Horse Racing News | Gold Circle Horse Racing And Betting

Winds Of Change set to blow

PUBLISHED: January 31, 2026

David Thiselton The nine race meeting on Sunday at Turffontein Standside includes a Graduation Plate, two Middle Stakes events and a MR94 Handicap for fillies and mares. In the Graduation Plate Winds Of Change gets everything in his favour and as the best weighted runner he can get it right at last. He is drawn […]

David Thiselton

The nine race meeting on Sunday at Turffontein Standside includes a Graduation Plate, two Middle Stakes events and a MR94 Handicap for fillies and mares.

In the Graduation Plate Winds Of Change gets everything in his favour and as the best weighted runner he can get it right at last. He is drawn towards the favourable outside in the 1160m event and should be cherry ripe. Muzi Yeni was on him when he went close from an unfavourable low draw three runs ago over this same course and distance and Yeni is back aboard for the first time since. Chapbook beat Winds Of Change by a length when they last met over 1000m and is now 2,5kg worse off if claims are ignored, but otherwise 4kg worse off. It will be tough for him and he disappointed last time over 1200m. He is better than that last run and can bounce back now he is back at Turffontein. Rifle Queen won both of her first two starts and made a fine comeback recently from a five month layoff. She has a potentally tricky draw of three according to trends, but sometimes the trend is not applicable and horses win down the inside, while she also has Gavin Lerena up and he will formulate a plane to overcome the draw. Kaalvoet beat Chapbook last time having lost to him before that, but last time was his third run on the Highveld and he should be able to repeat the effort. Anchorage is speedy and has some class but does have her quirks, like trying to savage a horse in her penultimate start. She has a low draw, but has the ability to be right there.

In the MR 94 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1600m Accept Cookies has progressed well and was beaten by a classy sort last time over this same trip off this same merit rating. She now has pole position with Lerena up, so should take a power of beating. Palace Dancer disappointed last time but is capable of better and can bounce back from a slightly better draw. Mountain High went close over 1450m last time and will enjoy stepping back up to a trip she has won over before. Lady Sabrina is in good form and should relish the step back up in trip, a trip she has won over before. She once ran close up to Accept Cookies over this trip and is now 3kg better off with her from that run, although she was a three-year-old then and has not progressed as well as Accept Cookies. Streisand has become disappointing, but from a good draw could bounce back as she seemed to be full of scope at one stage.

In the first of the Middle Stakes events over 2400m Battleground was always one with a lot of potential over staying trips and his four career wins are from 2400m to 3200m. After bouncing back with a close second last time over 2000m off a reduced merit rating of 89, he looks potentially well handicapped here off the same 89, because that makes him officially the second best weighted horse in the race and he has won easily off an 88 before. Douglas Dragon is an honest stayer and is officially the best weighted horse, so should be right there. Enflame is officially 2kg under sufferance with Douglas Dragon, but has done well in both staying starts he has raced in, including in the Listed Allied Steelrode Java Stakes over 2400m which was in testing conditions. Ethical is officially 4kg under sufferance with Douglas Dragon but does have the 1,5kg claim of Mickaelle Michel to help her and being by Heavenly Blue out of a Royal Mo mare whose six career starts included one win over 1800m, she might well relish the step up to a staying trip. Nebraas is a former Gold Cup winner who is now a nine-year-old. He beat Enflame by 1,70 lengths in the Java Stakes, but is now 4kg worse off.

The second Middle Stakes event over 1400m will see Tintin hard to beat as he looks to be full of ability. The horse he beat by 5,75 lengths last time, Quickfreeze, has subsequently come out to win by 4,25 lengths and 3,50 lengths respectively. Tintin has a fair draw of five and can beat Chieftain’s Shield who has progressed nicely into a reliable sort. Coppola could earn if reproducing his best.

In the fifth race over 1800m Peace Treaty should go close with a repeat of his last start and the middle draw is not bad. Caus Belli is usually thereabouts but has to overcome a tough draw. Full Go ran a cracker in his penultimate start over 2000m and will need to repeat it from a similar draw to be involved. 7 Crepuscolo beat Peace Treaty and Caus Belli last time they met but was raised four points and disappointed next time out. World Order could earn in this race.

In the seventh over 1600m Paris Fun just failed over 1400m last time and will be hard to beat over a strep up in trip she should relish and she has Zackey up from a fair draw. Sigfrid Swing will enjoy this trip and has Lerena up, albeit from a tricky draw. Alta Capitana should start progressing off a competitive mark. Into Dancing has turned the corner with blinkers and should be thereabouts. Fish Hawk has an easier task than last time when tried in a Gr 3 and she will be a threat.

In the eighth over 1400m Michael Faraday has a lot of ability and if able to overcome a wide draw has a fine chance. Pretty Analia is capable of a strong finish and has a shout from pole position. Golden Aspen is in good form and can be right there again. Vava Vegas can be in the shake up if producing his best. Lava Fire ran a fair race last time and could earn again.

In the first race over 1160m Gimmesumluv and Trail Runner should fight it out.

In the second Space Mission is the one to beat in an uninspiring field.

Turffontein Standside Sunday 1 February 2026 – Comments by David Thiselton

PUBLISHED: January 31, 2026

RACE 1 7 GIMMESUMLUV 4 TRAIL RUNNER 1 MRS STORMIATRIX 2 EMERALD COUNTESS Preview: 7 GIMMESUMLUV made a fair debut and should improve. 4 TRAIL RUNNER is knocking on the door and should be right there. 1 MRS STORMIATRIX has shown enough ability to earn in this line up. 2 EMERALD COUNTESS can go close […]

South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Lingfield and Newcastle (UK) – 31 January 2026

PUBLISHED: January 31, 2026

Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Lingfield and Newcastle (UK) – 31 January 2026.

See It Again can do it again

PUBLISHED: January 30, 2026

Andrew Harrison In spite of an impressive record that features multiple Gr1 successes, a record that most would be envious of, See It Again has still flattered to deceive, not winning when he had every right to. Recently he also developed an aversion to the starting stalls that saw him withdrawn at the start on […]

Andrew Harrison

In spite of an impressive record that features multiple Gr1 successes, a record that most would be envious of, See It Again has still flattered to deceive, not winning when he had every right to.

Recently he also developed an aversion to the starting stalls that saw him withdrawn at the start on two occasions and was in danger of his starting certificate being withdrawn permanently.

That said, a change of climate, a change of routine that no doubt included a frolic or two in the cold waters of False Bay, and a change of trainer appear to have got him back on track. The strapping chestnut son of Twice Over has run two cracking races since joining Justin Snaith’s Phillippi yard and in both cases he was a touch unlucky, finding traffic at a crucial stage of the race.

He looked a dead certainty for fourth place in the Gr1 L’Ormarins King’s Plate but rallied like the horse of old. Switched off the heels of The Real Prince with 50m to travel, he flashed home for a close-up third behind The Real Prince and Questioning, relegating Sail The Seas into fourth.

The real key to See It Again’s new lease on racing could be Andrew Fortune. He is a rider who has an almost uncanny report with his mounts, coaxing the best out of them be they modest maidens or Gr1 prospects and See It Again appears to be responding to Fortune’s superb hands.

See It Again drew wide at 10, with only Okavango on his outside in an 11-horse field but Jono Snaith intimated at the draw that Okavango would be used as a pacemaker which could open the way for his stable companion with Fortune declaring in typically bold fashion, ‘whatever beats me, will win’.

One has to take See It Again’s behavior at the start on trust, but if all goes well, a second Gr 1 WSB Met over the Kenilworth 2000m is on the cards tomorrow.

Owner Nic Jonsson will be dressed in his ‘workwear’s’ finest with two other runners in his colours, in last year’s winner Eight On Eighteen and recent Peninsular Stakes winner Okavango.

Given his performance, Eight On Eighteen did not look fully wound up for the L’Ormarins King’s Plate, an observation confirmed by Snaith after he drew gate 2 for last year’s Met winner. Eight On Eighteen finished just over four lengths back to The Real Prince in what was his first competitive run after a five-month break and he should come on lengths from that outing.

A further bonus is that Richard Fourie is back in the irons after an inspired ride on Questioning in the King’s Plate.

The Real Prince finished with a timely burst up the inside rail to snatch victory in the King’s Plate and Dean Kannemeyer has a knack of getting his runners to peak on the day. Although the gelding only just made it home, it was a run full of merit given that it was his second outing back after his runner-up berth behind Gladatorian in the Gr1 World Pool Champions Cup where he looked the winner before his rival caught him on the line.

Last season’s Hollywoodbets Durban July winner will relish the extra 400m and will be out to give Kannemeyer his first Met winner.

Stuart Ferrie’s charge Gladatorian is likely to start at lengthy odds given his effort in the King’s Plate but it may be a mistake to take that form at face value. As Ferrie pointed out post-race, he made up some 13 lengths in the straight to finish under three lengths off the first four home and he was more than happy with the run. Gladatorian won last season’s World Pool Champions Cup over 1800m with a devastating turn of foot to catch The Real Prince so exclude him from exotic bets at your peril.

Garrix and The Equator, who will be ridden by Arc-winning jockey Rene Piechulek, could provide upset results but if See It Again finds his best form they could all be chasing shadows.

Main supporting feature on the day is the Gr1 Maine Chance Farms Majorca Stakes where Double Grand Slam will be out to make amends for her defeat in the Gr1 Paddock Stakes when beaten into fourth behind Wish List. It was the mare’s first run back after a break and lacked her usually finishing burst. It was also a scorching hot afternoon and visiting rider Oisin Murphy was certainly feeling the heat.

She has a wide draw at 11 but on her day, Snaith’s mare is the one to beat and Fortune could win both Gr 1’s on the day.

Going on jockey bookings, Richard Fourie would have had the pick of the James Crawford fillies and has plumbed for Mon Petit Cherie ahead of stable companion Reet Petite who finished second to Wish List in the Paddock Stakes and second to Quickstepgal in the Gr1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas. Fourie is contracted to owners Ridgemont but so is Gareth Wright who general rides second string.

Asiye Phambili is in good form and as game as they come. The mile trip holds no fears and she will be competitive.

Tienie Prinsloo’s WSB Cape Fillies Guineas winner Quickstepgal has been scratched with a jarred knee.

Soccer Carryovers and Updates – 1 February 2026

PUBLISHED: January 27, 2026

Soccer4 Sunday 1 February 2026. Carryover R25 000. Estimated Pool: R100 000. Pool Closes at 16h00. Sport 17 and Pool 2. Soccer10 Sunday 1 February 2026. Carryover R150 000. Estimated Pool: R2 Million. Pool Closes at 18h30. Sport 7 and Pool 1.