David Thiselton

The highest rated race at the Vaal Classic meeting today is a MR 96 Handicap over 1000m and Sosoru looks the one to beat.

This Vercingetorix gelding has fine gatespeed and natural pace and can be switched to whichever side is perceived to be favourable after likely jumping out in front. On this track the high draws are usually favourable and his draw of seven should be close enough to the outside going. His speed is not cheap as he has a fine kick too. He won by 4,75 lengths over 1160m last time in impressive style so his merit rating of 89, after a maximum raise of eight points, looks to be capped. His time in that last race was excellent if compared to other races on the same day. Callan Murray will be full of confidence at present having won a Gr 1 over the weekend and Sosoru should go close. Its Personal is a tall horse with a nice action and he won well in a good time over this trip last time, especially if considering he was slowly away. He should be in the shake up. Echo Check improved with cheekpieces on over 1160m last time. He looked to be headed to the top at one stage, but his string of below par runs have seen his merit rating coming down to a competitive mark. He led last time and was swamped late, so will enjoy the step down in trip.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 over 2400k Chabal has some useful form over this trip and he jumps from a plum draw of three. He is currently off a mark just two points higher than his last winning mark over this trip. Play With Fire stays 2000m and is interesting sent over a further trip as she is a resolute sort.  Bold Action is not only by stamina influence Futura but is also a half-sister to El Rey Vienne, a William Longsword gelding who was once just two lengths back in the Highland Night Cup over 2400m. She should get the trip and she is currently off a competitive merit rating. She does have a tricky draw of ten though.

In the second leg of the Pick 6 Orange County jumps from a good draw over an Ideal 1800m trip and can bounce back. He is progressive and has Gavin Lerena up. Art Nouveau is always thereabouts and has a useful 1,5kg claimer up over a suitable trip. Page Boy has always struck as a progressive sort and can go well here.

in the sixth race over 1800m, a MR 66 handicap, Commander Of All’s last win was over 1700m so he should enjoy this trip and he is just three points higher than he was for that win in November last year. Rock My Boat starts handicapping off a reasonable mark and on pedigree looks likely to relish this trip, but he does have a tough draw. Crepuscolo makes appeal as one who enjoys the trip and he is just four points higher than his last win, which was over this trip, although his draw of eight is not easy.

The eighth race over 1000m could be won by the talented Catfish who has a fine record over 1000m in which he bumped an array of good horses and was not beaten by far. His merit rating of 87 looks more than  reasonable and he is not only drawn in the right side but has the leading apprentice, the talented 2,5kg claimer Blaine Marx-Jacobson aboard. Blindfire relishes this course and distance and is drawn on the right side. Taking A Risk is drawn on the right side and this distance suited son of Fire Away has been knocking hard off this same mark and is drawn on the right side.

The ninth is over 1200m and Oriental Bouquet is in good form and has a nice high draw so could find the winner’s enclosure off a mark three points higher than her last win and with the in form Mickaelle Michel aboard, whose 1,5kg gender claim equates to the three point Oriental Bouquet has to find to match her previous winning performance. Belle Of Angelus drops to a lower class and from a good draw should have a chance, although she was beaten by both Oriental Bouquet and Spy Story when widely drawn on the Inside track last time. Daring Act should give a good account of himself in this lower class. Zoombomber has a high draw and should be right there. Kotinos will be a factor under Gavin Lerena if able to overcome a low draw.

In the third race over 1000m Staggerwing looks a racing certainty on formlines and is drawn on te right side too, although he does return from a short layoff.

In the second race over 1000m Tiger Magic ran a cracker on debut and from a good draw will be hard to beat under Gavin Lerena. Buffalo King Cody has a low draw which might make it tough, but he has a form chance if his last run is ignored.

Samuel Sharpe looks the one to beat in the first race with the 1,5kg gender claim of Savannah Valjalo being a bonus.

RACE 1

This won’t take much winning and SAMUEL SHARPE should prove too good for these rivals if making any improvement in first-time blinkers. HEROIC ACT and COMIC ARTIST have the form and experience to pose a threat but have less scope than the selection.

RACE 2

BUFFALO KING CODY was beaten at prohibitive odds last time but there were legitimate excuses that day and he could atone if bouncing back to earlier form. TIGER MAGIC was a game-in-defeat 2nd on debut and with natural improvement should play another leading role. Newcomers EVENING PARADE, FIERCENESS, SNOWBLADE, TENAREEF and THE BUFFALO are worth a market check on debut. Follow the betting moves!

RACE 3

STAGGERWING wasn’t disgraced (4th) in a Listed race when last seen and a repeat of that performance back in maiden company should suffice on her reappearance. RUBY WHISPER was a well-beaten 2nd last time but her form and experience stands her in good stead. MOLTEN ROCK could also have a role to play if building on the improvement of her last start. Newcomers MINERVA FAE and WINTER VOICE are worth a market check.

RACE 4

CARTAGENA caught the eye when a fast-finishing 3rd over 2000m on her return from a break and this longer trip will be more to her liking. She is drawn wide but weighted to be competitive. SILVER FLARE and PLAY WITH FIRE are closely matched on recent form and also favorably treated by the conditions. CHABAL was 2nd over track and trip last time and should have a say in the outcome off an unchanged mark. Recent maiden winner GREEN MACHINE has enjoyed going 2000m and could have more to offer over this extended trip on handicap debut. Stablemate SPECIAL STAR fits a similar profile so is respected.

RACE 5

BOUNDLESS LOVE has thrived on the Highveld and could improve sufficiently in his peak outing to follow up under a 5-point penalty. ORANGE COUNTY has a bit to find on his last-start conqueror but will pose more of a threat over the extra 200m. SHOREYBOMBA is weighted to get closer so could play a role in the outcome. Consistent ART NOUVEAU, hard-knocker PAGE BOY and lightly raced 3yo FORCE PUBLIQUE complete the shortlist.

RACE 6

ROCK MY BOAT deservedly shed his maiden tag last time and this seems like a winnable opportunity on handicap debut off his opening mark. NORTHERN KITTEN, CREPUSCOLO and ITSNOWORNEVER are hard knockers with the means to challenge for top honours. However, the same applies to class-dropper SHEETS AND GOGGLES off a reduced mark.

RACE 7

SOSORU was an impressive wide-margin winner on handicap and the step up in class under an 8-point penalty may not be enough to prevent him from completing the hat-trick. Fellow last-start scorer IT’S PERSONAL also remains competitive under a penalty. JUST THE TWO OF US, LEAD THE CHARGE and ESPINOZA have the form and experience at this level to make their presence felt too.

RACE 8

Youngster CATFISH was outclassed in a 2yo sales race last time over 1160m and the return to this trip in calmer waters, albeit against older opposition, will be more to his liking. TAKING A RISK and INAFIX are consistent handicappers with the means to fight out the finish. Recent maiden winners GUNBOAT and HAMMER BLOW could improve to have a say on their handicap debuts. Beware of reserve runner TWENTYTWENTYVISION.

RACE 9

DADS DREAM improved with blinkers fitted to run out a wide-margin winner of an 1160m maiden last time and with the headgear retained and further progress expected, he could prove a lot better than his opening mark. SPY STORY, ZOOMBOMBER, KOTINOS and ORIENTAL BOUQUET are proven at this level and will test the 2yo selection. NKANDLA GOLD and DARING ACT appeal most of the remainder.

Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Redcar and Windsor (UK) – 25 May 2026.

Andrew Harrison

Hollywoodbets Scottsville patrons were treated to a brilliant display of jockeyship and courageous horses on Saturday with all nine races highly contested, none more so than the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint Brough to you by The Witness and Gr1 Gold Medallion, the headline features on the day.

Close finishes are what always what get the pulse racing but when two top class horses go head-to-head it takes the heart beat a few beats higher and that is what patrons got in the Gr1 Gold Medallion.

Rich Man’s World had shown that he was a horse to be reckoned with when disposing of the highly rated Master Magician at his last start and Haute Couture was still an unknown even after demolishing his maiden field on debut just two weeks back.

Both horses jumped well and it was clear a long way out that it was going to be a match race. Callan Murray sat Haute Couture in behind Richard Fourie on Rich Man’s Gold with the balance of the field not in the race.

From there on it was a case of who was going to blink first, Fourie or Murray. Leaving the 400m lollipop behind Murray’s arms were the first to push but Fourie was wise to the move and over the final 200m it was anyone’s race with two smart colts giving it their best with Haute Couture just out-lasting Rich Man’s Gold.

Murray said post-race, “When Richard’s horse was a bit keen I thought that I would just take a seat off him. My horse is very tractable. That’s going to help him a lot going forward, switch him off and turn him on whenever I need him to. Today he turned on when I asked him and put a really good field to bed.”

“Today we saw two fantastic horses,” said winning trainer Mathew de Kock. “We hope to see them against each other in the future.”

If the Medallion was a tactical battle, the Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint Brough to you by the Witness was a scrambled egg for the two main contenders, Asiye Phambili and Double Grand Slam.

The pair were in all sorts of trouble 400 m out, both faced with a wall of traffic as the field concertinaed up the inside rail. Asiye Phambili was under big pressure through the halfway mark with Sean Veale hard at work chasing Double Grand Slam who looked to have got the drop on Duncan Howells’s mare. Veale then switched his mount out into daylight and Asiye Phambili responded with a sustained finish. Andrew Fortune had his own troubles finding a passage and eventually shifted in dramatically to find a gap. When it opened, Double Grand Slam quickened through and the race boiled down to a 200m battle with two great mares fighting it out and the balance watching.

There was a head separating them at the line but Asiye Phambili went one better than she did last year and a well-deserved Gr1 victory and Sean Veale finally vindicated.

The Gr2 Golden Horse Sprint was always going to be a dogfight and so it proved as the majority of the 16-horse field finished within three lengths of the winner Taxi To The Moon in a thrilling spectacle.

Tony Peter’s gelding had shown his best recent form over 1000m and there were doubts about whether he would see out the extra furlong in tough company.

Given Tristan Godden’s pre-race instructions, the stable were never any doubt that Taxi To The Moon would see out the trip and although it was a close-run thing at the finish the gelding poked his nose in front when it mattered. He edged out Café Culture and favourite One Eye On Vegas  with reserve runner Kaalvoet finishing strongly for the shallow end of the purse.

It was something of a chance mount for Godden who had to hunt around for a ride but he is riding with great confidence since his win in the Gr1 Betway Summer Cup and so it proved.

Instructions were to have his mount in the vanguard. “At the 600 I let him find himself, give him a bit of a breather and he quickened up very well.”

Dennis Drier was once regarded as the ‘King of Scottsville’ but Sean Tarry has since taken over the mantle. The Allan Robertson Fillies Championship was always in the past a Gr1 race before being down-graded to Gr2 an Tarry was denied his 22^nd Gr1 at the Hollywoodbets Scottsville track as Get Up simply destroyed a smart field under Gavin Lerena.

Always in the vanguard, Lerna said,  “It was just about getting her into a rhythm and she is so natural. She really enjoyed it out there and I just hung onto her as long as I could, as I always thought that I had a very good filly under me. She’s won a very good race.”

Tarry was looking for a crack at the colts in the Gr1 Gold Medallion. “ I was looking to see where she would fit in as this was a Gr1 and this is no longer a Gr1. It’s heart breaking. These are proper races that have been down-graded. We were going for the Gr1 but at the last minute Kevin (Somerville, Drakenstein’s racing manager) said hang on, let’s go for the Gr2,” that in hindsight was probably the best move given the results.

David Thiselton

The Jackpot of Graded features at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday culminated in six-year-old Asiye Phambili becoming the most deserved Gr 1 winner for the last season or two under an outstanding ride by Sean Veale in the SA Fillies Sprint.

It was an emotional moment all round for Veale, the Hollywood Racing team and for trainer Duncan Howells when the slow motion replay showed that the 2/1 chance Asiye Phambili had prevailed by an official margin of a neck over the 18/10 favourite Double Grand Slam.

Howells is not known for outward displays of emotion and said in an interview on Sunday, “It is the closest a horse has ever brought me to tears. It was a race I really wanted to win and it was chiefly for the horse’s sake. I felt it was the best highlight of my training career, it was really very, very special.”

The strong but athletically built What A Winter filly actively looked proud of herself after the race as she trotted back to her groom.

She stood for a moment with head raised majestically, ears pricked and surveyed her surrounds. After a number of near misses she was finally able to say, “I am the Champ.”

Duncan continued, “She is a lovely filly and is one of those horses that grows on you.”

Sean Veale was emotional afterwards too and thanked Hollywood Racing’s racing manager Anthony Delpech for “having his back” as the choice of jockey.

Gavin Lerena is the other chief Hollywood Racing jockey and had ridden Asiye Phambili in her last start in Cape Town in the Diadem. He was on the injury list when Asiye Phambili had her first start of this season’s Champions Season in the traditional SA Fillies Sprint pointer race, the Gr 3 Poinsettia Stakes over the same Hollywoodbets Scottsville 1200m course and distance, a race in which she put in one of her most impressive career performances, running out a 3,70 length winner under Veale.

It would not have been an easy choice for Delpech. considering Lerena is a twice SA Champion Jockey and is the reigning Champion.

Delpech opted to keep Veale aboard and Howells knew he had made the right decision.

He said, “I wouldn’t have thought it fair to put on a jockey who had only ridden her once. He had to have somebody on the horse who knew the horse, it wasn’t a debate about the expertise of riders. Sean Veale knew the horse backwards. You can’t change that and you may never get another chance of winning a race like this. Sometimes it could work against you, but I felt in this situation it would work in her favour.”

Veale paid back the faith shown in him with the ride of the season.

Pre-race planning goes into any race and with this Gr 1 being viewed as a two horse race between Double Grand Slam and Asiye Phambili it could be predicted that it might boil down to the tactics employed by the two  jockeys involved, Andrew Fortune and Sean Veale respectively.

In Hollywoodbets Scottsville’s big sprint races the horses tend to drift from the outside draws inward and this creates traffic problems for horses coming from off the pace from inside positions.

With Fortune drawn ten and Veale eight it was predictable that Fortune would sit on the outside of Veale and box Asiye Phambili in … and that is exactly what he did.

However, Veale responded superbly to the situation even if it initially looked like the filly was in trouble as she ended up further back than she would have liked.

He dropped Asiye Phambili behind Double Grand Slam and with the pace on in the race he began driving her to build up momentum for an early move.

Meanwhile, Fortune’s tactic did have its consequences because Princess Of Gaul came from a wide draw and sat on his outside, forcing him to check slightly before diving for a gap all the way to the inside.

Michael Roberts, South Africa’s only Hall Of Fame jockey was known for his tactical superiority and he based it all on doing what the other jockeys had least expected.

Veale then delivered his trump card.

He switched to the outside of Princess Of Gaul and began charging for the line just after the 400m mark, plotting a straight course to the line, an unexpected move considering the best going had appeared, from previous races on the day, to be on the inside.

Meanwhile, Fortune had burst clear on the inside rail and it would be reasonable to assume he believed Asiye Phambili to be buried somewhere back in the scrum. He must have been shocked to see her surging up to him wide out in the centre.

Asiye Phambili did begin hanging towards her rival, as is natural for a racehorse, but she had momentum on her side.

They flashed past the line together just a couple of metres apart.

Howells thought she had been beaten.

He said, “Last year I thought she had got beat but thought we had a squeak of winning it. This year I genuinely thought she had got beat.”

Duncan was over the moon when the slow motion replay confirmed she had clearly won, although the official margin of a neck is surprising … it looked closer even in the slow motion replay.

Duncan reflected on the moment two years ago when the preparation had gone just as perfectly as it had this year only for the jockey Rachel Venniker to be dislodged at the start after Asiye Phambili had pecked badly.

He said whilst he did not think she was better today than back then he believed her to be tougher.

“She is a very hardy filly, she’s been going flat out for three years and traveling up and down and she’s never let us down. She has been a bit of a miracle horse.”

Duncan revealed the key to preparing an older mare like her, “Older horses sometimes maintain their fitness better than younger horses because they have been through the mill before and often, as is the case with her, you have to keep them fresh to maintain their attitude.”

Duncan had bumped into Andrew Fortune in Checkers on Friday night and there was a bit of banter.

On Sunday he magnanimously praised Fortune for a fine tactical ride, but was outwardly proud of the hard-working Veale for delivering the stable its ninth Gr 1 victory.