Are you passionate about Horticulture?

Are you enthusiastic and eager to learn?

Are you capable of performing physical and practical work?

Do you possess excellent communication skills?

Have you just completed your 3 year diploma in Horticulture?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to all the questions above, then we have the perfect opportunity for you.

Gold Circle (Pty) Ltd is recruiting Interns in the Horticultural field.

The duration of the programme is 12 months.

Gold Circle has a wide range of horticultural opportunities available as the company has some of the best turfgrass facilities in the country. With six top class grass tracks spread among the four fantastic centres there is no shortage of learning and training.

Students get to learn irrigation and drainage first hand from experienced individuals, they use horticultural mechanization machinery first hand including boom sprayers, vertidrains and all types of the latest mowers used in turf industry. They practice spring treatment and learn about fertilizer programmes, mowing heights and programmes and race track preparations. Hedge-trimming, pruning, planting and designing racecourse gardens, tree felling, sod cutting, light construction work and handyman assisting are among the many techniques and practices experienced.

Interested students to email their CV and academic record to Nirvana Doodhram – Nirvanad@goldcircle.co.za by Wednesday May 17.

There exotic races at the Turffontein Inside track on Saturday are generally competitive although there are possible bankers for the brave.

In the first leg of the PA two-year-old Twice A Dancer is an impressive specimen who can build on his eye catching debut as he is a robust sort who should have come on from the run, so he looks to be a banker. Another two-year-old Pillaroftheearth made a good debut and with Gavin Lerena up from a good draw should also go close. Pretty Wendy is by Dynasty and is a half-sister to Gr 1 SA Oaks winner Pine Princess, who won her first two starts over 1200m and 1000m respectively, so she is an interesting runner. Island View found support last time over 1450m and moved up well before finding little extra, so he might have needed it and might also appreciate the step down to 1200m. Artax made a fair debut in a strong field and is well draw.

The second leg of the PA is likely to be a straight fight between Only To Win and Boudica. A-Rod has been consistent but has been racing in weak Greyville polytrack maidens.

In the third leg Front Club is three months younger than her contemporaries being Irish-bred so should be improving and on pedigree will relish the trip, being a half-sister to Gr 2 Gold Circle Oaks winner Front House. Generoso ran on well to beat Front Club last time over 1600m and is another to include alongside the consistent middle distance horse Eversilver. However, King’s Creek, Advance To Go and Musette must be considered for the Pick 6 and Jackpot.

In the next leg the well-bred Consequentially has risen through the ranks since blinkers were fitted, while Snowdonia has been acquitting herself well against stronger. For the Pick 6 and Jackpot the promising Cold Cash and the improving Russian Star can’t be ignored.

In the fifth leg of the PA Zouaves is selected to win as he produced a powerful finish from off the pace to win his maiden over course and distance and hasn’t been punished by the handicapper. However, Silver Sails is an exciting prospect and is also well drawn in his first run for the Joe Soma yard. Raasmaal, Bonnie Prince and Crazy Vision, and maybe even Tendre, have to be considered for Pick 6 and Jackpot bets too.

In the next leg the powerfully built and well bred Alileo is a banker consideration, but this is only her second start and beyond her Lumya, Easy Game, Lady Of The World, Heavy Metal and Favour’s Pride all look to have winning chances.

The last leg is tricky, but topweight Beckoning has dropped to a competitive mark and can be effective from a good draw. Ponchielli was a touch unlucky last time and so was Allora, who has dropped to an attractive merit rating. High Seas Beauty has ability but has to overcome a wide draw and Always A Lady and Queen’s Jet can also be involved.

By David Thiselton

Our Mate Art can finally start realising his potential by winning the Highlands Stud Winter Guineas at Kenilworth tomorrow.

The highly regarded Australian-bred missed the rest of the Cape season after chipping a splint bone in the Selangor but returned after a 19 week lay-off to take second in a Pinnacle at the beginning of the month only to be seemingly stymied by a bad draw here.

But that all changed on Wednesday afternoon when Bernard Fayd’Herbe, as so often in the past, was first to spot that the ground on the stands side had become faster and he came home alone on the winner. In the next race they all swung wide at the turn.

African Night Sky (Liesl King)

If – as seems probable – conditions are much the same tomorrow Aldo Domeyer, successful on Marinaresco 12 months ago, won’t need a Marcus-type flying start to get into a decent position.

He could have most to fear from Elevated who is going to be a good price. He comes from one of the smaller yards and his recent form is positively discouraging. But he was a sick horse after the Derby and patently not ready last time. Nothing else here can match his fourth in the Cape Guineas.

“He is the best horse in the race,” says Riaan van Reenen, “and, while he is not 100%, he is very close to it – maybe 95 or 96% – and that could be enough.”

Newlands is best on ratings and Joey Ramsden is bidding for his third Winter Guineas in six seasons. The gelding has some useful form but not useful enough to jump out at you as the likely winner and the owner’s retained rider Anton Marcus is on Turbulent Air instead.

Marcus has won three of the last five Winter Guineas and his strike rate at Kenilworth this season is a barely credible 37%. In other words he has almost two winners from every five rides. Dare I say it, though, Turbulent Air looks more like one of the statistical three losers.

True, he was running for the first time for four months when only just behind Our Mate Art (who was giving 1.5kg) in the April 1 Pinnacle but he had been well beaten in races like the Langerman and the Cape Classic.

Stable companion African Night Sky has always looked a good horse in the making and, if that Pinnacle form is correct, he could get into the shake-up.

Piere Strydom is a high-profile booking for I Travel Light who finished a length in front of African Night Sky in the CTS Mile but was well beaten in the Cape Guineas. Victory for any of the other eight – Loadshedder included – would be a shock of seismic proportions.

Who will head the market is as difficult to predict as the winner but it’s important because the favourite has won five of the last six runnings. As regards the rest of the card, Fresnaye and Silver Mountain are stand-outs.

By Michael Clower

South Africa’s Champions Season in KwaZulu-Natal will kick off in fine style at Greyville on Sunday, May 7, when some of the top horses in the country meet in the R500 000, Grade 2 Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes over 1 400m.

The final field for the race and those for the R600 000, Grade 2 Daisy Guineas and the R500 000, Grade 2 Daisy Fillies Guineas have been announced and all three events include exciting runners from around the country.

The super stars Marinaresco, Captain America and Sail South, head the 14-horse field under weight-for-age conditions in the Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes that traditionally opens the season and while they could well need the outing, they have the class to play major roles in the outcome.

The three followed the champion Legal Eagle home in the Grade 1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate at the beginning of the year and being from the top Cape stables, they are sure to be in very competitive form for this race.

Among the opposition are the likes of Champagne Haze, New Predator and Bulleting Home from Gauteng and the Cape four-year-old Black Arthur that was one of the country’s leading three-year-olds last season.

The Gauteng Guineas winner Janoobi heads the 12-horse field in the Daisy Guineas and meets the Investec Cape Derby runner-up Zodiac Ruler for the first time along with the exciting East Cape Guineas winner Gimme The Stars and the first two past the post in the Byerley Turk, Africa Rising and Copper Force.

Gimme Six, Final Judgement, Sail and Dawn Calling filled the first four places in the Umzimkhulu over 1 400m at Greyville a month ago and will renew their battle in the Daisy Fillies Guineas with the extra 200m adding a new dimension to their clash.

The three races promise very competitive and exciting battles to set the standard for a thrilling winter season.

The announcement of the first 58 entries for Africa’s Greatest Horseracing Event, the R4.25-million Vodacom Durban July, heralds the start of South Africa’s Champion Season, one of the most comprehensive thoroughbred racing festivals in the world.

The action-packed three-month feast of top-class racing at Greyville and Scottsville will officially get underway with the Independent On Saturday Raceday at the Theatre Of Champions on Sunday, May 7, and carry through to the end of July with about R30-million in feature race stakes on offer for the 54 races that include 31 graded events including 13 at the highest internationally compliant Grade 1 level.

The announcement of the first big-race entries has also triggered the early outbreak of the annual phenomenon known as a July Fever, the affliction that quickly spreads around the country as enthusiasts begin searching for the potential winner and the fashion-minded seek out their designers to create their eye-catching outfits for the day.

The pundits will be hoping for early signs of potential among the three-year-olds that compete in the Daisy Guineas and Daisy Fillies Guineas, the Grade 2 events that kick off the season on May 7, and will follow their progress with others of their age that take to the stage in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 and Grade 1 Woolavington 2000.

Emerging from these races could be the stars of the future that, together with top performers from the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and Cup Trial, could take on the best in the country in the blue ribbon event on the first Saturday in July.

In between, at the end of May, the thunder of hooves will be heard at Scottsville in Pietermaritzburg when the sprinters go to battle in the four Grade 1 races over 1 200m headed by the R1-million Tsogo Sun Sprint.

Then it is the big one and some 50 000 people will flood the Greyville Racecourse for another “July Day extravaganza” and the country’s totes will be in perpetual motion as the bets on the 12-race meeting rocket up to massive levels in the region of R125-million. This will be a day of anticipation, excitement, entertainment and fashion unmatched in South Africa.

The Grade 1 Mercury Sprint will provide the excitement during the breath-catching period in mid-July before the season closes out with the recently announced Gold Cup Festival of Racing over the final weekend of July. The Champions Cup (Grade 1) will headline the 9-race programme on Saturday 29 July and the eLan Gold Cup will be featured on a 10-race programme on Sunday 30 July. The Festival will also incorporate a Gala Dinner on Thursday evening 27 July and golf-day at Royal Durban on Friday 28 July, while music and entertainment will feature prominently over the two days of quality racing.

From start to finish, it will be a rollercoaster ride of thrilling action – a festival of racing like no other in Africa. Don’t miss it!

By Richard McMillan