Leading South African owner Markus Jooste is slowly spreading his wings internationally with horses racing in Australia, Europe, England and Ireland.

Last Friday, 54 horses were entered for the Gr1 Investec Oaks, the premier English fillies’ Classic and highlight of Ladies’ Day at Epsom Downs on Friday, June 2, day one of the Investec Derby Festival, with Jooste having connections with four of the Oaks hopefuls.

Rhododendron (Sportinglife)

He has three in conjunction with the world’s leading ownership partnership according to the TGR rankings, Magnier, Tabor and Smith and one in his own right.

Key To My Heart, Longing and Pocketfullofdreams are owned in partnership with Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and trained in Ireland by Aiden O’Brien.

The Sky Is Blazing races in the familiar Jooste silks and is trained in England by William Haggas.

Ireland’s champion trainer O’Brien has won the latest two renewals of the Oaks, with Minding (2016) and Qualify (2015), and been successful six times in all. He has the most entries (12) of any handler in 2017.

Heading the Ballydoyle contingent is Rhododendron, who ended 2016 by taking the G1 Dubai Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket in October. The three-year-old daughter of Galileo is the current Oaks favourite in the ante-post betting market.

Another leading contender from Ballydoyle is Hydrangea. She too is a daughter of Galileo and finished second to Rhododendron in the Dubai Fillies’ Mile. Hydrangea was triumphant on her reappearance at Leopardstown in the G3 Ballylinch Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial.

Longing has also been out in 2017, making a promising debut when third in a 10-furlong Leopardstown maiden on April 5.

The Investec Derby, the greatest Flat race in the world, has the highest prize money of any British contest, being worth £1,500,000, and the premier Classic is staged on Saturday, June 3, Derby Day.

– Racenews@racenewsonline.com

Picture: Investec Oaks ante-post favourite Rhodondren [Sportinglife]

Last year’s second Marinaresco looks like ending up with top weight if, as seems possible, Captain America sidesteps the Vodacom Durban July.

Marinaresco (Nkosi Hlophe)

Brett Crawford said: “Captain America works on grass this week and starts off in the (Independent On Saturday) Drill Hall and then goes for the Rising Sun Gold Challenge which will be one of his main missions. We will then make a call as to whether he runs in the July or waits for the Champions Cup.”

Since El Picha in 2000 only one horse has won South Africa’s most celebrated race with top weight – Pocket Power when he dead-heated with Dancer’s Daughter in 2008 – and that horse’s owner Marsh Shirtliff confirmed that Marinaresco will take his chance in the July 1 spectacular even if the gelding has to shoulder 60kg. So too did trainer Candice Bass-Robinson, saying: “It wouldn’t be ideal but we will run assuming things go right in the meantime.”

In last year’s July Marinaresco was beaten a quarter of a length by The Conglomerate. Both carried 55.5kg but now Marinaresco is rated 4kg better. Much of the difference is due to the weight-for-age scale but it underlines Joey Ramsden’s view that The Conglomerate is “still off a reasonable mark.”

By Michael Clower

Bernard Fayd’Herbe has been appointed first jockey to Snaith Racing’s Cape Town operation and he celebrated by riding a double for the stable at Kenilworth on Saturday plus a winner for Harold Crawford.

Chris Snaith said: “We have given Bernard carte blanche and he is well worth it. He will ride all ours in Cape Town that he can do the weight on. We can’t operate with jockeys wanting to get off horses any longer.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe (Nkosi Hlophe)

Fayd’Herbe has had a long, but sometimes on-off, association with the stable and there was a similar arrangement in the first half of last season until the yard decided to shop around for lighter jockeys.

Fayd’Herbe said: “My weight is good. I managed to get down to 55kg for one of my rides in Dubai and I will probably ride at 57kg here.”

Snaith snr was particularly impressed with the advice Fayd’Herbe gave him about 1 400m maiden winner The Right Road, explaining: “Bernard suggested trying him over further after he rode him over 1 200m – and it’s nice to have someone who can get off a horse and point you in the right direction like that.”

Dutch Philip booked his ticket for the Somerset 1200 on May 6 by taking the Juvenile Plate under Aldo Domeyer and apparently he is better than his Met day Listed third to Call To Account would suggest.

Candice Bass-Robinson said: “Things didn’t go right for him that day but we have always rated him. This was a little bit short and the Somerset will be a better distance.”

BLOB The 2014 Gold Cup winner Wavin’ Flag was one of two horses stolen from a racehorse rehoming yard in Philippi last week. He was found unhurt but the other, maiden winner Maximum Flo, had shattered sesamoids and had to be put down.

NHA boss Lyndon Barends, spurred into action by the Sporting Post’s Robyn Louw, has opened an inquiry. Under recent rule changes owners have a responsibility for their horses’ welfare after they are retired and Wavin’ Flag’s owners included some of the best known names in racing.

By Michael Clower

The Mark Dixon-trained London Call was an impressive winner of a Pinnacle Stakes race over 1100m at Scottsville on Sunday under Marco van Rensburg and will by all accounts be a big runner in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at the Festival Of Speed meeting on May 27 at Scottsville.

Another KZN Gr 1 hopeful for the Festival Of Speed might well be the filly Great Aim, who is trained out of the small yard of Ivan Moore, who has proved before he can get the best out of a good horse.

London Call (Nkosi Hlophe)

Van Rensburg was impressed with the big stride of London Call on Sunday and said he would be “hard to beat” if carrying the right weight in the Tsogo Sun. He was thankful for the advice he received from London Call’s regular pilot Brandon Lerena from Mauritius and hoped he would keep the ride. He reckoned there would be a lot of jockeys trying to get aboard the six-year-old Kahal gelding.

London Call has only had 13 career starts, winning eight of them. Dixon has learnt how to peak him for a race by using the Summerveld sand tracks, as he takes a long time to recover from his races and his issues mean he is unable to work on the grass. The connections were bitterly disappointed, if not angry, when London Call was eliminated from the Tsogo Sun field last year. However, he has made sure of his place this year as he is unbeaten in four starts from 1100m to 1400m this season and ran off a 108 merit rating on Sunday. In fact Dixon said he is only getting better, so missing last year’s race might have turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

On Sunday, he beat a good field by 1,75 lengths, despite carrying topweight of 61,5kg.

There were good Tsogo Sun trials for a number of other horses in the race. The Justin Snaith-trained Sergeant Hardy finished an excellent second considering he is only a three-year-old and carried joint topweight. Furthermore, he likely needed the run, his first since outing since his disappointing unplaced run on Sun Met day when starting at 15/10. When at his best Sergeant Hardy is capable of blitzing a field, but on this occasion he sat just off the pace but had to be pushed along from a long way out, so will likely come on a lot from the run.

Barbosa (Nkosi Hlophe)

Dennis Drier’s Gr 1 winners Guinness and Seventh Plain ran good trials in third and fourth, although they were both receiving 3kg from the winner. The former was returning from a long break, while the latter, who ran on in eye-catching style, was having his first outing since the Betting World Cape Flying Championship on Sun Met day.

Drier’s evergreen Barbosa was also not disgraced in seventh, considering he was carrying joint topweight and had a small traffic problem late on.  The Brett Crawford-trained Search Party ran a good sixth with joint topweight, considering he likely needed the run, his first since the Cape Flying.

There were also excellent big race trials from the Duncan Howells pair Saratoga Dancer and Ten Gun Salute. Both are entered in the Vodacom Durban July and they stayed on for fifth and eighth respectively.

Earlier on the powerfully built Drier-trained Var filly Vanity Fair led a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1000m from pillar to post under Anthony Delpech to win easing up by 2,5 lengths. This franked the form of the Ivan Moore-trained Great Aim, who is by Main Aim. On debut over 1000m at Scottsville Great Aim showed fine cruising speed before quickening to win by 1,5 lengths, beating Vanity Fair by 1,75 lengths. The yard said she had “woken up” from that run and would now be aimed at the Strelitzia Stakes over 1100m at Scottsville on April 30. That race will tell whether the Allan Robertson is a realistic target. Moore won a juvenile Gr 1 with the Australian-bred Fighting Warrior in 2011 on one of the few occasions he was given the chance to train a top horse.

By David Thiselton

Samsara appeals at 2-1 for the Andrews family in the Racing Association Maiden at Kenilworth today after running so well on debut.

Bred and part-owned by Terry and Annabel Andrews and ridden by their son Anthony, she was a totally unfancied 35-1 over this trip three weeks ago but kept on take third, only a neck behind second-placed Emerald Gal who re-opposes and is 17-10 favourite with World Sports Betting.

“I hadn’t expected that and it was her first time on grass,” recalls Greg Ennion who has a share in the filly and adds significantly: “She has improved since then.”

Irish import Emerald Gal started favourite last time but ran as if she needs further –indeed as her pedigree suggested she would – but apparently it is not as straightforward as that.

“She gives you that impression but we tried her over further and she didn’t get it,” says Darryl Hodgson. “Her problem is that she wants some give in the ground and at the moment the going is on top. She will be OK when there is a bit of rain.”

However it would be unwise to dismiss her chance – Kenilworth maidens are littered with horses with a string of placed runs to their name finally coming good against better fancied lightly-raced opposition – and Grant van Niekerk now knows her like the back of his hand.  She certainly rates the danger.

Interestingly Joey Ramsden introduces the Western Winter two-year-old Fresnaye and this one opened at 28-10. She could well go close but it is worth noting that she meets the three-year-olds on terms 5.5kg (more than four lengths) worse than weight-for-age.

Rings And Things, at R380 000 the highest-priced of the five sold at auction, has been backed for the first and is now even money. She looks hard to oppose. She had stable companion Hopeful (5-1 here and drawn on the outside) nearly two lengths behind when second to Favola despite racing green on the bend. She had had two good runs up the straight previously.

Richard Fourie gets off Ostinato (supported from 8-1 to 11-2) to ride 25-1 newcomer Gold Kind but explains this is because of owner-retainer obligations. However he adds that he thinks the 1 400m could be a bit far for his former mount.

Varside, backed from 5-2 to 16-10 for race two, has slightly better form than Captain Ram (6-1) and is preferred although it’s worth bearing in mind that the Brett Crawford runner lost valuable ground at the start on debut.  But watch out for Querari’s Secret as he was well backed yesterday morning.

Michael Clower