National Champion trainer Justin Snaith faces an important weekend at Greyville as he has two runners, Dynamic and Jet Explorer, in the Betting World 1900 on Friday night and his ruling Vodacom Durban July favourite Futura then has his Champions Season pipe opener on Sunday.Snaith believes he has now done “the groundwork” with most of his Champions Season string as they largely needed their first outings having been given breaks after the Cape Summer Of Champions Season.

He said about his two 1900 contenders, “They are both in the best form they can be and have come on plenty from their last runs. I just wish Dynamic had a better draw because I would otherwise be thinking he would win it. I think he should be in the July but this could cost him his place as this is a tight track and the draw plays a big part.”

He said Futura had been doing very well, but added, “This will be a prep run and his record shows that he always seems to need his first run.”Snaith mentioned two other weekend runners, Bianzino (Friday) and Ash Cloud (Sunday), that he thought would “run well.” His other Friday night runner, Seize The Throne, was looking a picture of health in his box and this well regarded sort should be a big runner in race 3, a MR 80 Handicap over 1600m, as he is capable of rising above his current 86 merit rating.

By Dave Thiselton

Picture: Dynamic (Liesl King)

The Paul Lafferty-trained Equus Champion colt Harry’s Son is healthy and sound but has had his last run in South Africa.

Meanwhile, the yard are happy with the preparation of their Gr 2 Betting World 1900 candidate, “the miracle horse” Double Clutch.

Harry’s son jarred his knee in the week of his intended run in the Gr 2 KRA Guineas. The heat in the knee had disappeared by the time of the race, but the yard had already scratched him knowing that he would have had to miss the finishing touches to his preparation.He will be entering quarantine at the end of the first week of July and faces an arduous five month journey via Mauritius and Europe to the UAE, where he will be a member of Lafferty’s first Dubai string.

Another candidate for the Dubai string will be Vodacom Durban July entry Run Rhino Run, whom the yard believe has as good a chance as any of winning the Gr 1 Daily News 2000.Lafferty said about this talented Silvano gelding, “He has only been running over his minimum trip (1400-1600m) and all he wants is a bit of ground. Wait until he gets that because he is a really good horse.”

Double Clutch has won his last three races, all of them over 2000m at Greyville, and has been able to quicken from the front on all three occasions. However, he was only taken to the front because there was no pace in any of those races. He had shown in his maiden win that he is capable of coming from last too. Friday night’s Betting World 1900 looks to lack pace and the yard would like to see him going handy from his wide draw.

Double Clutch was knocked sideways at one stage when winning the Listed Easter Handicap on April 10 and consequently pulled a muscle. He had to have a bout of physio, but was soon back in full work. He worked very well on the Summerveld grass on Monday and left his moderate companion way behind.The Stronghold gelding is a big, strong horse and the yard hope he can defy the handicapper yet again.Double Clutch was diagnosed with West Nile disease in the first half of last season. This is the same disease that was believed to have killed the mighty Jet Master.

Double Clutch weighed 100kg less than he does now and was close to being euthanized. The veterinarian had also advised that even if he did recover he would never race again. On one occasion the yard were unable to help him walk from his stable across a strip of concrete onto a grass patch. He was simply too weak. He eventually managed to achieve this short trip after being fitted with special foam shoes. It is quite incredible that he has won five races since making a full recovery from his illness and is an entry in the country’s premier race the Vodacom Durban July.

By Dave Thiselton

Picture: Double Clutch (Nkosi Holphe)

In form Cape trainer Dean Kannemeyer has a strong hand in the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 at Greyville on Friday night where he runs Vodacom Durban July entries Power King, Solar Star and It Is Written.

He said there had been a lot of horses with upper respiratory problems and others that had bled during the Cape Summer Of Champions Season and he was unable to quite pinpoint why his own string had been performing below par, so he had backed off a lot of them and saved them for the  Champions Season. His excellent results since arriving in KZN in March reflect this.

He duly felt that Power King had run below par in the J&B Met when a 4,6 length seventh. However, the Silvano gelding bounced back with a 0,4 length second to Ze Kaiser in the Cape Mile, despite giving the latter 3kg. He then proved he was thriving at Summerveld by winning very well over the too sharp 1400m at Scottsville in his Champions Season pipe opener, beating the subsequent IOS Drill Hall Stakes winner Ice Machine by a comfortable 2,25 lengths at level weights. Power King worked well over 800m on the grass on Monday and Kannemeyer said he had been doing exceptionally well. Officially he is not one of the better weighted horses under the grouped merit rating conditions of the race, but is only 1,5kg out with the two best weighted horses Jet Explorer and Killua Castle. Anthony Delpech wouldn’t have been able to maintain his partnership with Power King, as his guv’nor Mike de Kock has Jayyed engaged, so a former Kannemeyer stable jockey MJ Byleveld is the replacement. They have to overcome a tricky draw of eleven.

Kannemeyer said that he had thought that Solar Star might have needed his first KZN outing over 1600m on the Greyville polytrack, but instead he won “exceptionally well”. He followed up by winning the Listed Sledgehammer over 1750m at Scottsville “very well.” Kannemeyer said this would be the Kahal gelding’s first test but added, “He is on the up and has everything in his favour (good draw),so we will see how good he is.” He is also 1,5kg out with the best in but is drawn well in two with Stuart Randolph up.

Kannemeyer said that he had always felt that It Is Written would be “a miler plus”. This Dynasty gelding has also benefitted from his stay at Summerveld, for after going a bit off form during the Cape summer he bounced back with a facile 4,25 length win in a MR 94 Handicap over 1400m at Scottsville. This prompted Kannemeyer to supplement him for the July.

He is officially 2,5kg worse off than the best weighted horses on Friday night, but is drawn well in five with Warren Kennedy up. He looks to be another one on the up.

Kannemeyer said that Power King, as the proven horse, would probably be his pick if he had to choose one.

Kannemeyer’s champion stayer Hot Ticket worked yesterday under Leon Govender, who has just returned from a spell in Kuwait where he rode 21 winners, including two in big races, The Derby and the King’s Cup. Hot Ticket took a while to get going in typical stayer fashion, but the yard were happy with him and Kannemeyer said that the initial target of this July entry and strong eLan Property Group Gold Cup candidate would be a defence of his crown in the Gr 2 Track And Ball Derby over 2400m at Greyville on June 21. He runs in a Pinnacle Stakes race over 1600m at Greyville on Sunday and among his opponents will be the ruling July favourite Futura.

Kannemeyer said that Sunday’s comfortable Highway Aged Highland Night Cup winner Solid Speed could also be a Gold Cup horse and said that he was a prime example of a horse that had not been ‘right’ during the Cape summer. He was given a three month suspension for bleeding in a race in late November. However, he added that this might have been a “blessing in disguise.”

By David Thiselton

Picture: Power King (Nkosi Hlophe)

Mike Bass’s assistant trainer Robert Fayd’Herbe was not too bullish about the chances of the yard’s Gr 2 Betting World 1900 contender Helderberg Blue, although he said his Champions Season pipe opener in Gr 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes had brought him on a lot.

Fayd’Herbe said, “He needed that last run very badly. The handicapper punished him too much for his J&B Met third place and at the weights he’s got no chance in the 1900. He’s not really a Greyville type, he’s a grinder but he did quicken well from a handy position in the Met.”

The Jet Master gelding is a nervous sort, but his “new friend”, the recently retired Epc Tale, accompanies him to the track in the mornings to keep him calm and he was looking in fine shape yesterday (Tuesday).

Another of the yard’s Jet Master geldings, Mountain Master, is the reserve runner for the 1900. He is difficult to place and Fayd’Herbe was not sure he would stay the 3200m of the eLan Property Group Gold Cup, so races like the Campanajo 2200 on July day could be possible targets.

Fayd’Herbe was happy with dual Gr 1-winning filly Inara’s second place finish in the KRA Fillies Guineas and said, “She was always going to need it a bit and will come on from it. She will now go for the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 and then either the July or Garden Province.”

He said that their crack sprinter Fly By Night had travelled up to Johannesburg well for the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint, but had then gone down very short and had taken no interest in the race. They had trotted her out afterwards and nothing had been found wrong. The problem was unrelated to her poor run in the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championships, for on that occasion she had “bumped a sesamoid” and had been a bit sore going into the race. She has been fine at Summerveld and is on track for the Scottsville Festival of Speed meeting on May 23, where she holds entries in her likely target, the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint, as well as in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint.

The yard’s classy mare Hammie’s Hooker thrives in KZN as she loves working on the lighter tracks. She has been doing just as well as she did last year, so will be a big runner in races like the Tibouchina and Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes.

Their two-year-old Visionnaire colt Jet Air has a bright future according to Fayd’Herbe, so they would avoid the tough Scottsville Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m on May 23 in favour of the Gr 1 Golden Horseshoe over 1400m and the Gr 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes.

He said that Ashton Park, who ran on well for third in the Drill Hall, might line up in the Tsogo Sun Sprint before running in the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m on June 6.

The like of Shingwedzi, Saint Sophia and Counting Angels will likely take on staying races like the Gr 2 Gold Circle Oaks on June 21.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Helderberg Blue (Liesl King)

Charles Laird has always viewed Friday night’s Betting World 1900 at Greyville as his Horse Chestnut gelding Bold Inspiration’s best chance of getting into the July and planned a long time ago to have him “spot on” for this race.

He has removed the blinkers as jockey Anton Marcus had found him difficult to restrain last time when finishing a two-length fifth in the Listed Sledgehammer over 1750m at Scottsville, although he said that part of the reason for that was that he was so sound and well at the moment that he had “just wanted to go.”

He added that his preparation had gone very well and he believed that he possessed the necessary turn of foot for the tight Greyville track, although he was hoping that a good gallop would be set.

Bold Inspiration’s disappointing Sansui Summer Cup run can be ignored as he was asked to do it from the front, which according to Laird is an impossible task for a KZN horse over that 2000m trip having traveled from near the coast to high altitude.

Bold Inspiration has the advantage of pole position on Friday night and Marcus is up.

Laird said that his first-timer by Kahal in the first race, Harvest Queen, was a strong filly who had ability. However, having flipped over in the stalls before her intended debut after waiting for an age, one of the aims of Friday night’s outing would be to just get her through the starting stall phase of the race.

His charge Queen Of Thrones ran a bit disappointingly over 1600m on the turf last time, but Laird confirmed she was better on the polytrack, so she should have a chance in the eighth over 1400m especially considering she had worked well this week.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Charles Laird