Husband and wife combination of Alec and Lezeanne Forbes were in top form at Greyville yesterday and possibly set something of a record for a husband and wife team, winning three races. Their meeting got off to the perfect start as Toonani returned from a break of over a year to run out an easy winner of the first.

The five-year-old has faced stronger than what he met yesterday but it is seldom that horses returning from such a long break come back fit enough to win. But not only did Toonani win, but he defied his 14-1 odds and drew off to win as he liked.

Jay Jay’s Girl was even more impressive in the Child Protection Maiden Plate although there was no guessing this time as she started 5-4 favourite. The daughter of Jay Peg revelled over the extra ground and scooted home by six lengths.

The couple rounded off their afternoon with the consistent Tanami winning the second race of her career in which she has only finished out of the money once in nine starts. She too started favourite in the Candy Pop Entertainment Handicap, beating home a useful field and holding off Vogue Idea and Velvet Wind.

It was a good afternoon for punters with a number of favourites obliging. The Alistair Gordon-trained Andermatt (1-3) looked hard to beat in the second and she duly obliged although Anton Marcus was forced to earn his riding fee.

Similarly, Paul Gadsby’s runner Patroclus (15-20) finally got his act together and won at cramped odds with the Forbes-trained Sweet Refrain kicking on strongly for second.

The Gr1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas is the highlight of the weekend and although Palladium and Marshall That are not up to that class, the two three-year-olds were expected to give a good account of themselves in the Children’s Christmas Wishes Handicap over 1600m.

Both were a spent force shortly after entering the straight leaving Capel Top and Silver Spring to fight out affairs with Capel Top (9-1) getting the upper hand close home under Morne Winnaar for Dean Kannemeyer.

Anton Marcus cut into Greg Cheyne’s lead on the national jockey log with a treble. He started his run on Andermatt and then finally got Air Chief Marshal (5-2) to break his run of beaten favourite tags as he produced Candice Bass-Robinson’s runner with a telling late run to beat home a fast-finishing First Apostle and The Poet.

Marcus rounded off his afternoon with a smart ride on Gareth van Zyl’s runner Calabash (14-10). Up with the pace throughout, Marcus made his move on the turn, skipping clear of Shine Up, who on form looked his biggest danger. However, Shine Up was soon a spent force and Calabash drew off to win as he liked.

Andrew Harrison

Table Bay has been installed favourite with World Sports Betting to give Joey Ramsden his third Grand Parade Cape Guineas win in six seasons at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Anton Marcus’s mount opened at 7-2 on Monday evening and then eased slightly to 4-1. Mike de Kock’s challenger Heavenly Blue is second favourite at 6-1 with Zodiac Ruler next on 13-2.

Other prices are: 7-1 Singapore Sling; 8-1 Gold Standard; 10-1 Africa Rising; 11-1 William Longsword; 12-1 Gunner, Edict Of Nantes, Bishop’s Bounty; 16-1 Craven; 18-1 Hack Green; 25-1 A New Dawn; 40-1 Elusive Path; 50-1 Elevated, Pacific Spirit.

Meanwhile, Marinaresco, second in the Vodacom Durban July and winner of the Champions Cup, is favourite to reverse last weekend’s Green Point placings with Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle in the Sun Met at Kenilworth on 28 January.

Betting World opened the four-year-old at 16-10 and now have him at 17-10 while World Sports Betting quotes him at 19-10. Legal Eagle is 22-10 second favourite with both firms.

Latest betting: – Betting World / World Sports Betting

Marinaresco 17-10 / 19-10

Legal Eagle 22-10 / 22-10

Heavenly Blue 10-1 / 16-1

Bela-Bela 14-1 / 14-1

Whisky Baron 14-1 / 20-1

Master Sabina 16-1 / 20-1

French Navy 18-1 / 20-1

It’s My Turn 20-1 / 20-1

The Conglomerate 20-1 / 16-1

Abashiri 25-1 / 28-1

Baritone 25-1 / 33-1

Black Arthur 25-1 / 25-1

Brazuca 25-1 / 25-1

Captain America 25-1 / 20-1

Al Fahad 33-1 / 40-1

Bold Rex 33-1 / 40-1

Mac De Lago 33-1 / 33-1

Deo Juvenete 40-1 / 40-1

New Predator 40-1 / 50-1

Zodiac Ruler 40-1 / 33-1

Cape Speed 66-1 / 50-1

Nebula 66-1 / 75-1

Mambo Mime 100-1 / 50-1

Rocketball 100-1 / 100-1

Dynamic 150-1 / 150-1

Parachute Man 150-1 / 200-1

St Tropez 150-1 / 150-1

Macduff 500-1 / 330-1

• TABnews

Three years ago Brett Crawford won the Grand Parade Cape Guineas with Elusive Gold for a client of Hong Kong-based trainer Tony Millard and at Kenilworth on Saturday he bids to stage a repeat with Craven.

This colt, who carries the colours of YH Yue (known in Hong Kong simply as Mr Yue), has started at a short price in all his four starts. Millard and the owner have been intent on having a top jockey throughout, with Andrew Fortune committing himself for all the horse’s races this season.

Fortune’s injury changed that, so Anthony Delpech was booked for the Guineas – only to break his collarbone. Now Bernard Fayd’Herbe, who won on Elusive Gold, flies in from Dubai.

Crawford also runs Selangor runner-up Edict Of Nantes, who will be ridden by stable jockey Corne Orffer.

A New Dawn, who made the running in the Selangor, has the same job, only faster, for probable favourite Table Bay, hence the decision to supplement him.

“We want a very strong pace so that Table Bay can sit further back,” said Mayfair Speculators’ racing manager Derek Brugman.

Glen Kotzen is bullish about the chance of Selangor winner Gold Standard, saying: “He is doing great and absolutely flying. He has cracked at decent draw (No 7) and we are very excited. Look at the time of the Selangor (less than a second outside Legislate’s course record). It was a proper-run race.”

A notable absentee is Our Mate Art, who now has the Investec Cape Derby as his target.

“He got a very hard knock when he was cut into in the Selangor. We had him x-rayed and found he had chipped a piece of splint bone,” said Candice Bass-Robinson. “He is on antibiotics at the moment but he is in light work.”

-tabNEWS

Baltia makes a lot of appeal at 11-2 in the Welcome To Kenilworth Maiden at Kenilworth tomorrow, particularly as her recent home work has been good.

Although a four-year-old, she did not make her debut until four weeks ago when she started fourth favourite in a field of 18 and finished best of all to take third to Ngaga.  Igugu’s half-sister has franked the form by winning again since.

Usually horses who do not run until they are four have had injury problems that can make them unreliable but there are grounds for believing that this won’t apply so much with Greg Cheyne’s mount.

“She was sore in a bone in her hind leg and the soreness wouldn’t go away,” explains Ridgemont manager Craig Carey. “Rather than resort to drugs, we left her alone on the farm and let her grow out of it.”

That ultra-patient policy could start paying dividends today because Brett Crawford, who took her over in July, reports: “She is working well and she looks as if she has come on.”

She will be opposed by eight of those that ran against her on debut including Class Protector (second), Dance At Dawn (fourth), Eternal Light (fifth), Dark Goddess (sixth) and Field Of Light (seventh).

The last-named is trained by Dennis Drier and has been backed from 11-2 to 9-2 favourite with World Sports Betting. She has two lengths to find with Baltia but she was forced to switch last time. However Baltia has an in-built three length advantage over most of the opposition because this is a level weights race and, as a four-year-old, she should be conceding 4kg under the weight-for-age scale.

Eternal Night (12-1) lost ground at the start when making her debut and was less than a length behind Baltia. “She is quite hot and she was pretty ready first time,” says Eric Sands. “She is not without a chance but she wants a lot further.”

Class Protector (10-1) was three-quarters of a length in front of Baltia but that was her fourth appearance so she has less scope for improvement.  Dance At Dawn has gone on to finish second in a work riders’ and is a 10-1 chance.

Another to be wary of is 12-1 newcomer Love To Boogie. “She is quite classy and she has had enough work,” says Andre Nel. “But she holds her condition and is still fairly fat.”

Boldly Respectable, backed from 13-2 to 5-1 for race two, has since been scratched but this 1 400m handicap is wide open and you can make a case for almost all six runners. Brilliant Crimson, dropped a point since last time when he ran a bit below his best, gets only a tentative vote at 28-10.

Rubyana may confirm last month’s form with Jack And Jill in the 2 000m maiden. The Burger-Van Reenen partnership has four of the seven in the Racing Association Maiden but odds-on Sea Pass looks the one.

Michael Clower

Hopefully the evening thunder storms accompanied by terrific lightning that have disrupted recent night meetings at Turfffontein hold off tomorrow night where the mostly luckless Negroamaro should be good enough to earn her third career victory in the All To Come Conditions Plate, second race on the card.

Johan Janse van Vuuren looks to have picked the right race for his filly and victory would snap a long history of near misses. She has yet to score a victory this term but in three outings has met the likes of Querari Falcon, Tahini and most recently Intergalactic and Tahini in the Gr2 Ipi Tombe Challenge. Under the conditions of tomorrow’s race she is well weighted and although likely to start at cramped odds, a change of fortune would not be out of turn for the grey daughter of Fort Wood.

Patchit Up Baby falls into a similar category having paid a heavy price for her third place in the SA Oaks two seasons’ back where she took a 19-point hit in the ratings for finishing a distant third to Pine Princess. She has been shuttled back and forth between Duncan Howells in KZN and Ormond Ferraris on the Highveld searching for a third victory but in nearly two seasons her rating has only dropped five points and she has been winless since February 2015.

She meets Negroamaro on level terms tomorrow where she is only a length or so out in the handicap and few would begrudge her victory.

Fort Ember is not well in with Negroamaro but did finish ahead of her in the Ipi Tombe Challenge and cannot be written off. However, the former is now 4kg better off and should be good enough to turn the tables. Zante has her first outing for the Geoff Woodruff yard and has been rested since moving from Neil Bruss who is no plying his trade in Saudi Arabia. She is useful on her day but may prefer it a bit further.

With only seven runners due to line up, a false pace is on the cards but Negroamaro is capable of a sprinting finish and she is a confident selection.

The balance of the card is way more testing headed by a Pinnacles Stakes over 1160m that sees the return to the track of French Navy. The former SA Classic winner has not been out since finishing down the field in the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July but prior to that was third to Mac De Lago and stable companion Trip To Heaven in the Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge. Sean Tarry will more than likely have French Navy’s sights on the Gr1 Sun Met as this race is palpably too short.

A likely winner is Captain Aldo in what is a difficult race. St John Gray’s runner is not quite out of the top drawer but has shown good form in strong company. He is also a veteran of 30 starts and the fitting of blinkers got the best out of him to win his last start. If he can build on that he can go in again.  Will Pays was well beaten by Captain Aldo last time out but has done better and should not be far behind. Captain’s Causeway is lightly raced and returns from a lengthy break. He does have smart form in good company and could return at the top of his game. Splendid Garden was much improved in the soft last outing and any rain will enhance his chances while Arabian Beat returns from a very long break but comes from a shrewd stable and is one to watch in the market.

Just A Jet in the fifth is sure to be a popular exotic bet banker and likely to start at cramped odds. She meets a desperate maiden field with a highest rating of 49. A late starter, Mike Azzie’s runner made a smart debut first up over 2000m. She was a distant third from a tough draw next time out. She meets nothing of note here and looks a solid bet. The only threat is possibly Vogue’s Wood. Although she looks held by Just A Jet on their last showing she was not too far back and could possibly turn the tables.

Andrew Harrison