Andrew Harrison

Hot Pearl often lives up to her name and Wendy Whitehead was having anxious moments as the course ambulance came to a halt before the start of the second race at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday. “I was having heart failure because she doesn’t like to wait for anyone. She’s very impatient and it was a long wait for the ambulance.”

Regular rider Calvin Habib had it all under control and managed to keep her quiet. “She handled herself professionally behind the gate,” he said post-race.

However, neither jockey or the filly’s connections needed to worry once the gates opened as Hot Pearl streaked clear and was not for the catching as she put five lengths on her nearest rival, Rapid Fire who just got the better of favourite Vision To Achieve. 

If you want to know why Richard Fourie is champion jockey elect and well on his way to breaking Anthony Deplech’s record of 334 winners in a season, watch the head-on replay of the Fillies Maiden Plate, third race on yesterday’s card won by Canford Queen.

Always handy and on the quarters of pacemaker Lemon Scent, the race was unfolding as expected until Lemon Scent lost her compass under pressure. Fourie found himself hunting running room as Lemon Scent continued to drift outwards and Canford Queen continually blocked.

“She was dead,” commented Gavin van Zyl, assistant to his son Gareth, post-race but Fourie finally managed a clear run and his filly responded gamely, taking off over the final 100m to snatch the decision ahead of City Lights. “You can’t get there without the horse,” said Fourie in a typical understatement. 

Down in class but carrying the ‘grandstand’ Rachel Venniker rode a patient race on Chara Sands from his wide draw in the sixth and gave the gelding a copybook ride as he glided to victory with Venniker posing like a statue. Michael Roberts, recognizing talent, took Venniker under his wing from her first days in the Jockey Academy. A better mentor she could not have asked for. A champion rider on two continents, Roberts is a hard task master but Venniker has repaid with hard work and yesterday rode her 100^th winner for the stable, fittingly aboard a horse bred and owned by Michael’s wife Verna.

The Little Ballerina form lines have been some of the hottest in recent memory with a host of winners finishing behind her. The Mask was another as Glen Kotzen opened his Champion’s Season account, the son of Gimmethegreenlight bounding clear in the straight to win the first unchallenged.

Gelded after his debut behind Little Ballerina where he ran into traffic to finish nine lengths off the winner, there were no mistakes yesterday as Athandiwe Mgudlwa steadied him around the turn. A sling-shot into the straight saw the traffic melt away and The Mask was not for the catching. Always Shining tried gamely but was hard-pressed to hold debutante Bound By Destiny, Dean Kannemeyer’s runner definitely one for the notebook.

Muzi Yeni is possibly the hardest rider to get past in a tight finish. His low centre of gravity allows him to keep balance when throwing the kitchen sink as he showed on Tom’s Act. He had Doug Campbell’s runner poised in midfield before making his challenge and the son of Act Of War responded to Yeni’s vigorous urgings to get his head in front of a closing pack headed by San Marzano.

Lucky Dollar backed up on his recent victory with a strong finish to land the fifth for Stuart Ferrie. The lightly weighted Action Stations with 4kg claimer Brevan Plaatjies aboard, was always in front until challenged by Lucky Dollar, Tristan Godden timing his run to perfection.

The combination of Venniker and Dennis Bosch have been in good form of late and it was back-to-back wins for Venniker as she sent favourite Poursomesugaronme up the inside rail to score a bloodless victory in the seventh.

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David Thiselton               

Sean Tarry is a bit like the Springbok rugby team, who are at their most dangerous just when their star appears to be waning, and the dynamic trainer bounced back from a season that had not yet reached the heights of last season to record a five-timer, including three Graded features, at the big meeting at Turffontein Standside on Saturday.

Richard Fourie rode four winners on the day, including three for Tarry, and he is now an 8/100 shot to break Anthony Delpech’s famous 334 wins in a season, which was often regarded as the safest record in South African sport.

Tarry came from a hopeless position on the trainers log last year to be within one race of overtaking Justin Snaith on  the last big race meeting of the season.

If he is to do the same this season the turning point happened on Saturday.

Furthermore, he looks set to add to his record number of 18 Gr 1s at Hollywoodbets Scottsville because his candidates for the Festival Of Speed meeting are emerging at just the right time as usual.

However, he does face a quandry with the top class Gimmethegreenlight Varsfontein Stud-bred Gimmethegreenlight colt Lucky Lad.

Lucky Lad won last year’s Gr 1 Gold Medallion at Hollywoodbets Scottsville by more than five lengths and after a delayed reappearance to this season he had his third run after a layoff of close to seven months on Saturday in the Gr 2 Senor Santa Stakes over 1160m. 

He delivered a memorable victory under a memorable ride from Fourie.

Lucky Lad’s gate-speed has always made him vulnerable over sprint trips and he once again dwelt slightly meaning Fourie found himself sitting at the back. 

He made the immediate decision to track over and sit behind the inside batch of horses, which would have surprised many as the high draws are viewed as advantageous down the Turffontein straight.  

However, Fourie must have been mindful that the outside channels become overcrowded as jockeys seeks to be in the perceived best going.

Lucky Lad ended up making his run inside of the whole field and still had at least five lengths to make up as they reached the 400m mark.

At that stage his big stablemate Winter Greeting, a four-year-old filly by What A Winter who was officially the best weighted runner, was about to hit the front and was going ominously well.

However, Lucky Lad displayed his devastating turn of foot to change the outlook of the race in a matter of strides.

Fourie managed to pull off two deft changes of whip-hand in the final 200m to prevent the hanging that had earned him a suspension in the Gold Medallion.

Lucky Lad won easing up by 0,40 lengths from a running on I Am Giant, who put his hand up as a contender for the Hollywoodbets Scottsville Gr 1 Golden Horse Sprint. 

I Am Giant’s Brett Crawford-trained stablemate Surjay was beaten just 0,60 lengths into third and is on track for another Graded campaign in KZN, which yielded a Gr 1 second and third last season as well as a Gr 2 third. 

Winter Greeting was beaten just a length in fourth place and will likely be targeted at he Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint.

Unzen, who is best over 1400m, was fifth ahead of Rulership.

The quandary Tarry faces is Lucky Lad’s effectiveness over classic distances is yet to be tested and he is entered in next Saturday’s Gr 2 WSB Guineas at Hollywoodbets Greyville. From their the route could either be a drop back to the Gr 1 Golden Horse or a step up to the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and July, for which he has been entered. 

Earlier, in the Gr 2 TAB Colorado King Stakes over 2000m, the Fanie Bronhorst-trained Laurence Wernars homebred New Predator gelding Pure Predator won in cosy fashion by 0,75 lengths under Fourie from the Tarry-trained three-year-old Hotarubi.

Puerto Manzano bounced back to a semblance of form by finishing third, although he was beaten four lengths, narrowly ahead of older horses Aragosta and Safe Passage.

It was a fine training feat by Bronkhorst, because he would have had to freshen the horse up after his respective fourth in the Gr 1 TAB SA Classic and second in the Gr 1 SA Derby with his targets the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July in mind.

In the Gr 2 TAB Igugu Stakes over 2000m the Stuart Pettigrew-trained Ridgemont-bred Rafeef filly Beating Wings produced a fine finish under Calvin Habib to deny fellow three-year-old My Soul Mate with Bellevarde, Gilded Butterfly and Perfect Witness next best.

Tarry had earlier caused an upset when the Wilgebosdrift and Mauritzfontein Stud-bred Rafeef filly Mrs Browning won the Gr 2 Camellia Stakes over 1160m under Craig Zackey from Time Fo Orchids and the perennial feature-placed horse White Pearl. Mrs Browning is part-owned by Laurence Wernars, who had a feature treble on the day.

Wernars also won the Gr 3 Protea Stakes over 1160m with the progressive Tarry-trained homebred Gimmethegreenlight Proceed, who put his hand up for the Gr 1 Gold Medallion at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on June 1.

The Gr 3 TAB Pretty Polly Stakes was won by the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Ridgemont-bred Canford Cliffs filly Simply Majestic under Gavin Lerena.

The Listed TAB Gold Bowl over 3200m was won by the Ridgemont-bred Brett Crawford-trained six-year-old Dynasty gelding Crimson King under Kabelo Matsunyane.

Tarry had two early impressive winners over 1600m and the respective Lancaster Bomber colt and One World filly, Legend Of Arthur and World Of Alice, ridden by Fourie and Zackey respectively, have promising potential for the two-year-old mile features. 

The last race over 1400m was won by the De Kock-trained Muzi Yeni-ridden Heavenly Blue colt Zinovi, whose successful wind op has seen him score two in a row.  

Andrew Harrison

The last weekend in April is always important as far as pointers go to Hollywoodbets Scottsville’s big meeting – this year on Saturday, June 1 – as trainers look forward to the four Gr1 races in the Festival of Speed.

Yesterday, the four features gave up pointers to the form of those races, none more so than Asiye Phambili who made short work of the opposition in the Gr3 Dennis Drier Poinsettia Stakes over 1200m, the distance of the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint.

Duncan Howells has always held the filly in high regard after arriving in his stable from another yard and a close-up second first time out followed with three straight wins.

Rather than making the trip to Cape Town for the season with one horse, he handed over the reins to Cape Town-based and Hollywoodbets-sponsored Gareth van Zyl. Asiye Phambili stared at long odds in all three of her starts for Van Zyl, her best being a runner-up berth in the Gr2 Sceptre Stakes. 

It has been telling that locally-based horses returning from trips to Cape Town for the summer have come back in fine fettle and it appears the Asiye Phambili is continuing that trend.

Rachel Venniker, having her first winner for Howells, was never in any difficulty allowing Asiye Phambili to use her big action from an outside draw. When the chips were down she strode away to win as she liked.

The balance of the field, that included the well-performed Kwinta’s Light, were hardly in the race and probably using it as a warm-up for the SA Fillies Sprint, but they have been given early warning.

King Of The Gauls also put his hand up for a crack at the Festival of Speed. The gelding has always been highly rated by his trainer, Tony Rivalland, and his faith in the son of Vercingetorix is starting to vindicate his view as he scored a most comfortable victory in the Listed In Full Flight Handicap.

Gelded after his third start, King Of The Gauls made a winning appearance first up at Kenilworth but was then stepped up in trip, a plan that did not work out as expected. Back to a sprint, he left Cape Town with a close-up third.

He made a winning return on home soil over the Hollywoodbets Scottsville short-cut and followed up with an impressive victory yesterday which must surely have booked him a place in the Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint on June 1.

Sean Veale, deputising for regular rider Richard Fourie who was unable to make the 52.5kg, had King Of The Gauls in a good rhythm from the jump and it was clear a long way out that it would take a good horse to beat him. Travelling sweetly, he quickened up smartly under the hands and Veale was posing for the judges a long way out.

Quasiforesure is no slouch and chased hard for second but was never a threat although he was giving the winner 11kg and Peter Muscutt will have been well pleased with the run.

Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Little Ballerina must rate as one of the best juvenile fillies racing at present and her form lines are riddled with subsequent winners. One of these was SA Fillies Nursery second Just Reckless who was surprisingly, given Little Ballerina’s form, priced up at 5-1 in the ante-post market for the Gr3 Strelitzia Stakes. That price did not last long as she went through the gate deep in the red to land a ‘touch’ for those who queued up to take the generous odds.

It was money on the mark as Mike Miller’s charge was never seriously threatened. Going through the 400 m mark, Fourie pulled the trigger on Dark Winter followed by Grey Fantasy, but Kabelo Matsunyane, who kept the ride after their Nursery second, still had plenty in hand. Punched out hands-and-heels, Just Reckless quicky had their measure and strode clear to win as she liked with the minimum amount of encouragement. The Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship must surely be on her radar.

Prolific owner Lawrence Wernars had a great week with four feature race winners leading into yesterday’s Godolphin Barb Stakes and Cymric rounded it all off with a smart win in the Gr3 sprint and surely a pipe-opener for the Gr1 Gold Medallion. Johan Janse van Vuuren’s smart looker gave leading sire Vercengeterix a feature double after King Of The Gauls, showing pace throughout and finding plenty under Gavin Lerena to keep Cats Pajamas and Chinaberry at bay. 

Runner-up at his first two starts, Van Vuuren finally listened to the pleading from his jockeys that the horse needed gelding as he was getting far too heavy for his under carriage. “I’m not scared to ‘cut’ them,” said Van Vuuren, “but I liked this horse and was a little pig-headed about it. I finally listened.”

First up after gelding, Cymric hacked up in a maiden and continued his improvement with a solid win yesterday. A look at the course is always a bonus as the experience, and on occasion, can prove to be the difference between winning and losing in a tight finish. 

Not happy on the day was Fine One who gave Tristan Gooden a difficult ride and was never going well.

The wave is building towards Saturday, 6 July! Winchester Mansion and See It Again, first and second in last year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July, head the nominations for this year’s event. First entries closed on Monday and 58 of the cream of the county’s middle-distance gallopers have been entered for a crack at the R5 million stakes purse in what is Africa’s greatest horseracing event. 

The Michael Roberts-trained See It Again, touched off in last year’s race as a three-year-old, is the highest rated of the nominations and early ante-post favourite at 7/2 with the title sponsor, Hollywoodbets. All things going well, he will be back to go one better.

Brett Crawford has again entered Winchester Mansion (10/1) who was narrowly beaten in the recent Gr1 Champions Challenge and is likely to be up against his recent nemesis, Royal Victory (7/1). Nathan Kotzen’s gelding has been a revelation since being sent over ground and is sure to be among the fancied runners for this year’s event should he be in the final field. 

 Three trainers are responsible for nearly half of the entries headed by Sean Tarry with 10, Justin Snaith eight and Mike de Kock six. 

Second highest rated of the Tarry entries is Lucky Lad (33/1), recent runner-up to Sandringham Summit in the Gr2 Hawaii Stakes over the Turffontein mile but is yet to show that he stays the 2200m of the Hollywoodbets Durban July. Also among the Tarry entries is Mid Winter Wind (50/1), winner of his last four races but yet to race beyond 1400m and the R9 million yearling purchase, Celestial City (150/1), full brother to Hawwaam, who famously blew his chances by refusing to load when favourite for the July in 2019. The Tarry stable also has last year’s facile winner of the World Pool Gold Cup, Future Pearl (250/1) among his nominations. 

Justin Snaith is likely to have another strong hand in the field with the likes of Royal Aussie, Without Question (25/1) and the three-year-olds Hluhluwe (66/1) and the feisty grey The Grey King (66/1) among his nominations.

Mike de Kock is a master at getting fillies primed for the big race and the hitherto unbeaten Gimme A Nother (7/1) heads his list of nominations. De Kock opted not to try for the final leg of the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara, the Gr2 SA Oaks over 2450m, despite two comfortable victories in the first two legs.

The Oaks was won in commanding fashion by Frances Ethel (50/1) from My Soul Mate (66/1) and Silver Sanctuary (50/1), all three among the entries. Should both Frances Ethel and Winchester Mansion make the final field, last year’s winning jockey Kabelo Matsunyane, will need to choose between Brett Crawford’s runners.

Other standouts among the De Kock entries are Oaks third Silver Sanctuary and the promising sophomore Marauding Horde (66/1) who ran up a string of three consecutive victories before coming unstuck on the SA Derby although only beaten three lengths.

One of those heading the ante-post market on the sponsor’s book is Gr1 SplashOut Cape Derby winner Green With Envy (7/1). Dean Kannemeyer is no stranger to the July winner’s podium having won the race three times, his first coming with the superstar Dynasty in 2003. Green With Envy came from almost last to motor past a high-class field in the Derby and stable rider Craig Zackey will be looking forward to the ride. 

Robyn Klaasen will throw another curved ball the way of Matsunyane as he was aboard star three-year-old Purple Pitcher (16/1) who got the better of New Predator and the title chasing Richard Fourie in the Gr1 SA Derby and was also victorious in the Gr1 SA Classic where he beat hot favourite Sandringham Summit and William Iron Arm. Klaasen, who is a relatively new comer to the training ranks, has also entered Second Base (250/1) who did duty for her in last year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July in her first year as a trainer.

Tony Peter is having a terrific season and has entered Main Defender (25/1) and William Iron Arm (33/1). Main Defender is the second highest rated horse among the nominations behind See It Again but has yet to race beyond 1600m. However, he was an eye-catching winner of the Gr1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes beating the De Kock-trained Dave The King by over two lengths. Now with the Peters stable is former Gr1 SA Derby winner Son Of Raj (75/1) who was also a runner last year when trained by Weiho Marwing.

Fanie Bronkhorst will have his first runner in the race should SA Derby runner-up Pure Predator (33/1) make the line-up. 

See It Again and Royal Victory will no doubt head the local challenge but Michael Miller has entered recent Listed Stakes winner Narina Trogon (200/1) along with Ancient World (200/1). Gareth van Zyl has entered Imilenzeyokududuma (100/1) who races in the yellow and purple silks of the Hollywood Syndicate, and Robbie Hill, a former winner of the race as a jockey aboard El Picha for Geoff Woodruff, will have his first runner in the race should Navajo Nation (200/1) make the final field. Encouraged by his recent victory over The Grey King has prompted Peter Muscutt to add Formagear (100/1) to the entry list. 

Lorenzo Karriem has two entries in River Romeo (200/1) and Indian Ocean (250/1) with Tony Rivalland entering the filly Celtic Beauty (150/1) and MJ Odendaal the mare Danse Milord (250/1).