Supplementary entry for the Vodacom Durban July, Mr Winsome, duly landed the odds in the Gr3 Track & Ball Derby at Scottsville yesterday but made heavy weather of beating Sun On Africa. The two drew well clear of the opposition over the final two furlongs but it was only inside the last 100m that Mr Winsome finally managed to get the better of Sun On Africa who had clearly had enough at the line.

Sun On Africa (Nkosi Hlophe)

The two met at level weights, the runner-up some 7.5kg inferior in the merit ratings, so Mr Winsome’s participation in the July is still very much up in the air. The selection panel tasked to choose the July runners will deliberate tomorrow with the final field to be announced at a function at Greyville on Tuesday.

Earlier July hopefuls Witchcraft and Girl On The Run saw their July tickets up in smoke with the latter only managing fourth and Girl On The Run second in the Gr3 Track & Ball Oaks. The race developed into a dog-fight over the final furlong with the race eventually falling to the Geoff Woodruff-trained Zante who managed to pull clear late under Ian Sturgeon. Zante last season landed the Listed Queen Palm Handicap for Neil Bruss who now plies his trade in the Middle East.

Girl On The Run was game in second but is unlikely to be considered by the July selection panel, the same going for Witchcraft who did well considering that this was only her second run back from a lengthy break, but not well enough.

Joey Ramsden (Nkosi Hlophe)

Joey Ramsden and Anton Marcus landed a double for Mayfair Speculators with their two smart colts Ancestry and Table Bay.

Ancestry is a smart looking son of Oratorio and, although only shedding his maiden, the half-brother to Gr2 winning filly A Womens Way, romped home with plenty of daylight between him and second-placed Texas Sky.

Table Bay made the expected improvement from his pipe-opener in the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Sprint, to run out a comfortable winner of the Track & Ball Pinnacle Stakes from the Brett Crawford runner Winter Prince.

In France on Saturday, apprentice, Mpumelelo ‘Pumie’ Mjoka, won the Longines Future Racing Stars on the prestigious Prix de Diane card at Chantilly.

The Prix Longines Future Racing Stars is designed to showcase the best up and coming young riding talent from across the world and selects hand-picked participants from the world’s top racing schools. The event is open to riders under the age of 25 who have won between 3 and 35 races.

Mjoka won the mile Handicap on the Chantilly polytrack aboard Beaupreau.

Mjoka follows on the success of fellow SA Jockey Academy graduate Franklin Maleking who won the Longines Future Racing Stars in 2013.

By Andrew Harrison

Brett Crawford’s blistering run met with a (presumably temporary) reverse when he drew an unexpected blank with all nine runners at Kenilworth yesterday.

What is more, the Kingston Passage bubble was expensively burst in the Tablonline.co.za Handicap when the talented three-year-old started hot favourite to win his fourth off the reel in the Whisky Baron colours but managed only fifth.

Greg Cheyne (Nkosi Hlophe)

Things went wrong from the break when he seemed to be leaning backward rather than forward and, although he quickly made up the leeway, he was never able to get clear. This was his first run for ten weeks and Greg Cheyne’s first reaction was that his mount needed the outing.

“That could be,” said Crawford. “But he was disappointing – he didn’t fire and he didn’t finish his race. He is better than this.”

The stipes, while not ordering a veterinary examination, asked Crawford to report if anything shows up subsequently.

Prince Alfred, on the other hand, ran the race of his life after drifting from 5-1 to 14-1. Late booking Lucien Africa (Karl Zechner couldn’t do the weight) had him in front throughout and he held the fast-finishing Zud Wes by a rapidly dwindling neck.

Adam Marcus’s father Basil said: “The give in the ground made a big difference. He has been putting his head up in the last 200m on firm going.”

Crawford, incidentally, described Search Party’s Post Merchants win on Friday night as “a gutsy performance” and confirmed that the Mercury Sprint on July 15 is next on the target list.

Justin Snaith

Corne Orffer, who rode the horse to such effect, was limping throughout the afternoon after slamming his leg (and shoulder) against the pens as the gates opened in the first but he kept riding to land the mile handicap on Katies Jay for Justin Snaith.

Snaith also succeeded in beating the older horses with two-year-old Sassy Lady (Grant van Niekerk) in the five furlong fillies maiden. “It’s hard to win in open company,” said Chris Snaith. “But I think that over 1 000m the weight-for-age does not have as much effect.”

The one Crawford who did win was Harold who, despite having only a small string, landed a double with Perovskia and Empire Rising on whom Donovan Dillon made every metre in the TAB Maiden. This filly drifted from 11-2 to 14-1 but Crawford was confident on Under Starter’s Orders and explained: “Some of the muscles in her back and chest have been tightened up but physiotherapy has sorted them out.”

Grant Behr, who rode Perovskia, also won the opening two-year-old maiden for Dean Kannemeyer on Benfontein who outbattled the luckless Apollo Star who has now found one too good for her in four consecutive races.

Aldo Domeyer seldom goes a Cape Town meeting without a winner these days and he scored on both Hopeful for Candice Bass-Robinson and Sharp Peg for Paul Reeves. The former was bought for a mere R5 000 and belongs to the stable staff. She has now won them over R70 000.

By Michael Clower

Horizon, third to Vodacom Durban July favourite Edict Of Nantes in the Daily News, looks set to miss the great race a week on Saturday.

Horizon (Liesl King)

Candice Bass-Robinson said yesterday: “I will decide in the morning but I am leaning towards waiting for the Champions Cup. The July is a tough race and Aldo Domeyer thinks he could be better off in the Champions.”

Domeyer is to switch to Krambambuli for Snaith Racing and Jonathan Snaith yesterday explained the decision to switch Bela-Bela from the July to the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province on the same card.

He said: “If she had been well handicapped Varsfontein would have run her but they felt that carrying 57kg was going to be a tough task for a filly. The three who won the July this century carried comparatively light weights – Ipi Tombe ( 52kg in 2002), Dancer’s Daughter (53kg in 2008) and Igugu (55kg in 2011).”

The stable has four in Saturday’s Highlands Stud Winter Derby but Jonathan said that African Night Sky, winner of both the Winter Guineas and Winter Classic, is expected to be their only runner.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe again rides the gelding and he has also been declared for stable companions A Time To Dream (Ladies Mile), Weston (Winter Oaks) and Miss Katalin (Irridescence).

By Michael Clower

Brett Crawford’s win in the Gr 2 Post Merchants with Search Party on Friday night at Greyville took his SA Champions Season tally to seven wins and he has earned more than any other trainer during this year’s festival of racing.

Brett Crawford (Liesl King)

Crawford’s total earnings in KZN from the Champions Season’s opening night on May 7 until the end of Friday Night’s Post Merchant’s meeting were R3,171,575. In second place was runaway national trainers championships leader Sean Tarry with seven wins for R2,477,575 and next was Justin Snaith with three wins for R1,367,500. KZN trainers Dennis Drier and Duncan Howells were the other million rand earners with eight wins for R1,219,200 and seven wins for R1,078,450 respectively. Dean Kannemeyer has had the most winners in this period, nine, but is only in ninth place in earnings. Crawford leads the number of black type races won with four, consisting of three Gr 1s and a Gr 2. Snaith has won a Gr 2 and two Gr 3s, Tarry has won two Gr 1s, Joey Ramsden has won a Gr 2 and a Listed race, Drier has won a Gr 1, Paul Matchett has won a Gr 1, Howells has won a Gr 2, Candice Bass-Robinson has won a Gr 2 and Kannemeyer and Gavin van Zyl have each won a Listed event.

The Crawford yard’s 27 Champions Season runs this season have also netted nine places, including three Gr 1 places.

Former Springbok rugby fly-half Lance Sherrell and his mother Delma have worn broad grins for a few weeks as they have watched the Crawford-trained pair Search Party and Gulf Storm run second and fourth respectively in their colours in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint and they also own a share in the Crawford’s Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner Captain America. The Post Merchants was the cherry on top, although there might well be more to come. It is fitting the Sherrell’s black and white colours are doing well in KZN as all of Lance, his late father Reg and his grandfather Reg Evelyn played rugby for Natal.

Crawford-trained horses commandeer the top three positions in the Champions Season’s highest earnings with Gr 1 Daily News 2000 winner Edict Of Nantes on top with R1,27 million, Captain America second on R637,500 and Gr 1 Woolavington winner Lady Of The House third on R635,000. Search Party is in ninth spot on R447,500.

Another statistic where Crawford is top is the betting profit per runner. For a R1 stake put on all 27 of his runners they would have returned a profit of R41.

Corné Orffer has ridden three of Crawford’s seven winners and deserves plenty of credit for Search Party’s win on Friday night. There was no false rail for the race and this was always going to favour the low draws and the handy to front-running types. Orffer was aware of this and his first winning move was to use Search Party’s early pace from a fair draw of six to claim the rail in front. Orffer extracted a kick out of the four-year-old Captain Al gelding at the top of the straight and this was the second winning move, as it saw him stealing two lengths on the field. The improved four-year-old Captain Al gelding kept going well to hold on by 0,25 lengths for a thoroughly deserved second career Gr 2 victory. The runner up was last year’s Equus Champion Sprinter Talktothestars, who had sat handy on the rail from a draw of two and produced a flying finish with topweight.

He gave the winner 2kg so it was another fine performance by South Africa’s most travelled superstar. The third-placed Amazing Strike was drawn in pole and sat behind Search Party in the running. Fourth-placed Captain’s Causeway was also drawn well in five. The favourite Professor Brian’s chances looked forlorn after Search Party’s telling kick for home. He could only manage sixth, but did run on well and it is too early to tell whether the handicapper has his measure. His five successive wins before this race saw him rising from a 58 to a 91 merit rating.Crawford is the leading Cape trainer on the national log and before yesterday’s racing he was only R110,162.50 behind third-placed Mike de Kock.

By David Thiselton