Soccer10 Friday,19 April 2024 Carryover R100 000, Pool Closes at 18h30, Sport 8 and Pool 1 Estimated Pool: R1.7 Million

Soccer Any 13Xtra C/Over R100 000 on Saturday, 20 April 2024. Pool Closes at 14h00. Sport 13 and Pool 1. Estimated Pool: R500 000

Rugby8 Win Margin Net C/Over: R 58 976 on Saturday,20  April 2024 – Pool Closes at 15h00, Sport 65 Pool 1.

David Thiselton

Horses returning to KZN from campaigns in Cape Town have proved to be ones to follow, even if their Cape campaigns had been disappointing. 

It is well known that horses who have travelled from Cape Town begin to thrive in KZN, although they also often arrive ahead of the handicapper having faced stronger fields in Cape Town.

The latest example was at the Hollywodbets Scottsville meeting on Sunday where the Gareth van Zyl-trained Vercingetorix filly Pritti Victory waltzed home by 2,5 lengths in a MR 76 handicap for fillies and mares over 1200m, after being backed in to 5/2 favourite.

This three-year-old made a winning debut in KZN over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville in late November. Four other winners have come out of that race, including Littleblackvelvet who has won twice.

She went to Cape Town to run in the R7.5 million Gold Rush over 1600m, where she was not disgraced in a 7.05 length seventh, considering it was only her second start. 

She then stayed for one more run there and ran a 1,75 length fifth to Pinapplemintgreen in a Class C handicap over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth at odds of 4/1 after being backed in from 8/1.

One other winner, the Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Nordic Quest, has come out of that race.

So Pritti Victory running off just a 83 merit rating and carrying 61.5kg minus the 4kg claim of Brevan Plaaitjies looked to have a great chance on Sunday and duly obliged.

Van Zyl was in fact the trainer who got the boom status of Pritti Victory’s sire Vercingetorix rolling as he won the sire his first Gr 1 when landing the Allan Robertson with Vernichy.

Pritti Victory looks to be one who can progress further.

It was in fact a fine meeting on Sunday for the Maine Chance Farms-based stallion Vercingetorix as he also produced the winner of two other races. 

The promising Tony Rivalland-trained Mary Liley-owned three-year-old daughter of Vercingetorix Celtic Beauty kept going in courageous fashion under Richard Fourie to win the Listed WSB Scarlet Lady over 1750m. She has  now won three of her five starts. She was bred by Klawervlei Stud, but Rivalland and Liley raced her NZ-bred dam Killer Woman (Rip van Winkle), who won three races from 1400m to 1800m.       

The classy Andre Nel-trained Cape Eagle put his hand up as an exciting staying prospect when held up at the back in his first attempt at a staying trip in the Non-Black Type WSB Highland Night Cup over 2400m and flying home under Serino Moodley to get up by a head. He carried 60kg and did admittedly receive 1,5kg from the Justin Snaith-trained One Way Traffic, who finished an encouraging second. Dynasty gelding One Way Traffic, who is now a six-year-old, has put up one top class performance in his career, when winning the Hollywoodbets Durban July consolation race, the Vodacom 2200, by three lengths on July day 2022. He has not won since, but has become consistent this season with that runner up finish following three thirds and two fifths in Cape Town. He can hopefully fulfil his potential in staying races this Champions Season.

At the previous KZN meeting, on the poly last Wednesday, the Dean Kanemeyer-trained Master Of My Fate gelding Royal Swan Master was another example of a horse having his first run after returning from Cape Town and winning.

Last weekend at Hollywoodbets Scottsville the Peter Muscutt-trained Lancaster Bomber colt Cold Shine won first time out back from the Cape in his third career start and the promising Rivalland-trained King Of The Gauls (Vercingetorix) also won first time back from the Cape.

At the April 1 meeting at Hollywoodbets Scottsville Justin Snaith’s treble was all with Cape horses having their first runs in KZN, Great Plains (Danon Platina), Lightning Glow (Vercingetorix) and Get Impressed (Vercingetorix).

The previous day at Hollywoodbets Greyville Snaith had won the Gr 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes by 5,30 lengths with Double Grand Slam (Vercingetorix), who was also having her first start in KZN.

Other recent KZN winners having their first runs since traveling from the Cape are the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Spelling Bee (Futura) and the Peter Muscutt-trained Isivivane (Erupt).

The Mike Miller-trained Silvano gelding Narina Trogon is also clearly thriving in KZN. This form Cape-based horse was bought at an in-training sale and in four starts in KZN has a seventh, when he needed it, followed by a second in a Non-Black Type event and then two Listed wins in the Kings Cup over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville and then on Sunday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville in the Sledgehammer over 1750m. 

David Thiselton

The Non-Black Type Betway Mythical Flight Sprint for three-year-olds over 1100m saw the Lucky Houdalakis-trained Dreamland converting favouritism under Gavin Lerena and putting the cherry on the top of a good weekend for the former Equus Champion Sprinter Val De Ra.

It was the annual Henneman Memorial meeting and all of the nine races were named after the victims of the airplane tragedy of April 12 1988 which claimed the lives of 13 jockeys, one trainer, five officials and two owners.

The Avontuur Stud-bred gelding Dreamland is out of Val De Ra’s placed British-bred daughter Dream De Ra, who is bred in the purple. Val De Ra, who won the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint, the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint and the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship, was by European champion sprinter Var and Dream De Ra was by another European Champion Sprinter in Oasis Dream, who has produced the winners of 27 Group 1 races.

On Friday Val De Ra’s Gavin Smith-trained three-year-old daughter by Oratorio won her first start in the Eastern Cape, over 1300m on the poly at Fairview, by 6,25 lengths under Muzi Yeni. It was only in an open maiden for fillies and mares and she only had to carry 57,5kg after a previous record of a second and five unplaced runs in the strong centre of Cape Town, but the manner of the victory suggests she has a good future ahead of her in Gqeberha.

Dreamland has always shown a lot of promise and in his fourth start over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville waltzed in by 3,75 lengths.

He ran second off a 90 merit rating after that, but then went off the boil for three runs between October and November last year. 

However, he went down to an 87 and in his last five runs has a fourth, a third, a second (to the useful Time Fo Orchids) and two wins.

He won off an 86 over 1160m on March 23 and on Saturday won off an 89 in the handicap Non-Black Type event.

Dreamland broke well from draw five of seven and shared the early lead with Gocekwithlove.

However, at the 400m mark he shot forward and nobody was ever going to catch him.

Richard The First, Just Be Lekker and Mount Pilatus closed in, but Gavin Lerena kept Dreamland going to beat them by 0,25 lengths, 0,75 lengths and 1,25 lengths respectively.

Lerena has ridden Dreamland to both of his last two wins.

It was a quick double for Houdalakis as he had also pulled off a fine training feat in the previous race when the promising Judpot filly On The Horizon returned from a three-and-a-half month layoff to record a fourth career win in a MR 90 Handicap over 1400m for fillies and mares under Raymond Danielson.  

The next race was a Mr 106 handicap over 1160m and it also saw a follow up win. The Johan Janse van Vuuuren-trained Erupt four-year-old gelding Cosmic Star had won by 2,75 lengths over 1000m on March 16, but the seven point raise he was given did not stop him running on strongly on Saturday to beat the consistent Captain Hindsight by 1,25 lengths. Gavin Lerena is his regular pilot and the win secured him a treble on the day.

Lerena had also waltzed in by 4,25 lengths in the first race of the day, a Juvenile Plate over 1160m, on the Candice Dawson-trained Truth. This Heavenly Blue colt is out of the Frankel mare Frankly, who is out of a Fastnet Rock mare and disappointingly only won one race. However, she could make amends in the breeding shed. Truth is her second foal and second runner and the first one, Courageous, has also won a race. Futhermore, Frankly’s half-sister, the Brett Crawford-trained Mont Loisir by Vercingetorix, bolsted the pedigree about an hour-and-a-half later when winning a maiden over 1400m in the strong centre of Cape Town by an easy 2,50 lengths under Richard Fourie.

Lerena was the only treble scorer on the day at Turffontein, but the double scorers were all of Muzi Yeni, Houdalakis, Janse van Vuuren and Fanie Bronkhorst.  

The countdown to the South African Champions Season has begun and Hollywoodbets has this week confirmed a stakes injection of an incredible R10,6 million over the duration of Champions Season.

One of the world’s premier horseracing festivals, showcasing an impressive array of 38 graded stakes races, 13 of which are at the elite Grade 1 level, the three-month extravaganza kicks off on Saturday, 4 May at the Theatre of Champions, Hollywoodbets Greyville Racecourse in Durban.

The annual spectacle of horseracing excellence is steeped in tradition, and reaches a heady climax with the running of Africa’s greatest horseracing event, the R5-million Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July, on Saturday 6 July. The action-packed season will once again grab the attention of racing fans from around the world, as the very best of South Africa’s thoroughbreds go head to head for championship honours.

Hollywoodbets Brand & Communications Manager Devin Heffer said that the raising of the ‘stakes’ would herald a fitting finale to a South African racing season that has already been characterised by some scintillating performances in the Cape and on the Highveld.

“We are proud to play a role in once again encouraging the participation of raiders from around the country to set up their stables on the East Coast for the big season. Minor races have also received a boost, making KZN the place to race. We look forward to enjoying the best of the best battle it out over the next 4 months, and given the timing, the SA Champions Season is effectively the gamechanger as we look forward to the stars being honoured at the Equus Awards at the start of the new term,” added Heffer.

Gold Circle Marketing Executive Stephen Marshall echoed the Hollywoodbets viewpoint, and notably added that the stakes injection marks KZN racing’s highest ever feature race stakes for Champions Season, a benchmark that was previously set in 2019, in the pre-Covid days.

“We thank Hollywoodbets for their unwavering support of the sport of horseracing in South Africa, and particularly here in KwaZulu-Natal, where they have once again assisted us to maintain the prestige associated with the pinnacle season of South African horseracing,” said Marshall.

The SA Champions Season action kicks off with the running of the Grade 2 WSB Guineas and Grade 2 WSB Fillies Guineas, followed by the traditional season opener, the Grade 2 Independent on Saturday Drill Hall Stakes, which is sponsored by Independent Newspapers.

With a feature race total stake of nearly R35-million, South Africa’s Champions Season is set to attract the crème de la crème, all vying for prestigious titles and prizes, including the coveted R5-million Hollywoodbets Durban July. Renowned for a diverse programme catering to all age groups and thoroughbred categories, Champions Season offers the ultimate test for juveniles, 3 year-olds and older horses, across a variety of bumper race days.

The Golden Horse Sprint meeting at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday 1 June stands out with its four R1-million Grade 1 sprint events, showcasing thrilling contests over 1 200m.

While top-class events unfold each weekend, Champions Season reserves five major race dates for the most exhilarating showdowns in the country. They range from the lightning-fast sprints, to the premier middle-distance clashes, such as the R2-million Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge over 1600m, and the sophomore showdown of the R2-million Grade 1 Daily News 2000 and the R1,5-million Grade 1 Tabgold Woolavington 2000. These races have consistently produced champions, and each year feature as stepping stones for some of the major Hollywoodbets Durban July contenders.

The season reaches a pinnacle on 6 July with the world-renowned Hollywoodbets Durban July Day, drawing massive crowds for a spectacular showcase of horseracing excellence, against the background of the 2024 fashion theme, ‘Ride The Wave’. Alongside the main event, the R1,5-million Grade 1 Ridgemont Garden Province Stakes and other thrilling races highlight the day’s festivities.

Following the climax of Hollywoodbets Durban July day, racegoers have three weeks to catch their breath before the season’s grand finale at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday 28 July. Super Sunday hosts South Africa’s premier marathon event, the R1-million World Pool Gold Cup, alongside the R1,5-million HKJC Champions Cup and three other potential championship game changing Grade 1 races, and captivating juvenile contests.

Champions Season 2024 promises an unforgettable experience for racing enthusiasts, blending tradition, excitement, and top-tier competition that will once again reaffirm KwaZulu-Natal’s status as the unrivalled racing capital of South Africa.

Gold Circle

Here’s good news for TabGold customers who take Trifecta bets on races in Australia, the UK, Ireland and France. 

Commingled Trifecta pools with Tote Ireland will be offered on all Irish races for the first time from this Friday and simultaneously the unit cost of commingled Trifecta bets on Australian, UK and French races will be reduced from R2 to R1. The unit cost of the Trio on French races also drops to R1. 

Commingled Trifecta bets on racing in Australia, France and the UK were introduced last month.
The benefits of commingling Trifecta pools with host totes (Tabcorp in Australia excluding thoroughbred venues in Victoria and South Australia; PMU in France, the UK Tote and Tote Ireland), as opposed to local pools, are many more Trifecta betting opportunities on races in those countries and bigger pools, which in turn afford TAB customers the chance to win bigger payouts.