Owners and trainers will be on tenterhooks today as they await the final field announcement of the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint to be run as the last leg of the Jackpot of Grade 1 1200m sprints at Scottsville on Saturday. 

This race has often been won by top class sorts carrying big weights but in a non-vintage year for sprinters the lower weights will be right in the reckoning so there are sure to be some hard luck stories when the field is announced.

The ante-post second favourite Mardi Gras should be a big runner carrying just 53kg as he has a lot of class and has clearly being aimed at this race. He avoided the Computaform Sprint, where a placed run could have landed him a big merit rating raise. He has plenty of pace coupled with the ability to kick on and he has won over 1450m before so the relatively tough Scottsville 1200 should not phase this good looking grey.

The ante-post favourite Chimichuri Run is standing his ground at present despite Sean Tarry having said a couple of weeks ago that he felt the Grade 1 wfa Mercury Sprint would be the right race for him  due to his high merit rating. Tarry has likely been swung by the 120 merit rated Undercover Agent having still been among the entries at the time of the setting of the weights a week ago. This means three-year-old Chimichuri Run only has to carry 54,5kg. He placed in both the Diadem over this trip and the Computaform Sprint and will be a big runner.

Undercover Agent will also be a big runner if he lines up as he is packed with class and always shows good pace.

Last year’s winner Bold Respect has been a touch disappointing this season despite having finished second in the Cape Flying and fourth in the Diadem as he did strike as one who could develop into a champion sprinter. He has issues, although if any yard can get him right for the day it will be the Brett Crawford yard and he does also enjoy KZN.

The enigmatic Attenborough carries a light weight of 53kg and if he has an on day he will be flying at them in the finish.

His Joey Ramsden-trained stablemate Speedpoint showed he is capable too when flying at the finish and just failing in the Diadem.

Trip To Heaven will hopefully be loaded later than he was in the Computaform and he is capable of a flying finish from off the pace so has to be respected carrying 55kg.

Russian Prince had to be scratched at the start of the Computaform but looks to be upset material as he has scope for a lot of improvement. However, if Undercover Agent stands his ground he will be 2,5kg under sufferance.

Van Halen won the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion last year in fine style and if he produces his best will have a chance, although he is not one to rely on.

Africa Rising is an admirable sort who is capable of a strong finish from off the pace and he should be cherry ripe so has a shout carrying just 53,5kg.

The athletic Sniper Shot also has a chance carrying just 53kg.

The eyecatching Tribal Fusion can’t be ignored also carrying 53kg as things stand.

Prince Of Kahal and Sunset Eyes are tough handicappers who could earn and as things stand they are only half-a-kilogram under sufferance. 

Palace Chapel is a three-year-old with class and scope for further improvement.

Sand And Sea is a former Gold Medallion winner whose latent ability is out of the top drawer but he has become unreliable since suffering from breathing problems and since having a successful wind operation. However, he will be a threat carrying bottom weight and being just half-a-kilogram under sufferance.

Dutch Philip had lost his way a bit before his last run and sneaking into the handicap with 52kg can’t be ignored.

Search Party has made a habit of slipping under the radar but his third place in the Cape Flying and close up sixth in the Computaform make him a contender. 

The connections of Alyaasaat, New Caledonia, Down To Zero, Red Chesnut Road, Social Order, Wynkelder, Captain And Master, Hard To Play, On That Boulevard, Valbonne, Ishnanna and Silver Maple will also believe their charges deserve a berth in the starting line up. 

By David Thiselton

What went wrong with General Franco? The R4 million supposed future superstar served up one of the shocks of the season when trailing in last at odds of 7-20 in the Suburban Spares Juvenile Plate at a stunned Kenilworth on Saturday – and seemingly everybody is still scratching their heads.

The Frankel colt took a strong hold early as Greg Cheyne settled him towards the rear but when the button was pressed he was as empty as an overdrawn bank account and his shocked rider reported: “It was a very slow run race, he came out well and I let him run into the bridle but I was beaten at the 600m mark. I thought he might find his feet late on but he didn’t.  His work leading up to the race was no problem and he definitely didn’t run like he worked.”

The stipes immediately ordered a veterinary examination but the colt trotted out sound and showed no sign of anything wrong so Ernie Rodrigues had a specimen taken for analysis – not, he said, because he suspected foul play (he didn’t) but because he wanted to cover every eventuality and he asked Chris Snaith to report back on the colt’s condition at home.

“We will get him checked out by our vets on Monday morning,” said Jono Snaith. “It was a slow run race but he was never in it. He was the let-down of the day and he was hugely disappointing.”

The bright chestnut with the three white socks certainly looked fine beforehand and he walked calmly round the parade ring with that curious flexing of his front legs that was one of the characteristics of last month’s sensational debut.

After the race there were more theories among punters than parties in the general election. One of the most interesting came from a knowledgeable racegoer, the son of a former trainer, who pointed out that Tom Queally always allowed Frankel to pull his way to the front and run the opposition ragged.

This racegoer said that the famous horse’s son could have felt disappointed by being restrained and have gained the impression that he was not there to race but to settle at the back. He (the theorist) felt that things would have been very different had the General been allowed to stride on from the start. True, the favourite came from behind on debut but that was before he knew what racing was all about. If the vets can find nothing there could well be something in this.

But for the connections of Fearless Warrior, who came home in front under MJ Byleveld at the huge odds of 18-1, it was vindication of their faith after the colt had finished with only two behind him when second favourite for the Somerset.

Vaughan Marshall explained that things did not go according to his plans that day, adding: “I was bitterly disappointed and this has confirmed that the run was all wrong. This is a good horse but the Cape Nursery (June 8) might come too soon as he has now had two quick races.”

Cheyne, four winners at Fairview on Friday, landed three more here including two of the Snaith quartet but perhaps the most important was Boomps A Daisy in the Burchwood Hotel Handicap. The Ridgemont filly had run two cracking races under Anton Marcus here but disappointed both times Cheyne rode her at Durbanville.

She comfortably reverted to her previous Kenilworth form and Brett Crawford said: “I think it is that she is not yet mature enough to go round the turn – but I will try to keep her at Kenilworth for now.”

Morne Winnaar is making the most of the improved opportunities he has received in recent weeks and he added two more to his tally on the Glen Kotzen-trained Rock Spirit and 18-1 longshot Black Belt for Eric Sands.

The whip issue continues to raise its ugly head and Corne Orffer was fined R1 000 for hitting Wallis Simpson – runner-up in the Chris Gerber Memorial – more than the maximum permitted 12 times and Anthony Andrews on second-placed Crimea in race two was fined the same. This was his second offence since the rule was introduced ten days ago.

By Michael Clower

Eyes Wide Open was slashed from 5-1 to 16-1 for the Vodacom Durban July by World Sports Betting yesterday following his triumph in Saturday’s WSB 1900 but rival firm Betting World took a much more relaxed view about the Glen Kotzen four-year-old clipping him from 66-1 to 40-1.

Both firms left the market leaders unchanged. Betting World has Hawwaam favourite at 7-2 with Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge on 5-1. WSB offers much the same, the only difference being Rainbow Bridge half a point longer at 11-2.

One World is odds-on at 17-20 with WSB to become the fourth successive horse to complete the Winter Guineas-Classic double at Kenilworth on Saturday.

M.J. Byleveld retakes the mount from Anton Marcus – presumably on the Grade 1 trail at Scottsville – and Vaughan Marshall has put in longshots Rochester and Blackbeard to stop the race being cancelled through lack of support.

Only four other trainers have entered horses for the R250 000 race, and then only one apiece. Second favourite at 15-10 is One World’s great rival, the Adam Marcus-trained Vardy (Craig Zackey) who was beaten a head in the Guineas and again receives 2kg.

Candice Bass-Robinson has booked the in-form Greg Cheyne for 8-1 Guineas third Majestic Mozart. Kotzen has yet to declare a jockey for 15-2 shot Herodotus although S’Manga Khumalo, who rode him into fourth in the Guineas, will be at the meeting and Louis Mxothwa will be on Justin Snaith’s 28-1 shot Clouded Hill who was only fifth in the Guineas.

– Last year’s much-travelled Sun Met runner-up Last Winter has left Dean Kannemeyer’s care to join Sir Michael  Stoute at Newmarket. Jehan Malherbe, racing manager for Lady Laidlaw’s Khaya Stables, said: “Last Winter has been in England since early April, initially at a spelling farm, and he went to Michael Stoute last week. He is a long way off running.”

Stoute also trained the 2016 Met winner Smart Call when she was in England.

By Michael Clower

With the Vodacom Durban July in mind and less than three lengths separating ten of the 11 horse’s home, one wonders what can be read into the result of the World Sports Betting 1900 run at Greyville on Saturday.

For a number of years, the race lost some of its lustre as a pointer to the July when shunted around the calendar but now its positioning and the fact that the winner is guaranteed a July place, has restored its importance as a big-race pointer – but one does have to read between the lines.

Eyes Wide Open may have had his July ticket stamped, no doubt a relief for Glen Kotzen, but the trainers of those hopefuls behind him will have been equally pleased given the blanket finish.

It is seldom that it’s the trainer that is reluctant to geld, it’s more often the owners with stars in their eyes that are the problem when it comes to an underperforming colt.

But Kotzen has obviously worked wonders with Eyes Wide Open, the colt’s blood picture more the problem than an ornery disposition which is usually the case for gelding, and Eyes Wide Open could well make a stallion given his pedigree and now enhanced racing record.

But reading on a local website, there were respondents to the argument that races like this should not be used as a ‘practice’ race. Horses should not be raced ‘unfit’ was the writer’s reasoning.

Extrapolate this to the Comrades Marathon that will be run early next month and the legendary ten-time winner Bruce Fordyce. Fordyce ‘practiced’ hard before the Comrades but was always content to finish in the pack in his build-up races. He timed his preparation to peak on Comrades day.

So too racehorse trainers. None of Saturday’s runners would have gone out ‘not trying’ or unfit and given the blanket finish, ‘unfit’ is a bit harsh.

Not for nothing is horse racing labelled the ‘brain game’ as punters need to understand the mechanics of training and racing to make informed decisions.

Eyes Wide Open may well have won on Saturday, and he needed to given his recent record if he was to be sure of a place in the 18 horse July field as he was outside of the 20 runners published in the initial July log.

Others in Saturday’s field were already high up on the July log and certain of their place but did they need to peak on Saturday or on Saturday, July 6.

Similarly, Head Honcho in the Pinnacle Stakes that followed, looked the proverbial certainty given the weights. But former Racing Editor of the Daily News, Stewart Ramsay, pointed out that all Head Honcho’s good recent form had been over further and that he had not run since the Sun Met.

So, the question punters will have needed to ask is whether the weight advantage would be enough to overcome the lay-off and course and distance specialist Matador Man?

The answer was no!

By Andrew Harrison

The eight race meeting at Turffontein Inside tomorrow features the Listed Syringa Handicap over 1600m and Rockin Russian deserves a change in luck after interference close to home last time appeared to have cost her victory in a 1400m Assessment Plate.

The side on view of that incident showed Rockin Russian moving up to win but then having her momentum suddenly taken away so it was surprising when the head on proved she was intimidated and bumped that the objection was overruled.

However, the run proved that she was in a good space and drawn two off a competitive merit rating over a suitable trip she should go close under Lyle Hewitson.

Regal Graduation has improved as a four-year-old and has been consistent from 1160m up to 1450m. She was staying on well last time over 1400m against some decent males so should now start enjoying this trip.

Folk Dance looked to be a top prospect at one stage when winning the Grade 3 Fillies Mile easily but she never had much luck with draws. She then started becoming disappointing as she did have one or two races where the draw was in her favour. However, last time out in the Scarlet Lady over 1750m at Scottsville she bounced back to form by finishing a 2,60 length third to the useful Miyabi Gold. The ground was soft that day, whereas it is likely to be fast tomorrow, so there are question marks whether that run heralded a real turning of the corner or not.

Penny Royal is a well-bred daughter of Captain Al and from a good draw she can make her presence felt as she has done well in two runs with pacifiers fitted. She should get this trip.

High Seas Beauty was staying on after a slow start last time when just a head behind Penny Royal. She has won over a mile before.

Flying Fable was a touch unlucky in the Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes over this trip and before that won over a a mile at the Vaal in fine style. She should bounce back here but against her is a tough draw of 16.

Bullsade is much improved and interesting over this trip. She is 1,5kg worse off with Penny Royal for a length beating and she is drawn in pole.

Cashel Palace has always shown some class and over an ideal trip should have a chance despite having to carry top weight.

Those are the one which make most appeal and they are selected in the order mentioned.

The previous race is an interesting Pinnacle Stakes event over 1800m which has a number of Vodacom Durban July entries involved.  

Cash Time is the selection as he is drawn in pole and should continue his improved form with blinkers. The main danger looks to be Cape Derby winner Atyaab. The front-runner Pilou should also have a fine chance at this tight track as he appeared to go too slowly in front the last time he tried this trip and was swamped, so he could make amends here and stretch them out in front.

By David Thiselton