The R250,000 WSB Grand Series Match Race over 1475m is an exciting winner takes all event due to start at 13h15 and is the highlight of tomorrow’s meeting at the Vaal.

Match Race topweight Tsitsikamma Dance had some good form in Cape Town including finishing 3,1 lengths back in the Winter Guineas behind Rainbow Bridge. He duly won both of his first two starts on the Highveld, including the second leg of the Grand Series over 1475m when staying on well from a handy position. He showed last time out he has some class, staying on strongly from the back over 1160m to finish just 3,1 lengths behind Legal Eagle.

His opponent Dan The Lad has run over this trip twice, winning the Heritage Consolation last year and losing this years Grand Series leg 1 by a whisker. He is an honest sort but does not have the ability of Tsitsikamma Dance. The 4kg he is getting would probably not be enough in a normal race, but a match race can develop into a cat and mouse affair where tactics play a key role. The confident and ever improving Ryan Munger will be aboard Tsitsikamma Dance and twice South African Champion Jockey S’Manga Khumalo is aboard Dan The Lad. It will be a race full of intrigue but Tsitsikamma Dance is the tip to win.

Tsitsikamma Dance (JC Photographics)

The first two legs of the Pick 6 consist of a Maiden Plate and an Assessment Plate respectively, so it once again looks catchable. In the first leg over 1600m March To Glory is a son of Marchfield who has some substance and should have come on from his last start, which was his first as a gelding when staying on for third to Against The Grain over 1400m. He should also appreciate the step up in trip and is taken to be a banker.

In the second leg over 1600m there is also a banker possibility in Invincible Lady. She is 3kg better off than the second best weighted Sand Princess on official merit ratings and this nice sized filly with a big stride should have come on from her last start. The risk averse could include Mrs Simpson as she looks destined to be a fair sort having won well on debut over 1200m and on pedigree she will appreciate this step up in trip. However, in order to match Invincible Lady she will need to run to an 89 which is a big ask in just her second start.

In the third leg over 1600m Chepardo should be cherry ripe and having stayed on in two of his last three starts over 1450m and 1400m respectively he will appreciate stepping up to a mile. Nordic Rebel won going away over 1400m last time and off a three point higher mark is another one who should enjoy the trip. Changing Seasons is half-a-kilogram better off than Chepardo for a 0,2 length beating and will prefer this trip so also has a fine chance.

In the seventh race over 1400m Winter Storm should appreciate the step up in trip being by What A Winter out of a National Emblem mare who won over 2000m. This long-striding sort usually shows fair pace before finding no extra but this is likely due to him being outpaced in the closing stages than not staying. Bien Venue has disappointed in his last two starts having shown promise as a juvenile, but he will appreciate the step down in trip from the Dingaans. He was up against exceptional horses like Hawwaam in the latter race so it will be a lot easier here too, so he can be given another chance to prove himself here. Olofberg can also be involved here if repeating his penultimate start.

The eighth race over 1200m Mount Keith was beaten narrowly by a useful looking sort in Carbon Atom last time over this trip so  is the first choice. However, one should be able to afford to go wide here and State Trooper, True Words, Generous Notion, Twelve Oaks and William Nicol can also be included.

In the last leg Nicky Noo moved up well over 1200m last time but found no extra so might appreciate the step down in trip. However Farraranga, who will definitely appreciate the step down in trip, will be a big threat and is the other to include in what is a Pick 6 which is not going to cost a lot to play.

By David Thiselton

Legal Eagle can extend his amazing unbeaten mile run into double figures in the Green Point Stakes at Kenilworth tomorrow when he has Rainbow Bridge and Undercover Agent to beat.

His narrow win over Edict Of Nantes in this race last season is still fresh in the memory, not least because it came just three days before the proverbial hit the Steinhoff fan and blew one of the world’s great racing empires to pieces.

Since then the dual Horse of the Year has changed hands but not stables and won both a third Queen’s Plate and a third Horse Chestnut. The turn of foot he showed to win a sprint on his return three weeks ago suggests that Sean Tarry has him as good as ever.

Undercover Agent (Candiese Marnewick)

Undercover Agent also won a sprint on his reappearance -Brett Crawford: “Good horses do that, he is not a hard horse to prepare and he is a perfect athlete. This is his trip and he is still on the way up.”

So is Rainbow Bridge who has been heavily supported to stretch his unbeaten record (from 1 200 – 1 800m) to six despite getting stirred up on every occasion except the first. You would expect this to have a negative effect on his performance but it hasn’t, not so far at least. Could it be that all his jig-jogging around the parade ring creates adrenaline that kicks in, quite legally, when he gets to the business end of a race?

Handicappers’ ratings suggest that he still has over four lengths to find with Legal Eagle while Undercover Agent is only a length and a half behind the Tarry star. It could be a lot closer than that between the big three but Do It Again is surely out of the reckoning after five months off.

Anton Marcus may also win the Southern Cross Stakes on Nous Voila who really turned on the style when put back up the straight in a progress plate three weeks ago. This filly has been backed from 9-2 to 5-2 joint favourite with some bookmakers, punters almost certainly influenced by the jockey who is in unbelievable form.

However Candice Bass-Robinson has the first three in the betting and her views on their chances are informative: “Magical Wonderland (best price 5-2) has come on quite a bit since the Laisserfaire for which she had a terrible prep, 64.5 kg and stitches in her knee but I needed to give her a race regardless. She has been working well and looks great. My only reservation is that this is her second run back.

“Freedom Charter (second in the Laisserfaire and best price 13-2) is also doing well but this is just a touch on the sharp side. She is not without a chance if they go quick enough. I wouldn’t discount Nous Voila either although it will be difficult for her to beat a filly like Magical Wonderland.”

Strathdon is favourite to repeat last year’s win in the Cape Summer Stayers but he has gone up quite sharply in the weights since and Benjan at 5-1 makes more appeal.

The TAB Telebet fillies pinnacle (race two) is Grade 1 class and it seems folly to look beyond Snowdance even though she has been off since July day.

By Michael Clower

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)