It was rough going for punters this past weekend but for those that managed to land the exotics, or even a percentage there of, will have added substantially to their wallets. It could be more of the same at Greyville tonight where they face another tricky poly meeting.

Muzi Yeni

The formidable combination of Johan Janse van Vuuren and Anton Marcus have teamed up again this weekend. Their main attack comes on Sunday but their only runner this evening should get their ball rolling with Ottawa in the card opener. She is rated way better than her field and has some useful Highveld form. She was run out of late at her last start over the Turffontein short-cut, an indication that she should take to the synthetic surface and is likely to start at cramped odds, 13-20 in the current market. Opposition could come from Redeem The Gold who found some market support on debut but raced green in the soft ground. She should make big improvement and may be a threat, while Captain’s Love has improved at recent outings and was not far back in a work riders’ plate last run.

Dennis Drier is having a better run in the Cape after last year’s disappointing raid where most of his string failed to acclimatise, but assistant Stuart Ferrie is keeping the home fires burning with Wealthy winning his second Chapter Challenge at Scottsville on Sunday. Ferrie saddles The Master in the second. The gelding has something of a reputation already in spite of only a single outing where he was run out of it inside the last 100m. He should come on with the experience but it is a competitive maiden with the likes of Mokoko, Rocket Fire and Pantsula all likely to have their supporters.

A measure of Marcus’s dominance when it comes to picking and choosing rides is that his current winning strike rate is nearly 32% and he is only four winners behind current national log leader Muzi Yeni who has had 400 more rides.

After Ottawa and The Master, he will be aboard another likely favourite in the Brett Crawford-trained Elusive Diva. The filly has been costly to follow, a beaten favourite at all three of her starts on the poly with Marcus up, but given her current front-running tactics she drops to what could possibly be her optimum trip of 1400m.

Gareth van Zyl is having a smart run at present and Sweet Preserve is back on her favourite surface when she runs in the fifth. Her three best efforts have come on the poly and she was closing fast on favourite Little Audrey last time out. Of the opposition, La Duchesse has spotty form but is capable on her day and Paul Gadsby has declared blinkers after her recent performance when turning it up at the business end of her race. Counter Fate showed some improvement last run in her second outing in blinkers and can do better over this extended trip.

An interesting runner on the night is Petra in the Independent Minds Pinnacle Plate. Father and son combination of Robbie and Shannon Hill thought enough of their filly to pit her against some of the best around last season after finishing a close-up second to the useful Inverroche in the Strelitzia Stakes. Things didn’t work out and she was rested after finishing down the field in Gr2 The Debutante. She trialled well in her first run back on a racecourse but takes on a smart field of older fillies including Kateecador and Victory Trip who may have the edge when it comes to racing fitness. Also in the mix is top weight Val-A-Ree but she faces a mammoth task as a three-year-old under 61kg in spite of being the best weighted filly in the race.

By Andrew Harrison

The money has come for Rainbow Bridge and Eric Sands’ unbeaten star is now 15-10 clear favourite for Saturday’s Green Point Stakes with World Sports Betting while Betting World has him 16-10 joint favourite with Legal Eagle.

In normal circumstances Legal Eagle would be considered just about unbeatable – he has won the Kenilworth Grade 2 in each of the past two seasons and he has never been beaten in nine starts over a mile.

Rainbow Bridge (Liesl King)

Sands is under no illusions about the task facing his gelding and he said yesterday: “Really, you can’t look past Legal Eagle. I can hope – but I just don’t know how good my horse is. He has never met the likes of a July winner or Undercover Agent, let alone a Legal Eagle, and if I run fourth I will have to accept that my horse is inferior to them. If I were to win it that would be great and, from the point of view of his preparation and of what has happened so far, I couldn’t have asked for better.

“I don’t think he is at his peak yet but he wasn’t for the Matchem or the Cape Mile either but he has certainly come on since his last run.”

Undercover Agent is third favourite at 5-2 and Brett Crawford, who won this with Captain America three years ago, expects the Gold Challenge winner to put it up to the big two.

He said: “Legal Eagle is a great horse and, so far as I’m concerned, he is the one we all have to beat. He is at the top of his game whereas Undercover is still finding his feet. But this mile is his trip – for the moment at least – and he has done exceptionally well since his win in a 1 200m pinnacle on his return at the end of October. I am very happy with him, there is room for improvement and I am sure he will make Legal Eagle run.”

You can get 8-1 about Vodacom Durban July winner Do It Again and he is up against it, not least because this is his first outing since he put his name into the history books at Greyville.

Justin Snaith said: “We are using this as a race to get him ready for the Met. I wouldn’t call it a prep run but it’s also to see where we are with him.

“It’s a very competitive race and it’s a bit on the short side for him. He is better over further and theoretically the others have been revved up for it whereas he hasn’t.”

Snaith also runs Copper Force who, together with Hat Puntano, is the 25-1 outsider of the six runners. His claim to fame is a close second to Legal Eagle in the Queen’s Plate in January but he has never done anything like that since.

“We always have the feeling that one day he is going to do something like that again and we live in hope that he does,” said his trainer. “This is why he is running.”

By Michael Clower

The Green Point Stakes over 1600m sees a small field of six going to post at Kenilworth New Course on Saturday but it is nevertheless the race of the season to date.

Anton Marcus

The jockeys of the big three involved and the trainers of the lesser fancied three spoke about their respective charges.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe said it was too early to compare the unbeaten Eric Sands-trained star Rainbow Bridge to the like of Pocket Power and continued, “Let him win one Queen’s Plate before you compare him to horse who has won four. It is the first time he is up against this class of field, but he has improved from his previous run and from what he has shown us in work and on the course we are expecting a big run. He is a very good horse.”

Pace will be one of the questions but Fayd’Herbe was not concerned about it, especially as the race will be run on the New Course with its longer straight. The four-year-old Ideal World gelding, whose five wins have ranged from 1200m to 1800m, showed an exceptional turn of foot under a hands and heels ride last time out in the Cape Mile and in his third run after a layoff on Saturday will be running all the way to the line.

Anton Marcus kept his comments on the Sean Tarry-trained Legal Eagle brief as this superstar gelding has spoken for himself so far this season. Marcus said, “I couldn’t be happier with where he is.”

The Greys Inn six-year-old, who is unbeaten in nine starts over a mile, flew home to beat Grade 1 Computaform Sprint runner up Pinnacle Peak by half-a-length over 1160m at Turffontein in his seasonal reappearance on November 15. Then last Saturday he put up a fine gallop under Marcus at Kenilworth. The Green Point is his usual preparation run for the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and although that hasn’t stopped him winning it for the past two seasons the opposition looks stronger this time.

Corné Orffer said about Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner, the Brett Crawford-trained Undercover Agent, “He is very, very well, everything is on point, he is 100%. He is a very good horse and is only getting better as he matures and I think he is going to have a very good season.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe (Liesl King)

Orffer said about the pace, “I will discuss it with Brett on the day. He has a big action and can quicken. If he sits behind horses he settles and I have taken him to the front before too.”

Justin Snaith runs the Vodacom Durban July winner Do It Again and last year’s Queen’s Plate runner up Copper Force. He said, “Do It Again can win over a mile but is much better over further. He was in quarantine for a month after the Durban season so it’s taken a bit longer for him to get back into racing than it would have, but he is doing very well and I am happy with his work at home and with his progress. But this is his first run back and he is up against the best milers in the country who are all fit and well and set for a titanic battle, so this is a preparation run and we would like a good run and to see him coming out well ahead of the Queen’s Plate and the Met. Copper Force is exceptionally well and we have him in there because on his day he can be a top miler, but he is very hit and miss.”

Last year’s Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile winner Hat Puntano has his first run for Joey Ramsden and the latter said, “He is doing well, I haven’t done much with him yet. Mike (Azzie) did a great job with him but he has been brought here for a different outlook on life and we have freshened him up. He is a big boy now and obviously has ability.”

By David Thiselton

Featured Image: Legal Eagle (Liesl King)

Justin Snaith sets punters a puzzle in the TAB Telebet Open Handicap at Kenilworth today and the champion trainer admits that he doesn’t know the answer.

He runs Bunker Hunt and Knights Templar who both won last time out ridden by Richard Fourie (effectively the stable’s first jockey this season). Fourie is on Knights Templar here but he didn’t have the choice of mounts.

“Don’t look at the jockeys. It was my decision who rode which,” says Snaith. “Bernard Fayd’Herbe (who rode Bunker Hunt first time out) couldn’t do the weight on either of them and I was lucky that Aldo Domeyer was available. But he can’t do the 53kg of Knights Templar. Both that one and Bunker Hunt are very nice horses – one is a Cape Derby horse and the other a Politician type -.and either could win.”

Crown And Country (Candiese Marnewick)

Although he wasn’t committing himself Snaith seemed to be leaning marginally towards Bunker Hunt (“There is just something about him”) and in October he was suggesting that this gelding would be one of the best of his come the time of the Cape Derby. But this is only a mile and Fourie’s mount receives 4kg, the equivalent of four lengths over the trip.

Bunker Hunt gets the vote, albeit only narrowly, and it’s worth noting that World Sports Betting have him second favourite at 16-10 whereas his stable companion heads the market at 15-10.

Dennis Drier runs three with stable jockey Sean Veale on 9-2 shot Priceless Ruler who has so far only run in sprints. Crown And Country (Fayd’Herbe) is on 13-2 and, although considered good enough to run in a Scottsville Grade 1 in May, he has not raced since. Greg Cheyne rides the third Drier horse, 10-1 chance Hard Core, who has a bit of form but is another who has only run in sprints.

Glen Kotzen runs recent winner Quick Star who is the 12-1 outsider of the party but the booking of the talented claimer Sandile Mbhele brings this one into the reckoning.

There has been some support for Snaith’s Augustina in the first but on form there is little to choose between Dragon Power and Empire Glory. Brave Tiger, already backed from 10-1 to 13-2, is 2kg clear top-rated. Dragon Power has the advantage of consistency and may just prevail.

Jacqueline went into the notebook, running on well as if she wanted further, and was well-backed on her Cape Town debut. She had won a barrier trial beforehand and may just get the better of Bella Summer and Fortune Flies in mile Tabonline Maiden.

Dancing Sally is top-rated and well drawn in the mile maiden (race four), she finished well when a 28-1 shot last time and, while you could only get even money yesterday, she looks the part.

By Michael Clower

Sean Tarry said he would keep his feet on the ground with G-Bets Summer Cup winner Tilbury Fort and he was unlikely to go for the Sun Met.

He had a red letter day on Saturday bagging six winners and for the second time this year gave a former horse of his a first stakes winner at stud.

Tarry said he would find a Highveld program for Tilbury Fort and then have another crack at the Vodacom Durban July.

Tarry clinched a first stakes winner for his former July winner Pomodoro when Return Flight won the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes over 1600m on Gold Cup day at Greyville and on Saturday he clinched a first stakes winner for his former inmate Skit Skizzle, whose Chris van Niekerk-owned daughter Cordillera won the Listed Secretariat Stakes over 1400m.

Both Pomodoro and Skit Skizzle are by the late great Jet Master and both are out of Northern Guest mares. These are also the same lines upon which the great sprinter J J The Jet Plane was bred. However, Skit Skizzle was not nearly as well performed as either Pomodoro or J J. He won three ordinary races and in his only attempt at a Graded race he finished fourth in the Grade 2 Senor Santa Handicap over 1160m.

Tarry said, “He was as good as any of the others and won his first race (over 1200m at the Vaal) by ten lengths. The difference was we decided not to geld him and he just became too heavy. He

Tilbury Fort (JC Photographics)

was a massive horse.”

His last race in the June of his four-year-old year was mediocre and Tarry and owner Chris van Niekerk than asked Neil and Lyth Orford if they would like to stand him at their Bosworth Farm Stud in Klerksdorp.

In his first season he only received five mares, all Bosworth owned.

Cordillera’s dam by Right Approach, Quinoa, was an ordinary racehorse. She was sent to Port Elizabeth after just two runs on the Highveld and took 16 starts in all to win her only race. However, that hasn’t stopped Cordillera from winning two of her three races to date, including the Secretariat on Saturday where she ran on strongly. Tarry was not surprised and pointed out that although Against The Grain had been the stable elect Cordillera’s last run when green and finishing well in a strong field had been “very, very good.” She had originally been earmarked to make her debut in a barrier trial in KZN but ended up missing it and was then sent up to the Highveld to run in a Workrider’s Maiden. Tarry had expected a good run there, so was thrilled when she won so well.

The Tarry-trained and Van Niekerk-owned Skit Skizzle colt Tierra Del Fuego also looks promising, having gone close on debut then winning his second start over 1400m at Scottsville by 6,25 lengths and then finishing third over 1600m first time out the maidens.

Tarry agreed that considering the success Skitt Skizzle had had to date with so few mares his future looked exciting and he should now receive outside support.

Tarry was also pleased with the run of the Pomodo colt Shuckra in the Secretariat and by all accounts he looks to be one to follow.

Tarry’s first winner on Saturday and the first of four for Lyle Hewitson was an easy one by the Captain Al colt Mythical Bolt and he felt this horse had a bright future. He said he would be taking a chance by travelling him down to Cape Town straight away as he was eyeing a race for him on December 22 which would help him qualify for the $500,000 CTS 1200, if he had not done so already.

He praised S’Manga Khumalo for a terrific ride in the next when he got Purple Diamond up in a 1000m handicap and he said this success would not necessarily mean he would stick to sprints with the former Grade 2 Golden Slipper winner.

Cordillera, ridden by Luke Ferraris, was next and two races later Hewitson won the Grade 2 Gold Rush Derby Run Merchants on his favourite horse, Africa Rising. Tarry is not sure of this horse’s next step yet but he was already earmarking the Grade 2 Hawaii Stakes over 1400m for Captain And Master who missed the break and then from a hopeless positioned powered through the field for third in the Merchants.

The last of the yard’s winners was with Zilzaall rdden by Hewitson to a three length victory in a 1600m maiden. This Silvano colt looks promising although he looks likely to appreciate further than a mile.

By David Thiselton