One World can keep his unbeaten record in the Cape Guineas at Kenilworth tomorrow when his proven fighting qualities should enable him to again account for Chimichuri Run as well as Soqrat and Cirillo in the smallest Guineas field for 15 years.

The odds-on favourite is trained by Guineas master Vaughan Marshall bidding for win number six and partnered by a big race supremo riding like a man inspired. “We are up against one of the best front-running riders in the country and from the front he very rarely gets it wrong,” is how Joey Ramsden puts it. “He is one of those jockeys that sees you damned if you take him on and damned if you don’t.”

Chimichuri Run (best-priced 5-1) looks the most obvious danger after going under by only half a length in the Concorde Cup when S’Manga Khumalo felt his mount reached the limits of his stamina. He will delay his challenge much later tomorrow and it’s worth remembering that the Sean Tarry runner appeared to be going the better when he began to close last time.

Stable companion Cirillo (15-2) won the CTS Ready To Run the hard way and with considerable authority. Lyle Hewitson takes over from Marcus and is still widely underestimated. Hardly a day goes by when the champion does not serve up a reminder of just why he was the first apprentice to win the title since Michael Roberts.

Soqrat (4-1) is the only Grade 1 winner in the field and has long been held in high regard by Mike de Kock who is bidding for his fifth Cape Guineas. He should get into the shake-up but he doesn’t make the same appeal as the favourite.

Two of the last five Cape Classic winners have gone on to land the Guineas and Twist Of Fate is a big price at 14-1 to make it three but this race has a proven capacity for producing shocks. Seven of the last ten favourites have bitten the dust and in the last five seasons the winner has twice started at more than 20-1.

If there is to be an upset this time then you might want to consider Majestic Mozart. Long held in high regard by his trainer, Aldo Domeyer’s mount has been backed from 25-1 to 12-1 in the last five days and significantly he will race with a tongue tie for the first time.

Perhaps the bet of the day will prove to be the 11-2 offered by the sponsors against Marcus winning the World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas as well as the Cape Guineas because Front And Centre has looked something special from the start. True, she has never taken on anything resembling this calibre of field but the 2-1 favourite possesses the acceleration of a top class horse.

Furthermore the stats are very much in her favour. Favourites have won four of the last five runnings and since Field Flower sprang a 50-1 shock nine years ago no winner has started at a bigger price than 11-2.

Just about the only pointer against her is that she is not the winner of the Odessa/Choice Carriers/WC Fillies Championship. The winner of that race has gone on to land the Fillies Guineas five times in the last eight years and there is no denying the claims of this season’s winner scorer Clouds Unfold (3-1) who beat Temple Grafin (15-2) with some authority.

Ghaalla (7-1) came into her own when upped to a mile last time. She could make the frame but the local trainers will be surprised and disappointed if she proves good enough to beat all theirs. Justin Snaith has the best record with five winners in the past 11 seasons and Silvano’s Pride (backed from 14-1 to 9-1 this week) is on a hat-trick. She needs to improve again to make the frame.

Brave Move looks the part in the WSB Victress Stakes and maybe last year’s Guineas hero Tap O’Noth can win the WSB Premier Trophy.

By Michael Clower

Anton Marcus has a chance of achieving a Grade 1 double this weekend as he rides the favourite in both the WSB Fillies Guineas and the Cape Guineas, which for the first time in history are being run on the same day, but he could be denied by the Mike de Kock-trained Soqrat or the outsider Majestic Mozart.

Vaughan Marshall is going for his third successive Cape Guineas and it is believed he will become the first trainer in history to achieve this feat. He has a fine chance of doing it with the unbeaten One World, who like 2016 winner William Longsword and 2017 winner Tap O’Noth is by Captain Al, who was the third of Marshall’s five Cape Guineas winners to date. 

One World will be hard to beat under Marcus. He is a relaxed, long-striding sort who is able to dictate and then show a kick and he can find extra when challenged too. 

He beat Chimichuri Run by only half-a-length in the Concorde Cup over 1400m last time, which was run on the Kenilworth Old Course, but gave the impression he had a bit in hand. As a galloping type, he should prefer the New course on Saturday.

Chimichuri Run was running all the way to the line in the Concorde Cup so will give One Man something to think about again. 

The progressive Cirillo is another danger, especially as he is drawn two. He proved last time in the Ready To Run over 1400m he can do it from the front and has champion jockey Lyle Hewitson up. In his only previous attempt at 1600m he was beaten four lengths by Soqrat in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes, but he was caught wide throughout that day and also hit the front too early. 

With two front-runners involved the race could play into the hands of Soqrat, who will attempt to give Mike de Kock a fifth Cape Guineas win. He has won his only start over this trip, doing it comfortably in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes last season, and packs a powerful finishing run. Furthermore, he has a plum draw of four.

Twist Of Fate beat Cirillo over 1400m in his penultimate start and then had to be switched outward in the Concorde before running on strongly. He is a scopey sort and Joey Ramsden is sure to have him in tip top condition but he does have a tricky draw.

The strapping Majestc Mozart who was charging home in the Ready To Run after being dropped out from a wide draw. This Dynasty colt will relish the step up in trip and is drawn in pole.

Van Halen is full of class but has to put a poor last outing behind him.

Sacred Arrow and Crown Guardian look held.

Soqrat is tipped to beat Majestic Mozart with One World, Twist Of Fate and Cirillo next best.  

The WSB Fillies Guineas is not a strong renewal and the Brett Crawford-trained Dynasty filly Front And Centre can remain unbeaten as she has won all three of her races effortlessly. Clouds Unfold drew away nicely to win the Western Cape Fillies Championship (WCFC) over 1400m and should relish this trip. She also has a plum draw of three so will be a big danger. Temple Grafin is held by Clouds Unfold, losing to her by 2,25 in the WCFC and now drawn very wide. Ghaalla won the Grade 3 Fillies Mile but the form looks suspect with 88 merit rated I Like It a narrow second and Ronnie’s Candy managing a close third despite pulling ad racing wide.

Silvano’s Pride has a lot of substance and will be improving all the while being by Silvano so is a threat despite a wide draw as she looks to be a relaxed type. Golden Chance has class and is unexposed as she steps up from 1200m so is a dark horse. PE raider Just Chaos won the RA Stakes well last time, but is up against it here. Second Request was running on well in the Ready To Run and could earn. The selection is Front And Centre to beat Clouds Unfold with Silvano’s Pride, Temple Grafin and Golden Chance next best.

By David Thiselton

Brett Crawford is aiming to bridge a 13-year gap with Front And Centre in Saturday’s World Sports Betting Fillies Guineas. Anton Marcus’s mount hasn’t yet developed the aura of Bad Girl Runs – she went on to win the Paddock Stakes – but the Kieswetter filly has won all three starts with a devastating turn of foot and is the favourite. 

It hasn’t all been plain sailing because she was forced to miss the main trial, the Western Cape Fillies Championship, with muscle enzyme problems but her trainer is convinced that she has put those firmly behind her and that she is back on song.

“She has been 100% since her win on November 21 and she worked well last week,” says Crawford. “All is in order and I am very happy with her.”

Front And Centre is 2-1 favourite with the sponsors despite having raced at a lower level than the likes of Clouds Unfold (3-1) and 7-1 shots Temple Grafin and Ghaalla. But Crawford doesn’t see this as a problem,saying: “She has always shown us that she has something special and everybody that has been on her has said that she has given them a good feel. Furthermore she has gone about her business in an ultra-professional manner.”

So the jump in class shouldn’t be a problem? “I don’t know that it is a jump. She is rated 101 and there are only three rated higher. She is a massive runner.”

Clouds Unfold created a big impression when coming from someway back to win the WC Fillies Championship with authority. The decision to run Saturday’s race a fortnight later than usual means that there is a seven-week gap between the trial and the race – too long in the eyes of some trainers who have felt it necessary to get another run into their charges.

Not so Candice Bass-Robinson with the second favourite. “I galloped her on the course last week and I believe that put her pretty much spot on. She will be fine over the extra furlong – she switches off easily in a race and she is out of a Montjeu mare.”

This will be her second run back and Candice, like many punters, is a firm believer that it is the third run that usually sees a horse at its peak. But she has got round this by staging her own race in private.  “They cancelled the one she was due to run in so I put six of mine up against each other at Durbanville. As a result this will effectively be her third run back.”

She also runs 16-1 shot Santa Clara who was third in the WC Fillies and second in a subsequent progress plate. “She is tough and game, and she always runs well. I don’t know that she can beat Clouds Unfold but she could finish in the money if things go right.”

Temple Grafin (7-1) has a length and a quarter to find with Clouds Unfold on WC Fillies form and events have shown that it was no disgrace to be beaten by Nous Voila in a subsequent sprint. “We are very chuffed with her and she is bred for this mile,” says Glen Kotzen, successful with Princess Victoria seven years ago. “She has pulled a bad draw so it is going to be tough but the longer straight gives her a chance. It’s her third run after a break and it’s what we have been aiming at.

“Coral Bay (25-1) is also drawn badly at nine. I was disappointed with her last time but we have been waiting for the longer run-in and hopefully we will see her doing her best work because she is a talented filly.”

In the Cape Guineas Joey Ramsden is bidding for his third win in eight years and all-the-way Cape Classic winner Twist Of Fate is as big as 13-1 largely because he was beaten over two lengths into third in the Concorde Cup. “He didn’t have a great trach wash the week before but the low draw made me run. Maybe it shouldn’t,” reflects his trainer.

“I am hoping the longer straight will suit him. There looks to be a lot of speed in the race with three or four strong pace horses whereas usually there are none. I don’t know whether or not that will help and with his wide draw it’s going to depend on how he gets in. I used to think that he was better switched off and coming with a late rattle but he is not.”

By Michael Clower

There is no better rider in the country than current National Champion Lyle Hewitson but he has a long, long way to go to even get near the one hundred Gr1 winners of Anton Marcus. But as long as he continues getting the winners home as he did at Greyville yesterday, punters won’t mind if they are lowly maidens or Graded races.

Marcus’s milestone went almost unnoticed until Arnold Hyde, acting CEO of the National Horseracing Authority, stepped out of the woodwork yesterday to present Marcus with a memento for his achievement of one hundred Grade 1 victories in a career spanning nearly three decades.

Born in 1970, the 48-year-old is still at the top of his game as he showed when coaxing Legal Eagle to a thrilling victory in last Saturday’s Greenpoint Stakes at Kenilworth.

The fact that he has a current winning strike rate of close to 32% and is three winners behind log leader Muzi Yeni who has had almost three times as many rides, tells the story.

Marcus opened the day on the odds-on favourite Enterthedebutante for Ashburton-based Kom Naidoo who said the filly will now be put away. “She wasn’t supposed to be precocious, but she showed a lot of speed at home so I decided to run her.” It was a decision well made.

Hewitson scored in three of the next four races, each one a copybook ride. On Donnan and Mystical Summer, second and fourth races respectively, he sat off the pace and produced his mount with telling late runs.

It was a change of tactics for Nathan Kotzen’s Donnan who had been showing early pace in his previous races. This time with the blinkers off, he settled nicely and ran on when it counted.

Hewitson rode a similar race on Wendy Whitehead’s filly Mystical Summer who caused a major boil-over in the exotics, starting at 25-1 and paying R18 a win on the ‘nanny’. This was only Mystical Summer’s second run for Whitehead after showing very little in her previous starts.

The late switch of tracks from Scottsville to Greyville saw the draws turned upside down in the sprint races. With the draws down the Scottsville straight hardly an issue, outside draws suddenly did become an issue on the Greyville turn. One to suffer was the well fancied Socrates who was not able to get up handy as is his want and Marcus was forced to tuck-in towards the back of the field. Socrates was doing his best work late but Hewitson was wide awake on On The Boulevard. Handy throughout, Tony Rivalland’s gelding kicked when it mattered.

It was two more for visiting jockeys as Donovan Dillon recorded a double. Dennis Bosch expressed reservations about Mutawaary’s chances after the switch to Greyville but Dillon rode a driving finish to nail hot favourite Candy Galore on the line. Slow out of the gate, Dillon bided his time until the home stretch where he gave his mount a clear run at the wire to get home in the last jump.

He had it easier in the next as Doug Campbell’s runner Stand By Me put some moderate recent form behind him to come home lonely in the seventh. The Gary Rich-trained Don Pierro, often a handful in the mornings,gave apprentice Khanya Sakayi a difficult ride, refusing to stay on a straight course under pressure but doing enough to finish a comfortable second.

Rich had to be content with another second in the last as Clouds Of Witness was just run out of it by favourite Walterthepenniless to give Dennis Drier and Sean Veale a double.

It was anyone’s race come the final furlong as pacemakers Victorious Man and All Aboard clung to their lead but Clouds Of Witness and Walterthepennisless gradually clawed their way past with the blinkered ‘Walter’just getting the upper hand.

By Andrew Harrison

The Vaal stages a ten race meeting tomorrow and the exotics look the way to play it with some fair opportunities in some races coupled with other races which are competitive.

There is a ready made banker in the first leg of the PA over 1600m in the form of Blossom who is impeccably bred being by Silvano out of the Triple Tiara winner Cherry On The Top. She is trained by the latter’s trainer Ormond Ferraris and was a touch unlucky on debut when running on strongly from last over 1400m for a narrow third. She will relish the step up in trip and faces an uninspiring field.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 Missouri has his second run after a layoff and gelding and runs off an attractive mark of 73 considering he finished just five lengths behind Monk’s Hood in the Dingaans last year. He should have benefitted from that last run and will appreciate the step up in trip so van reverse form with Nephrite. The latter has to be included as he showed a good turn of foot in that aforementioned 1400m contest and is now back to the merit rating of his last win, which was over this trip.However, he did not run so well on Saturday so the tip for second is Proud Dynasty who looks sure to enjoy the step down in trip having not found extra over 2000m and 2200m in his last two and now being four points lower in the merit ratings. Those three will have to be enough for the Pick 6 as the harder races later on will need a wider selection.

In the first leg of the Jackpot over 1600m Mr Cuddles is an improving sort and although his best race was over 2000m he went close over 1700m before that and faces an uninspiring field here. Brave Detailled over 1700m in his penultimate start and held on for second so also has a shout with known good judge of pace Piere Strydom up. Colonel Caramel has never earned a cheque in thirteen starts but did actually catch the eye staying on in a recent 1700m event and it is interesting to see Muzi Yeni staying aboard having ridden him last time. Others who can be included in the Pick 6 in a race which could produce an upset are Chief Blackhorse, Blanco and the joker in the pack, Captain’s Alpha, who has some good recent form over sprints and now tries further again despite having failed when stepped up to 1400m before.  

In the next race over 1000m the strapping Royal Cavalier is a well regarded horse and is progressive so is the one to beat having gone close last time out over this trip in an Assessment Plate. The only other one who is suggested for the Pick 6 is Seventh Son as he goes well for Strydom and is only two points higher for his win last time over 1200m.

The seventh race is a tough MR 90 handicap over 1400m where a case can be made for just about every horse and it is suggested the whole field should be included. The tip to win is Big Mistake as he beat Flying Winger the last time he went over this sort of trip and the latter then came out and won again, so the other option is to banker him. However, he did receive a five point raise for that win so it would be risky.

In the eighth race over 1400m Zulu Dawn is the one to beat. She is a courageous front-running sort and is only two points higher than her last win, where she beat I Like it over 1450m. The latter went on to only just fail in the Grade 3 Fillies Mile. Pale Lilac is the other one to include as she has shown some class before and has first time blinkers on over a trip which is on the sharp side.

The last leg of the Pick 6 is another tricky 1400m fillies and mares handicap. Wine Festival is a possible banker but beyond her it is wide open. She hails from Cape Town from where horses often arrive at other centres with suppressed merit ratings due to the class of horse down there and she duly won her first two starts on the Highveld, which were both over 1600m. She has only been raised a total of five points so can defy the handicapper again over a trip she is effective over. Gold Dawn has always struck as one who can progress as she gets older and is capable of a strong finish so she has to be included despite getting a two point raise for her close second over 1200m last time. My Dream Chaser looks to be a sort with plenty of scope for improvement as a still immature looking horse. Ponchielli, Tricia and Sammi Moosa are others with form chances. 

By David Thiselton