Racing made a welcome return to Scottsville yesterday and with the turf in pristine condition trainers took full advantage with every field on the card close to maximum. The result was that punters had to search long and hard for winners with a few long-shots making it tough going in the exotics.

One of the few favourites to oblige was Rebel’s Champ. Not for nothing is apprentice Lyle Hewitson national champion jockey as he rode a pearler on Paul Peter’s gelding to turn the tables on his Golden Loom conqueror Captain’s Girl.

I’m Free (Candiese Marnewick)

With a furlong to run and a wall of horses across the track in the Itsarush.co.za Pinnacle Stakes, commentator Craig Peters was hard pressed identifying a likely winner. But at the last second, Hewitson extracted Rebel’s Champ out from behind Sunset Eyes and in the blink of an eye got up to claim victory.

Procal Harum made a cracking return to the track after a break as he snatched second ahead of the game filly Captain’s Girl. Procal Harum is an entry for the Gr2 Merchants at Turffontein on December 1. Rebel’s Champ ducked in shortly after the line, dislodging Hewitson, who escaped unscathed. Rebel’s Champ was a R10k buy at the CTS Two-year-old sale and yesterday took his earnings to over the R500k mark

Apprentice Jason Gates, currently facing a seven-day suspension for careless riding, was on his best behaviour as he got Storm Ruler home for a second successive victory in the Rockefellers Restaurant Handicap over 2400m. Gates had Alyson Wright’s gelding neatly placed behind pacemaker Lucius Fox and went for broke at the top of the straight. Riding a powerful finish, Gates kept Storm Ruler straight and hard to his task to hold off Hewitson on Big Si.

Hewitson got his afternoon off to the best possible start, and that of Wayne Badenhorst, as he kept the temperamental filly, I’m Free, racing in ear-muffs, going long enough to hold off Amra and African Angel.

Johan Janse van Vuuren seldom heads back to the Highveld without a scalp or two but it required all Anton Marcus’s expertise in the second to get Lady Jackson home ahead of Daryl Moore’s first timer Woodstock Festival who has been well backed to make a winning debut.

There is every likelihood that Luke Ferraris could follow in the footsteps of Hewitson as he has just five winners to go before losing his claim in just his second year of his five-year apprenticeship. It was winner number 55 yesterday as he had little more than a steering job to do on the Sean Tarry-trained Tierra Del Fuego in the third.

By Andrew Harrison