One World can advance his Cape Guineas claims still further by extending his unbeaten run to five in the Concorde Cup at Kenilworth tomorrow.

“He has done very well,” reports Vaughan Marshall of the colt’s well-being since his battling Durbanville win seven weeks ago and the Milnerton trainer confirms that he will appreciate the extra furlong. Indeed Anton Marcus’s mount stands out and only the betting statistics are against him. Six of the last ten favourites (the race was previously run as the Selangor) have been beaten and the two most recent winners started at 28-1 and 36-1.

One World was 8-10 with Betting World yesterday and he seems sure to be still odds-on at the off. He could have most to fear from 5-1 shot Twist Of Fate, and not just because Joey Ramsden has won four of the last seven runnings. Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount led from the start when running out an emphatic winner of the Cape Classic and, while his trainer has expressed reservations about the extra furlong, his charge ran as if he will get it.

Second favourite Chimichuru Run (4-1) has two wide margin Group wins to his credit but he was beaten nearly six lengths when second in a 1 400m Turffontein feature three weeks ago. Course and distance winner Herodotus (8-1) is the only other in single figures.

The CTS Ready To Run Stakes is worth nearly twice as much as the rest of the card put together and the unique starting ability of Cirillo’s pilot can enable the Sean Tarry-trained 4-1 favourite to overcome his coffin-box outside draw.

This colt beat all except Twist Of Fate in the Cape Classic and the way he ran on at the end, with Lyle Hewitson declaring “This is a proper horse,” is still fresh in the memory.

Justin Snaith, successful with Miss Katalin 12 months ago, runs three including 5-1 second favourite Captainofthesea and says: “This horse is coming right at the right time and he has upset potential – there is something about him, and also the way he won last time.”

The 19-runnner Cape Merchants sees the race’s biggest field this century and, if the statistics run to form, you can almost forget the favourite as no outright market leader has won this since Eli’s Game in 2001.

Dutch Philip, second 12 months ago, has the doubtful privilege of heading the market and, while he looks too short for such a competitive race at 15-4, there is no other logical reason to exclude him. “He should be fit enough and he will run well. It’s just that he is giving away a lot of weight,” says Candice Bass-Robinson.

The vote goes to 20-1 shot Valbonne as Greg Cheyne’s mount is significantly better in with many of those he met in a Pinnacle four weeks ago despite being a kilo and a half under sufferance, and four-year-olds have the best recent record.

He is one of three for Brett Crawford who says: “Bold Respect (6-1) will probably need the run. Search Party (12-1) has come on from that pinnacle and is a massive runner but obviously at the weights you have to respect Valbonne.”

By Michael Clower

Justin Snaith is expecting a good day at Kenilworth on Saturday and was particularly confident about the chances of the Grade 2 Cape Merchants second favourite Kasimir.

He said, “The yard has turned for the better and all the horses are doing well so I am expecting a good weekend. Kasimir is flying at home and is going to take a lot of beating. The danger will be Sir Frenchie. Bishop’s Bounty has a small chance too as he has a weight turnaround with a lot of the horses from his last run. Sergeant Hardy is very well at home and has come back to his Cape Town form but he has only had one gallop and if he runs a half decent race we will be happy. We have to be realistic, there are a lot of better weighted horses than him and this will be a preparation race for the weight for age events.”

Snaith runs two promising sorts in the Grade 2 Concorde Cup over 1600m and said, “Crown Towers was not right for his last start. This is a big test for him and Trip To The Sky to see whether they are up to the Cape Guineas or not.”

He felt his three runners in the CTS Ready To Run Stakes over 1400m “had a lot to do” especially from their respective draws, although he said Captainofthesea was well and gave him an “each-way chance.”

He has many runners on the day and made special mention of Made To Conquer. He said, “I had been preparing him for the Summer Cup but decided not to go in the end, so he is quite fit and I expect a good run.” The Vodacom Durban July runner up runs in a Pinnacle Stakes race over 2000m.

By David Thiselton

Front And Centre leapt back into the WSB Cape Fillies Guineas picture with another bordering-on-brilliant performance in the Betting World Handicap at Kenilworth yesterday,

True, two of her rivals –Lanark and Fours A Crowd – made things easier for the 6-10 favourite by treating the start as a dress rehearsal for a funeral procession but she won so easily that they were hardly likely to have threatened her anyway.

Anton Marcus was content to settle the hotpot as Louis Burke and Kamaishi built up a lead that stretched to six lengths at one stage (Marcus: “I just ignored the leader – but I would have been happy to lead myself as I ride according to the pace”) but the Dynasty filly was always travelling like a winner and, after twice looking left in the final furlong for what proved to be non-existent dangers, Marcus dropped his hands and then looked twice more as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

His mount coasted home three and a half lengths clear of Strawberry Fire with the others strung out with the washing. “She is actually learning and with every run she is racing better,” said her impressed pilot. “At Durbanville last time she put it together late but she was still a bit erratic on the turn.”

Marcus added, in a comment that said as much about his extraordinary ability to judge pace as it did about his mount’s ability: “She has a turn of foot and she can go close to running 23 (seconds) in the last quarter.”

He also said, and with the Fillies Guineas just round the corner this was even more significant, “I think she will be a lot better over a mile and on more of a galloping course.”

Brett Crawford seemed as delighted as the Kieswetters, saying: “We had a setback with her before the Western Cape Fillies Championship and had to scratch. We found that she had elevated muscle enzymes and we treated these with anti-inflammatories and diet. It is easy never easy to get them back but thank goodness she responded to everything. She is a really good filly, she has done everything asked of her and I was very impressed. This was a nice lead up to the Fillies Guineas so now onward and upward.”

Sand And Sea, so impressive on his return in a 1 200m progress plate at Kenilworth last Saturday but scratched from this Saturday’s Cape Merchants on Tuesday morning, was injured trying to hammer hell out of the float taking him back to his stables on Saturday evening.

Dennis Drier said yesterday: “He had to have ten stitches on his hock but maybe he wasn’t meant to run in the Merchants. It would have been tempting had he been OK but there are other races for him.”

One of the most important of these is the Cape Flying Championship on Met day. The four-year-old will be a major force to reckon with in that Grade 1, particularly as his trainer pointed out: “He is a different horse as a gelding.”

Andre Nel reported yesterday that Pleasedtomeetyou, who dropped out so tamely when starting favourite for that progress plate, was found not be suffering from the cough that has affected a number of his stable companions. “I think he is just over-rated at this stage,” said the trainer.

By Michael Clower

The ruling Dingaans favourite Soqrat was scratched from the big race yesterday and the new favourite National Park’s participation hangs in the balance as he is the subject of a pending sale to Hong Kong and will not run if it goes through.

National Park, a big and rangy gelding by Gimmethegreenlight, has been staying at Alec Laird’s Randjesfontein yard and is being looked after by assistant trainer Carl Hewitson.

He has been doing well and trainer Yvette Bremner said, “We have always said this horse does not know how good he is. Even in work when he heads a horses he just canters and he often has to be given a slap down his shoulder just to do his work. That is why he surprised us when he won so well in Jo’Burg last time. Yes, he had won his previous race on the Fairview poly by three lengths extending but in Jo’burg we were just expecting a nice run, so we were also blown away. He is very, very good. He should have no problem with the mile. In his only previous run over a mile in August it was against older horses and it was a bit soon for him.”

If the sale does go ahead Bremner expects it to be concluded by Friday.

National Park won the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m last time out by 5,80 lengths at odds of 22/1, beating the highly regarded Chimichuri Run despite receiving only 1kg.

Bremner has previously had big race success in Johannesburg with Copper Parade, who was also staying at the Alec Laird yard when winning the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint.

The Dingaans is always a well prescribed race and although it provides a pointer to the Grade 1 classics it is an important classic itself.

National Park’s biggest danger looks to be the Mike de Kock-trained Hawwaam and the Mike and Adam Azzie-trained Reach For The Line, although history shows that less heralded horses can upstage the favourites in this race and two of the KZN raiders, Thanksgiving and Perfect Peter, fit into that category while Samurai Warrior is on the up, Gift For The Gap is a scopey sort who will be improving and Bien Venue is better than his recent form suggests.

Hawwaam is a Silvano colt and is a half-brother to the exciting Rainbow Bridge, who remained unbeaten in five starts after slamming a good field in the Cape Mile. Hawwaam made a fine debut over 1400m on the Turffontein Standside track on Charity Mile day. He has similar conformation to Rainbow Bridge, as he is not the tallest but is strongly built, and he showed a fine turn of foot in that race.

Reach The Line is a tall and rangy son of the former Azzie-trained Grade 1-winner Potala Palace and is highly regarded. He hit the front early in the straight in the race against Hawwaam and stayed on well, but it was a hands-and-heels event so he was unable to have the benefit of the whip. The pair finished well clear of the rest.

Reach The Line has landed a plum draw of two, while Hawwaam has a draw of 14 to overcome.

The Duncan Howells-trained Thanksgiving is a progressive son of Dynasty and did well to stay on strongly for second last time as he was rushed around the field from the back mid-race. He has the first fair draw of his career and this rangy type should relish the long straight of Turffontein Standside.

Perfect Peter beat the well regarded De Kock-trained filly Nafaayes last time over 1400 at Greyville with the decent sort Affranchi splitting them. This Judpot gelding is a full-brother to Along Came Polly, who won the Grade 1 Empress Club Stakes over the Dingaans course and distance. He has a tricky draw of ten to overcome but trainer Gavin van Zyl won this race from the widest draw of all in 2010 with the hitherto unheralded 40/1 shot The Apache.

The Weiho Marwing-trained Samurai Warrior is a typically improving colt by Ideal World and with first-time cheek pieces on he bolted in by four lengths over course and distance last time in a Maiden. He can continue to improve but he has the widest draw of all to overcome.

The Tyrone Zackey-trained Gift For The Gap is a rangy son of Master Of My Fate who has plenty of scope for improvement but he also has a very wide draw to overcome.

The Sean Tarry-trained Bien Venue, a colt by Fort Wood out of an Argentinian-bred mare, should enjoy the course and distance as he has been seen to stay on over 1400m before and was unlucky in his last start.

Atyaab is quite fancied in the betting but has not been as impressive as his stablemate Hayyaam. He has a rounded action and is one to watch if the going is on the soft side on the day, although that scenario does not look likely at this stage.

The mentioned runners are the ones who make most appeal.

By David Thiselton

Thanksgiving is one of the long shots in Saturday’s Gr2 Dingaans at Turffontein but Duncan Howells is quietly confident of a big run from his colt. “He put in an excellent piece of work on Saturday working with Fiorella.

“It’s seriously tough field but I’ve had this race in mind for some time now and he should be spot on,” said Howells on Tuesday.

Thanksgiving has only won one of his four starts but has shown potential and the Dingaans should show just where he stands in the pecking order.

In his first run out of the maidens he was left with a mountain to climb and only got going late to finish a little over a length back to The Bayou.

He then ran a much better race in the KZN Guineas Trial beaten half-a-length by Stream Ahead. It was a case of win it if you can but there are bigger fish to fry.

Win, lose or draw, Thanksgiving will not be going to Cape Town for the Guineas.

By Andrew Harrison