Whisky Baron is a 12-1 chance with most British bookmakers for his UK debut in the Shadwell Joel Stakes at Newmarket on Friday. Favourite for the mile Group Two at 5-2 is the Andrew Balding-trained three-year-old Beat The Bank (Oisin Murphy) who has won four of his last five.

Whisky Baron (Liesl King)

The all-conquering Aidan O’Brien has six of the 15 still in the race but the situation will become clearer, and smaller, after this morning’s declaration stage.

The Sun Met winner has no official British rating but he is on a mark of 122 with the Racing Post and this puts him 4lb below the best in the race – Beat The Bank and Zonderland who is trained by Clive Cox and will be ridden by Adam Kirby.

Whisky Baron will have to contend with the famous dip as well as a daunting straight mile for the first time but a bigger imponderable could be the going. When Greg Cheyne rode Whisky Baron in a gallop at Newmarket nine days ago he reported that the horse could not quicken in the soft ground.

However there was good news on that front yesterday as the official going description was changed from good to good-to-firm although there are showers forecast. British good to firm is roughly the equivalent of good ground here.

By Michael Clower

The imminent introduction of barrier trials in KwaZulu-Natal is a welcome move towards greater transparency in South African racing which for some time has not enjoyed the full trust of the racing public and, together with the dissatisfaction with the merit rated handicap system, left all but the die-hards of the sport disheartened to the extent of calling it quits.

Top marks to Paul Lafferty in spearheading the drive to introduce barrier trials which will be introduced by Gold Circle early in November under the supervision of the National Horseracing Authority and will be applicable to all unraced horses and horses that have been off the track for an extended period.

It is a good step in the right direction. However, a lot is going to depend on how the information from the trials will be disseminated relevant to a horse’s appearance in a race thereafter in a way that it can be equated to that race and the opposition it faces.

For the first-timers it will be an important factor and could do away with the ridiculous on-course trainer comments such as “he’s a nice sort” which tells one nothing and “he’ll need the run” which, according to my “oldish” rule book, is tantamount to admitting that he or she is breaking the rules.

Rule 62.1 reads: “Every horse shall be run and shall be allowed to run to the best of its ability and on its merits.” To me that means it should be presented to race in a racing fit condition and be given every chance to perform to the best of its ability.

It is comments such as these that upset racing supporters and it is no consolation to punters on other occasions, when a trainer steps up after winning a race and quite brazenly states “he needed the run last time” – an admission that he or she had presented the horse in an unfit condition for punters to bet on believing that, on its form and exposed ability, it had a winning chance when in fact it was effectively not even trying.

The barrier trials will only be worth the time and effort put into running them if the “fitness” factor is enforced. They will be of little value if treated merely as “educational” runs and while pushing a runner out with hands and heels or even with the encouragement of a tap on the rear end may be impressive, it will not enable the animal to do better than its current fitness level will allow.

It requires more stringent implementation of the racing rules and they should encompass all levels of racing. That would eliminate the situation where an odds on favourite with the ability and form to win as it likes, struggles home out of the money and the trainer comments that it needed the run and that everyone knew it was a prep run for another race.

Punters have got to have the confidence that the horse they are backing will give them an honest run for their money and if beaten, it was a better horse that beat them. The industry cannot afford to turn the people that keep the sport alive against it, particularly as there are many avenues these days for the gamblers to satisfy their craving.

The National Horseracing Authority is currently undergoing a re-organisational programme if reports I have seen are correct and one can only hope that the policing side of their duties can be more vigorously addressed in a way that will give everyone in the sport, and most importantly the punter, greater trust and confidence in the sport and the beautiful creatures so many of us love.

By Richard McMillan

African Night Sky is a surprise omission from the 16 nominations for the historic Matchem Stakes at Durbanville on Saturday week.

Snaith Racing, successful with Changingoftheguard five years ago, said earlier in the month that the Winter Series winner would begin his four-year-old campaign in the 1 400m Grade 3 but they have had second thoughts.

African Night Sky (Liesl King)

Justin Snaith explained: “The horse is fine but the Matchem comes too soon and I have been caught out year after year by running my good horses in it.”

Snaith, whose only entry is the wide-drawn Copper Force, has the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and the Sun Met as the targets for African Night Sky but he has yet to decide where the horse will start off.

Joey Ramsden has won two of the last six runnings with the high class Variety Club and Act Of War and his two entries include last year’s Cape Classic scorer Table Bay. The highest-rated entry is Cape Guineas runner-up and Met fourth Gold Standard.

Cape Fillies Guineas winner and Equus champion Just Sensual heads the 17 entries for the Diana Stakes on the same card but Andre Nel is undecided about last year’s winner Captain’s Flame, explaining: “She has had a bit of a setback and she wasn’t that well a week ago.”

By Michael Clower

Dutch Philip warms up for next month’s Cape Classic in the Supabets Handicap at Durbanville tomorrow.

Aldo Domeyer’s mount won four out of five last season including both the Somerset and the Cape Nursery and he is clearly a class act. World Sports Betting was taking no chances yesterday and opened the colt favourite at 14-10.

Aldo Domeyer

But that price doesn’t really allow for the negatives, namely that this is his first race for four months, his first against older horses and that he races off a high mark of102. Also he is stepping back in trip and that could be the biggest stumbling block of all.

“He will need his run and, while I’m not saying he can’t win, 1 000m could be a bit quick for him,” says Candice Bass-Robinson.

The one that makes most appeal is 9-2 second favourite Starflash who was having his first race of the season when third to Rock Of Africa in a good 1 200m handicap a fortnight ago. He was drawn wide that day and he has a much better position here.

Al Wahed missed that race – off-feed was the reason – but previously he was only beaten a neck by Master’s Spirit. He will have appreciated Monday’s rain and looks real each way value at 12-1 even though he has been raised three points and there is a line of form that says he shouldn’t beat Starflash.

Black Cat Black (5-1) has gone up five points and, although he has won his last three starts, they were all over a furlong further and this is his first outing of the season. Olympian, also a 5-1 shot, is a stable companion of Starflash and is not without a chance.

Evelina is 17-10 favourite for the first and could be hard to beat. The Andre Nel filly is well drawn and would have finished closer last time (only her second start) but for racing green and ducking out sharply 100m from home. Spam Alert is second favourite at 4-1 but don’t ignore 13-2 shot Romantic Crusade. Grant van Niekerk’s mount was only just over a length behind Evelina and then lost ground at the start on her only subsequent outing.

Van Niekerk has a favourite’s chance on Orakal in the next but the 33-10 chance faces stiff opposition, notably from 5-1 hopes Tyrandeus and The Sun Also Rises. The form book says the latter could be the one.

The older horses meet the three-year-olds on far better terms than weight-for-age in these maidens and Destiny Duchess (33-10) can prove the point by beating 5-2 favourite Woodstock Fairy in the Betting World Maiden 35 minutes later.

By Michael Clower

With 19 runners to saddle, Duncan Howells will be a busy man at Scottsville tomorrow and it will be a surprise if he does not make it into the winner’s circle at least once in the afternoon. But the pressure will be on. It’s one of those days where he could be the toast of the town or heading home wondering what went wrong.

Howells holds a strong hand in the Fillies and Mares Pinnacle Stakes that heads the card with three top class runners but was far from bullish about any of them.

Neptune’s Rain

“They are not well weighted and this is a tough field. I don’t know if I can win it,” he said on Thursday morning.

Howells added that he had given stable rider Keagan de Melo the pick of the rides for owner Dave MacLean and he had decided on Neptune’s Rain who Howells thinks has a bright future. However, he felt that Dawn Calling was the more forward of the pair at this stage and although looking for further had a strong chance if racing fresh.

That said, Howells was of the opinion that Lunar Rush was the fittest of the three and “has a chance if she’s good enough.” But even with Anton Marcus, Anthony Delpech and De Melo riding for him he was not overly confident.

Paul Gadsby’s runner Vision To Kill has the benefit of a 2.5kg claimer aboard in Serino Moodley and comes of a cracking last win when fitted with a tongue-tie while Isingamoya is a classy mare who enjoyed just rewards last time out and Mark Dixon’s runner is also in with a winning chance.

The first, if any, of Howells’s winners could be Bear Hug in the third. The gelded son of Ideal World was all at sea on debut, also losing a shoe in the process. He showed good improvement at his second start where in spite of a tardy start he was running on nicely behind the heavily backed Silva’s Bullet.

The step up in trip should be in his favour and he could finish ahead of the consistent Toltec.

Lezeanne Forbe’s runner was reported to have been making a respiratory noise when fading late at his last start but it may also have been that the 1950m was a little out of his compass after finishing close-up in his two previous starts over 1600m. These two look the principal contenders.

Howells saddles Mirwa in the opening leg of the Pick 6 along with three other runners and he will be looking for major improvement from the daughter of Fort Wood. Mirwa was never in the hunt behind Silva’s Bullet but was all over the course. She will definitely prefer tomorrow’s trip and gets the services of stable rider Keagan de Melo who has picked her ahead of stable companions Pharoah’s Tiger, Rippling Music and Roy’s Vogue.

Crime Victim

Queen’s Plain made a winning debut for Howells and can follow up in the fifth although she is up against some seasoned handicappers, most notably top weight Flying Silver. Garth Puller’s mare is hardly ever out of the money and was a game second to Master Of Mischief last time out. The step up in trip should not be a worry although she does have to give the progressive Queen’s Plain 8kg which may prove beyond her.

It was written somewhere that your first winner as a racehorse owner is up there with war and sex. I don’t think either was on the mind of Lady Colleen Glaeser as she dropped the lead rope like a hot potato after Amor Ardiente entered the winner’s circle at Scottsville earlier this month and not necessary out of excitement. “I’m terrified of horses!” she exclaimed.

Belinda Impey’s 25-1 shot was met by a few mutterings from punters but visiting rider Gunter Wrogemann was impressed. “He’ll easily get eight to 10 furlongs,” he surmised.

Amor Ardiente certainly enjoyed going around the turn for the first time and Wrogemann will be in the irons again to back up his claim in the All To Come Handicap.

Of the balance, Crime Victim, another Howells runner, has dropped a further four pounds in the handicap and now looks competitive.

The Soccer 6 Fillies Handicap is a tough race with plenty in with chances. Howells again holds a strong hand with Miziara who was close on stable companion Fiorella’s heels when the two met and is better off at the weights here. With Marcus up she’s a big runner. Fiorella was a close-up second first crack out of the maidens and will much prefer this trip from a good draw while a very much in form Dennis Drier saddles the progressive Tsessebe who has done most of her racing at Greyville and could well improve on some good form over this longer straight.

By Andrew Harrison