Frank Lloyd Wright produced one of the biggest Cape Town shocks since the start of the water crisis when the supposed certainty was beaten at 1-3 in the Glasfit Maden Juvenile at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Punters began backing the colt at 8-10 three days earlier but the money simply poured on once word started to spread – correctly or not – that Grant van Niekerk had had to turn his back on potentially lucrative Grade 1 chances to stay loyal to the two-year-old.

Grant Van Niekerk

Stable confidence was sky high but seemingly nobody had heard about Mr Crumford’s spectacular home work and the favourite, much to his supporters’ dismay, could never get in a blow and was beaten three lengths.  “He is a smart horse,” Van Niekerk insisted, “but he is still very green and immature.”

Mr Crumford, though, could be something special. Named by the Kieswetters after the way the colt’s trainer is addressed by a Greyville security officer, things didn’t go according to plan on his Durbanville debut – “He was T-boned coming out the gates,” explained Greg Cheyne.

Brett Crawford, thrilled and proud to have his first winner by Jackson – a horse he trained to win the 2012 Cape Derby and Daily News, added: “Today he did everything I thought he could but I wasn’t sure beforehand because they were talking up the other horse as if he couldn’t get beat.”

After he doubled up with Capaill two races later Crawford remarked that the stable’s horses had been a bit in-and-out in recent weeks, something that a legion of disappointed punters already knew to their cost. When asked why, the trainer answered: “I wish I knew. Had I done so, I would have fixed it!”

Spending Spree then underlined that in some cases at least the problem is still around by unaccountably flopping at 16-10 behind Too Phat To Fly in the Midas Handicap. Richard Fourie’s mount was completing a double for Glen Kotzen who was also on the mark with comfortable winner Margot Fonteyn.

With the CTS Yearling Sale starting on Thursday, not to mention the National 12 days later, trainers value winners even more than usual at the moment. Kotzen’s name is seldom out of the shop window but for Mike Robinson victories for African Messiah (given a ride by Corne Orffer that was as inspired as it was determined) and Hemero could not have come at a better time.

Publicity is nothing like as necessary for Andre Nel (his boss breeds most of hers) but Straat-Kind and Hemmingway were a welcome sign that his virus-ridden nightmare is nearing its end.

For Eric Sands, though, patience not publicity is his middle name. After Chris Gerber’s Rainbow Bridge (backed from 9-2 to 26-10 favourite) made a belated winning debut under Fourie in the Suburban Motor Spares Maiden, the Milnerton trainer said: “He got injured and hurt himself behind so I sent him to the farm. After three months he was still lame so I rested him for another six.”

By Michael Clower