Kenilworth Wednesday 28 December Race Previews by Warren Lenferna

Race 1
Preview: SECRET IDEA went very close to winning last time and looks set to get it all right today. SUCCESSION PLAN improved length wise last time and is one that must be watched and included for further improvement. TROJAN QUEST is coming along the right way and is a must for the quartet in a field like this. Keep an eye on the first timer comments and the betting. (Warren Lenferna 1-6-2)

Race 2
Preview: The very well named KAPTEINSPANDISEILE hails from a stable that is in mustard form. He improved out of sight last time and should be very, very hard to beat over the extra. His trainer did say when making a comment for the debut run that he would want ground and that is what he gets today – hard to beat. ICON KING is now becoming very costly to follow from a punting perspective but he keeps running well and earning for his owner and should get it right soon. GADGET MAN is better than his last run. (Warren Lenferna 11-4-6)

Race 3
Preview: SANDY BAY bumps a moderate field and based on her best form should prove a hard horse to beat here. KEEP THE FAITH ran well enough last time to suggest that she should not be a maiden for very much longer. If she were to win today it would be no shock at all. CALL ME DARLING has a strong place chance from the best draw – Richard Fourie gets the ride today. (Warren Lenferna 4-3-2)

Race 4
Preview: POSSIBLY ME ran well last time and today over the extra distance which should suit her down to the ground she should be able to go one better – her draw id good and she gets the services of the same rider that rode her last time. COLORADO ROSE and PUT THE BERRIES have chances as well and must be respected and included but they will have to go some to beat the first choice – Possibly Me. (Warren Lenferna 3-2-1)

Race 5
Preview: KONKOLA has done well since shedding her maiden tag a few runs back and this is a positive sign that she has some ability and should go on to win a few races. Her draw is neat and there are a lot of positives in her favour to suggest she can go very close to winning this afternoon. ALL MINE ran second last time and has to be given a chance here but is set to carry top weight. Hat trick seeking ROCK ON WOOD could well reel off the hat trick – she is racing well and won her last race with ease – respect again. (Warren Lenferna 6-1-2)

Race 6
Preview: MR PISCATO has been running well recently and his last run was particularly good – he is the firm first choice. CHARLIE STRONG can never be ignored – he has the ability to pop up in a race like this – serious respect here. JUDDERING ANGEL is very seldom too far off the action and is a must for the quartet. (Warren Lenferna 3-2-1)

Race 7
Preview: SAILS SET ran behind a good horse last time and brings solid overall form into the race. He does get top weight but could still prove a very hard horse to beat today. INDIGO STORM, REBEL’S IDOL and STATE BALLET look set to fill the minor money positions. (Warren Lenferna 1-5-6)

Race 8
Preview: CORTADA won on debut in the manner of a very good horse. He was then travelled to PE and never shone at all. He is now back on home turf and surely still has tons more to offer. He is the confident first choice in what looks a moderate field. VIKING VOYAGE won well last time and has an undeniable chance of following up. SAINT DONAN has a strong place chance. (Warren Lenferna 2-1-4)

Race 9
Preview: All of FAIRY MAKER, PRIMROSE LANE and TRIP TO INDIA must be included in the short list as the winner should come from one of these three. The race is hard so try and include as many as your budget will allow. (Warren Lenferna 9-2-1)

Andrew Bon interviews Sean Tarry and Mathew de Kock on the yards runners runners at Turffontien today – Saturday December 31.

Courtesy of Bonski Clan and Tellytrack.com

Anton Marcus flies in to Cape Town for six rides at Kenilworth tomorrow and he could well pay for Christmas – his own as well as that of the legion of punters who follow him almost blindly – because he has good chances on most of them.

The four-time champion is riding at the top of his game. By mid-week he had won on 59 of this season’s 221 mounts, a strike rate of virtually 27%, and at Kenilworth he has done even better winning on almost one in three.

The Southeaster is a wide open sprint handicap and you could argue that Marcus’s mount Tevez is getting a bit long in the tooth for such a speedy race but he has everything else going for him. He was only just behind Gulf Storm in a Pinnacle and is 1.5kg better, plus he has been dropped a point for his fifth in the Merchants.

Captain Swarovski, only a short head behind in the Merchants, is an obvious danger and now wears blinkers. “This is a bit on the short side and I want to speed him up a bit,” explains Justin Snaith. La Favourari also comes into it if Richard Fourie can get anywhere near 52.5kg (and he did 53 last month).

Marcus can also win the Need For Speed Sprint on Attenborough who is favoured by the conditions over the ultra-fast Sergeant Hardy who is 4.5kg worse off with the selection than he would be in a handicap.

Horse Guards comes out almost level with the Ramsden runner and it’s his third run of the season so he looks a big danger while Myfunnyvalentine is best of all on adjusted ratings.

Marcus kicks off with newcomer Rings And Things but this one may not be forward enough to go in first time. “She will probably prove a better filly than my other runner Hopeful in the long term but I haven’t really pushed her and Hopeful has had a run,” says Candice Bass-Robinson.

Princess Peach should also go well but the Mike de Kock-trained Var filly Rumbavar could be hard to beat. Saint Janine, though, looks one for Marcus in the Racing Association Maiden and his mount Epona may just be good enough to go in again in the Graduation Plate. This half-sister to Jay Peg so impressed last time that the handicappers put her up 5kg.

Free Agent faces a tough task in the next but, if his rider has got one or two on the board by this stage, punters will want to be on.

Michael Clower

Turffontein Standside stages a low key eight race meeting tomorrow. The competitive nature of the races means dividends could be handsome despite there being two Pinnacle Stakes events and a Conditions Plate.

The sixth is a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1600m where Bulleting Home and Romany Prince are the joint best-weighted males according to official merit ratings. However, Prospect Strike is chosen to upset them, despite riding arrangements suggesting Bulleting Home is the Sean Tarry stable elect.

Prospect Strike will appreciate the step up to 1600m, having been outpaced for most of the straight in his last start over 1400m, where he was beaten 2,5 lengths by Bulleting Home. However, he was staying on late and he now at last has a nice draw, while Bulleting Home is drawn wider in the small eight horse field. Lyle Hewitson retains the ride on Prospect Strike.

Bulleting Home has class and should be right there, while Romany Prince will likely enjoy the drop in trip to 1600m and will be a big threat from the pole position draw. Unagi is a classy three-year-old, but faces a tough task at the weights, and so does the talented Front Rank. The best weighted horse is actually the filly Duffi’s Call, but she earned her rating in Zimbabwe and it might be inflated.

Tarry is taken to win the fifth race too, a Pinnacle Stakes race for fillies and mares over 1000m, with the speedy and classy Rebel To The Fore. She is well in on official merit ratings and this will also be her third run after a long layoff, so she should bounce back from her disappointing last run. She could be a Pick 6 banker, but beyond her it is quite open.

The best bet comes in the last race, a MR 72 Handicap over 1400m. Alaadel has still been green, despite winning his last two, and the penny should start dropping now for this promising sort. He is drawn in two over an ideal trip.

David Thiselton

Back on the Greyville poly tonight, Soldier’s Code can make amends for his disappointing showing on the Scottsville turf last time out when he runs in the MR 78 Handicap, sixth on the card. Dean Kannemeyer’s runner disappeared out of the back door in some testing going at Scottsville, in a run way below his recent poly form.

In a race run at a cracking gallop, Soldier’s Code was up with the early pace for most of the race but once in the straight went backwards steadily, eventually trailing home a distance back.

Eric Ngwane

All this was in stark contrast to his poly form where he had won three of his last four starts, all over tonight’s course and distance. With a plum draw and apprentice Eric Ngwane giving some relief in the saddle, Soldier’s Code could find himself back in the winner’s enclosure.

But while Soldier’s Code was trailing home Magical Bet was at the other end of the contest fighting it out with Run Rhino Run and it will be interesting to see how the race stacks up this evening. Glen Kotzen’s runner got home under a driving ride from Muzi Yeni, running on hard off a strong pace.

That form has been franked with fourth-placed Baltic Amber running out an easy winner at Scottsville last Sunday.

The poly, however, is a different proposition and given Soldier’s Code’s earlier form on the synthetic surface there is not likely to be much between the two this evening.

Yogas Govender is slowly starting to find his feet as he gets a better class horse in his yard and he pins his hopes on top weight Sovereign Reign. The gelding has shown up well in his two outings on the poly and the rise in trip will be in his favour.

Belinda Impey, who has a small string at Ashburton, turns out her fair share of winners and Music World can add to her tally in the MR 80 Handicap although the daughter of Ideal World faces a daunting task. Only once out of the money in her last five starts Music World has been most consistent and was a close-up fourth over the Scottsville mile last time out beaten by Little Chapel. She is up in trip tonight and can turn the tables on Little Chapel who is also in the line-up and, judging by the betting, was something of a surprise winner.

A tougher opponent could be Jet Intombi who was up against much stronger at her last outing and finished a creditable third to the progressive Playboy Buddy.

Andrew Harrison