week.

This would suggest that he is unlikely to start his three-year-old campaign here but Dean Kannemeyer, who has yet to win the Sophomore, is away at the moment and so unable to confirm one way or the other.

The Vercingetorix gelding is rated 6kg and more better than the other 11 entries for Cape Town’s first feature of the season with the Brett Crawford-trained Finding Camelot next best on ratings.

Justin Snaith, bidding for his fifth win in this race, has the only filly, Casino Queen, entered but said: “I doubt if she will run because she is not well in but Captain Tatters is a definite runner.”

Vaughan Marshall, successful with Pay Catch in 2004 and with Lord Balmoral two years ago, has yet to make a decision on whether Ground Control runs but Mike Robinson has already booked Anthony Andrews for Call Me Al while Ossie Noach will partner Warrior Tiger for Piet Botha.

Candice Bass-Robinson gave Three Two Charlie an outing in a handicap at Durbanville on Tuesday and he finished third under top weight – “I thought it would bring him on more than another gallop would.”

Billy Prestage, who sprang a 33-1 shock with Moonlight Gambler 11 years ago, could be represented by the speedy Durbanville winner Jean’s Man.  Declarations are on Monday

Last week’s article on Charl Pretorius’s Turf Talk website on exports to Mauritius – the only real export market until such time as the EU lifts its current restrictions – has attracted a lot of interest.

Grant Knowles, who with Justin Vermaark of Green Street Bloodstock is probably the biggest player in this particular market, estimates that the Mauritians buy “close to 70 horses a year and of these I sell between 20 and 30. They pay anything from R100 000 to R1.5 million and it costs them around R70 000 to get each horse to Mauritius. This includes the 19 days quarantine in South Africa and 21 days there.” Agents like Knowles earn 5% of the purchase price and the horse’s South African trainer normally gets twice that.

By Michael Clower

The Robbie and Shannon Hill-trained Camphoratus was the only horse to win two awards at the KZN Racing Awards on Friday night and she is now being prepared for a tilt at the Grade 1 Gauteng Summer Cup.

The five-year-old Byword mare was named KZN Champion Older filly/mare and KZN Champion Middle Distance horse.

There is not a Champion Miler award at the KZN Racing Awards, so the Middle Distance award incorporates distances from 1600m to 2200m.

Of the four nominees, which also included Head Honcho, Eyes Wide Open and Lady In Black, she was the only one to win a Grade 1 last season.

She won the Grade 1 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein Standside. 

She had earlier won the Grade 3 Flamboyant over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

She later finished a fine sixth place in the Vodacom Durban July and she ended a memorable season for her owners L J Muir, S Manicom, G R Sadleir and Mr & Mrs Rob Pickering of Middlefield Stud by finishing second in the Grade 2 Gold Bracelet over 2000m. The Pickerings of Middlefield Stud also bred her.

The Empress Club was the first Grade 1 win for the yard, although as a jockey Robbie won many Grade 1s. 

The chestnut is capable of a strong finish and proved when winning the Empress Club Stakes and earlier finishing second in the Listed Jacaranda Handicap, where she gave the winner Insignis 4,5kg, that she loves the Turffontein Standside track.

Her regular pilot Gareth Wright knows her well now. She runs best when left alone in the early stages and patience is also required in the straight as this maximizes the effect of her excellent turn of foot.

Her current merit rating, after the across the board ten point raise, is 118.   

Robbie said she would be given two preparation runs before the Summer Cup, one in Durban and one in Gauteng.   

Coral Fever in recuperation

Last year’s Grade 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile hero Coral Fever is still recuperating on the farm and it will be touch and go whether he can get back in time for the Gauteng Summer Cup.

The Robbie Sage-trained seven-year-old Judpot gelding was last seen finishing a fine 1,20 length fourth with topweight in last year’s G-Bets Summer Cup.

He subsequently had a slight niggle on one ligament and a scan revealed a slight tear.

He was thus sent to the farm to recuperate.

Sage said, “I don’t want to force anything and when he comes back we will still have to build him back up.”

Therefore, he was not sure whether he would be back in time for the Summer Cup.

By David Thiselton

The eight race Hollywoodbets Scottsville meeting yesterday saw fairly favourable results for punters until the last leg of the Pick 6 and PA which produced a bombshell.

In the third race the Dennis Drier-trained Maidens Prayer looked the best bet on the card, having finished an unlucky 1,80 length fourth in the Grade 2 Debutante over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on eLan Gold Cup day and now facing an uninspiring maiden field over that same trip. She duly went off paying R1.30 on the Tote. The What A Winter filly gave her supporters a few anxious moments as she had to be driven by Sean Veale to get into the leading line. However, with challengers all around her she shook them off and was drawing away at the line to beat Retail Therapy by 0,90 lengths.

Drier’s progressive sprinter Cabo Da Cruz jumped off at odds-on in the next, a MR 104 handicap over 1200m, where he was going for a fifth win in succession. However, the Yogas Govender-trained Filippo caught him napping when swooping past at the 300m mark. The latter, a Piemonte Stud-bred Toreador gelding, is best at the minimum trip so Cabo Da Cruz was able to fight back but it was too late and he was 0,25 lengths shy at the line. Filippo was ridden by Sherman Brown.

The meeting started on a dramatic note when Athandiwe Mgudlwa’s mount in the 1200m Maiden, Forest Jump, stumbled on to his knees and threw him off. At the same time Raymond Danielson was left clinging to the front of the starting stalls as his mount Staff Sergeant put his head into the neighbouring stall before jumping. The latter incident could not be blamed on a handler or faulty starting machinery so Staff Sergeant could not be declared a non-runner.

It was a day to forget for Danielson as his mount in the fourth race Mr Roy collapsed after the line, forcing him to jump off, and thereby hurting his hip. He was booked off for the rest of the day.

The first race in the end was won in easy style on debut by the Mike Miller-trained Dynasty colt, Monarchy, who was bred by G and J Davies and ridden by Sereno Moodley.

Mgudlwa bounced back from his fall to win the second over 1200m on the Garth Puller trained favourite Winter Chill, a What A Winter colt bred by the late GJ Royden-Turner.

The fifth race, a Mr 68 handicap saw the Michael Roberts trained favourite Great Dictator, a six year-old Great Britain gelding bred by GJ Armitage and ridden by Warren Kennedy, holding off Jonathon in a stirring duel.

The sixth, a MR 98 handicap over 1600m, also produced an exciting finish. Statute, a five-year-old Dynasty mare bred by Cheveley Stud, enjoyed the step up in trip and under a well-timed ride by Mark Khan got the better of Heart Of A Legend and Red Al to give Roberts a double.

In the seventh, a MR 80 Handicap over 2400m, the Sean Tarry-trained five-year-old Await The Dawn gelding Before Noon, bred by Summerhill Stud, held on under Luke Ferraris from a fast finishing favourite Paybackthemoney.

In the last race, a fillies and mares Maiden over 1400m, the Louis Goosen-trained five-year-old Linngari mare Linnger Longer, bred by Summerhill Stud and ridden by Deon Sampson, was allowed to go off at 50-1 despite never being far off them. She came from the box seat and got the better of the pacemaker Class Of Eight, who was a 16-1 chance. The third home was 25-1 shot Enrapture so it was a bombshell result for the exotics.

By David Thiselton