The Listed Java Handicap over 2400m on the Vaal Classic track is the headliner tomorrow and Save The Rhino could be the one to beat under national champion jockey Anthony Delpech.

Ormond Ferraris is an outstanding trainer of stayers and has given Save The Rhino three runs over 2600m going into this race, so he should be super fit and everything is in his favour. The six-year-old Mogok gelding, running off an 84 merit rating tomorrow, is well treated on his best form and jumps from pole position. He finished a 0,8 length second in the Listed Aquanaut Handicap over 2450m in March off an 85 merit rating and is now better drawn. He stayed on nicely last time out over the Turffontein Inside track 2600m. However, he became one-paced in the final stages of that race, so looks likely to prefer the 200m shorter trip tomorrow and should be cherry ripe.

Weiho Marwing

Weiho Marwing’s charges always have to be reckoned with in staying features and he has a chance with the second top weight Let It Rain. This Dynasty gelding stays all day and had a good pipe opener when setting the pace over 1950m on October 21, which was his first start since finishing third in the Gold Cup. His draw of 17 shouldn’t be a worry considering he jumped from draw 15 out of 16 in the Gold Cup. He has remained on the same 92 merit rating as in his Gold Cup run. However, he was beaten 0,7 lengths by Save The Rhino in the Aquanaut Handicap and is now a whopping 7,5kg worse off.

Kinaan is another who is well treated on his best form. On his day he is a resolute galloper and maestro trainer Mike de Kock is in fine form, so should have the son of Galileo ready to fire in his second run of the season.

Hyaku is a most interesting runner. In his only race over this trip he was staying on well for a close up fourth in the Lonsdale Stirrup Cup  and is now off the same merit rating. He has been campaigning out of Sean Tarry’s Summerveld yard, so travelling up to altitude might be a slight concern for some. However, it should be borne in mind Summerveld is not on the coast and is actually a third of the altitude of the Highveld.

The Elmo Effect will have to defy topweight of 60kg in order to retain his crown. This six-year-old Admire Main gelding proved his class last time when beating a useful field in a MR90 Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein, although a lot of the beaten horses were unlucky due to the hanging antics of the runner up Hidden Agenda. Last year The Elmo Effect won this race, which was run over 2450m on Turffontein Standside, off a merit rating of 82 and carried only 54kg. He also has a tough task when considering March’s Listed Aquanaut Handicap, as he is 4,5kg worse off with Save The Rhino despite having lost to him by 3,3 lengths. However, the Aquanaut was run in yielding going and The Elmo Effect prefers faster ground. He also has Gavin Lerena aboard, so this long-striding six-year-old Admire Main gelding can’t be discounted.

Hyaku

Royal Honour was the winner of the Aquanaut Handicap and is 7kg worse off with Save The Rhino for a mere 0,8 length beating. However, his record over 2400-2450m is three wins, one second and a third, so he has to be a contender under in-form Gunther Wrogemann.

St. John Gray is in good form and Dawn Assault showed his liking for staying events last time when winning a Pinnacle Stakes event over 2600m. However, he was raised five points and will be 3kg worse off with Save The Rhino for a 2,8 length beating.

Like any staying event The Java Handicap is wide open and including the whole field would be the only way to ensure getting through the exotics. However, the horses mentioned above are the ones which make most appeal.

The second race, a Progress Plate over 2000m, will be full of interest as it is a potentially important qualifier for the Sansui Summer Cup. The SA Oaks winner Wind Chill is officially weighted to romp home and to show just how seriously Mayfair Speculators are taking this race Anton Marcus will fly up for just this one ride. However, Elevated, is surely better than an 88 merit rating, considering his fourth place finish in last season’s Grade 1 Cape Guineas, and with the Mike de Kock yard in flying form he is selected to beat Wind Chill.

By David Thiselton

Hat Puntano proved his class on Saturday by winning the Grade 2 Emperor’s palace Charity Mile over 1600m and Mike Azzie heaped praise on “Bomber” Nel, an expert on horse bits.

Hat Puntano

Nel was invited to spend two days in the Azzie yard to try and sort out the Argentinian-bred’s hanging antics. The thoroughbred’s mouth size is becoming smaller, according to Nel, and a new bit he recommded after assessing Hat Puntano made all the difference. Hat Puntano began running straight and the rest is history. He showed the same turn of foot and resolute finish he had in Argentina in his younger days and swept past the field under Gavin Lerena.

Confusion has reigned about the age of Hat Puntano as he won the equivalent of the 2000 Guineas in Argentina in July 2016, but was still recorded as a three-year-old when entered for this year’s Vodacom Durban July. The reason is that in South American countries the racing season begins on July 1, as opposed to August 1 in South Africa, and they run that “2000 Guineas” event in the first month of the season. Hat Puntano, born in October 2013, was in reality a two-year-old when he won that three-year-old Guineas event, but of course all birthdays change on the first day of the season and he was officially three. He is now only a four-year-old, so has a lot of racing still in him and Drakenstein Stud will hope this well-bred son of Hat Trick can add to his record of two career Grade 1s to date, as well as Saturday’s Grade 2. It has to be said Saturday’s Charity Mile was not a strong renewal, but he had to carry a welter 61kg off his merit rating of 113 and this was only his second run in South Africa. He will likely be tested in weight for age miles against the like of Legal Eagle during the season and will add a lot of flavour to those races. His sire Hat Trick is a Japanese-bred by the legendary stallion Sunday Silence and his two Grade 1 wins, both over a mile, included the prestigious international event, The Hong Kong Mile.

By David Thiselton

Dutch Philip could miss Saturday week’s Selangor Cup after being drawn 14 out of 19 in the Kenilworth Grade 2.

Candice Bass-Robinson said: “I might find something else for him as I am not keen on running him from that draw.”

The July-winning trainer has suggested that the What A Winter colt might prove best in sprints but she said: “He must run in the Cape Guineas (Dec 16) but after that he has the rest of his career ahead of him and he is going to run in the $500 000 CTS 1200 on Met day.”

Dutch Philip (Liesl King)

Cape Classic winner Tap O’Noth is a notable absentee from the Selangor entries but Vaughan Marshall previously indicated that he was far from certain to run and his assistant Adele Alsop reported on Saturday that the colt had “pulled up beautifully.”

Brett Crawford confirmed Cape Classic runner-up Undercover Agent a definite runner and Joey Ramsden did the same with Ancestry even though the colt was “slightly sore behind” after his reappearance in a sprint six days ago.

Ramsden has won four of the last six Selangors and added that he would probably also run one of his other four entries. These include the R6 million colt Silver Coin who was reported to be making a noise after his Durbanville reappearance when he tired in the closing stages after moving up promisingly early in the straight.

Ramsden said: “He was blowing hard. He came back in from his holiday a bit later than some of the others because we found a few things wrong that we had to get right. As a result he desperately needed a gallop and more work but I was excited by his run and I loved the way he moved up.”

Premiers Champion winner Eyes Wide Open has to give 2kg all round in the Selangor and Glen Kotzen reports last year’s winner Gold Standard very much on course for the WSB Green Point on 2 December, saying: “He is going really well and he is in a good place for where I want him to be. Hopefully we will be able to give him a breeze-up on the grass beforehand.”

Miss Frankel makes her eagerly awaited reappearance in the 1 000m Play Soccer Handicap at Kenilworth on Thursday. She looked something special when winning a Scottsville maiden in spectacular style in August. M.J. Byleveld takes over from Anton Marcus.

Justin Snaith has entered last year’s Southern Cross winner Jo’s Bond for the Laisserfaire Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday but has declared Nordic Breeze, Twinkle Toes and Casual Diamond. Piere Strydom flies down to partner the first-named.

But Ramsden has already ruled out last season’s Cape Fillies Guineas winner Just Sensual, saying: “Not at that weight (64kg). How to stop a good horse from running.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe rides Winter Series winner African Night Sky and Richard Fourie will be on stable companion Black Arthur in a star-studded Pinnacle whose entries include Edict Of Nantes, Captain America and Last Winter.

Grant van Niekerk, who moved several rungs up the ladder of big-race demand with the way he won Saturday’s Charity Mile on Hat Puntano for Mike Azzie, will sit out the next two Kenilworth meetings with an interference suspension.

By Michael Clower

It is aiming for as high a ratio of winners to runners as possible and this is standing at 28% following Kenilworth on Saturday when Saltire narrowly justified favouritism in the opener.

Manager Craig Carey explained: “We put the trainers under no pressure to run and we make a lot of use of chiropractors and physios [to ensure the horses are right when they do so].”

Talk Of The Town (Liesl King)

To make things simpler for all concerned, and to enable them to monitor the strike rate, all the runners now race under the joint banner of ‘C & R Kieswetter & Ridgemont Racing.’ The fillies race in the dark green, blue sleeve colours while the male horses carry the dark blue, white crosses made famous by Whisky Baron.

Aldo Domeyer, on 37 winners after a Candice Bass-Robinson double, has shorted from 28-1 to 20-1 for the championship but, at the start of yesterday, he was five behind current champion Anthony Delpech (3-1) and seven adrift of leader Lile Hewitson who is a 9-2 chance with World Sports Betting. Gavin Lerena remains favourite at 13-10.

Also in double form were Paul Reeves and wife Charmaine who celebrated their 29^th wedding anniversary a day early by winning the last two races with Saint Donan and Sunshine Lady.

The former was winner number 43 for Akshay Balloo who finishes his apprenticeship next month and faces a decision on whether to stay in South Africa or return to his native Mauritius.

Joey Ramsden, the father of three daughters with the arrival of Ruby, struck with Talk Of The Town on whom Bernard Fayd’Herbe scored convincingly in the Betting World Maiden.

Ramsden said: “His first run was smashing but I possibly ran him back a bit quick last time. I thought he did well to shrug off Risky Rambo who never left him alone.”

The stipes ordered a veterinary examination on Know The Ropes after the day’ s supposed good thing finished last but one behind 17-1 rank outsider Wedgwood in the Supabets Handicap. Nothing showed up but the filly lost valuable ground coming out of the pens and never fired.

By Michael Clower

Relying on charity when riding in a horse race is tantamount to sporting suicide as Anthony Delpech found out to his cost aboard favourite First Crusade in the Business Woman’s Association Maiden Plate at Greyville yesterday.

Anthony Delpech (Liesl King)

Social media was fired up over the ride, basically accusing Delpech of negligence, but in fairness to the champion jockey it was a case of dammed if you do and damn if you don’t.

Arch rival Anton Marcus has a grin all over his chops as he steered Lucky Veil over the line for Ivan and Darrel Moore, more because he has persuaded the grandfather and grandson combination to run the gelding rather than having put one over arch rival Delpech.

“I didn’t want to run the horse from a wide draw,” said Moore the younger post-race, “but Anton persuaded me. He’s a master at what he does.”

However, it may have all turned out differently had Muzi Yeni had let Delpech through a tight gap. It was there for the taking a furlong-and-a-half out but Yeni’s mount rolled out, shutting the door on Delpech who was sitting with the proverbial handful on the favourite.

By the time Yeni had switched his stick and rolled back on a straight course, it was a case of race-over for First Crusade who cut the deficit to a neck at the line that came four jumps too soon.

The stipendiary stewards called for a race review but First Crusade was victim of circumstance rather than any wrong doing on the part of Yeni which was how the stipes viewed the incident .

Delpech was booked off after the race and Stuart Randolph took full toll as he steered Gadget Man to a comfortable victory in the Mitras Amenities Handicap for Dean Kannemeyer whose horses have come to hand with a vengeance of late.

Meet The Logans looked the best bet on the card and duly obliged with a bloodless victory in the card opener but Liberty Market brought all back to earth as she obliged for Pat Lunn at her 42^nd time of asking in what quite frankly was a desperate maiden.

By Andrew Harrison