Warren Lenferna
Hollywoodbets Kenilworth is where the action will be today. Eight races, brought to you by Race Coast, are on the card, with the first getting underway at 13:15 and the lucky last at 17:20. It is a wonderful time of the year to be in Cape Town, as the evenings remain bright and warm.
More and more Apprentice races are being staged around the country, giving the emerging talent from the world-class South African Jockey Academy greater opportunities to showcase their skills and improve through race-riding experience. There are two such races today — races two and seven. Race two is a Class 5 over 1600 metres and opens the Place Accumulator, while race seven is a D Stakes over 1200 metres and serves as the penultimate event on the programme.
In race two, seven runners will face the starter, with Diogenes an early scratching. Beer With The Boys, for Lucinda Woodruff and Brevan Plaatjies, jumps from gate one and makes his stable debut. He brings decent form and should run well, making him a definite inclusion for quartet punters. State Capitol, from the Glen Kotzen yard with Jacey Botes aboard, is taking time to win again and will need to improve to threaten, and is likely to be an outsider. Sesame, also trained by Kotzen, has caught the eye in both her runs since breaking her maiden and should relish the claim from Sifisokuhle Bungane. She looks a solid first-four contender.
Gold Index, ridden by Varun Jodhee for Herman Brown and the Social Squad ownership group, finished behind Hiawatha Goldberg last time but looks set to get much closer now. He could be the lurker in the pack and offers some value. Hiawatha Goldberg, also from the Brown stable and representing the same connections, showed huge improvement in his stable debut. With that run under his belt, he should be much fitter and can go on to win. In A Timely Manner is lightly raced and clearly progressive; this is his second run since being gelded and he has a major chance of putting it all together today for Justin Snaith, Nicola Yuen and their owners. Ignite The Fire, for Paddy Kruyer and Damyan Pillay, will start from the widest draw. He recently shed his maiden and now steps up in class, but could still be up to the challenge.
Hiawatha Goldberg is preferred, ahead of In A Timely Manner, with Sesame and Gold Index also expected to run well.
The second Apprentice race of the day is race seven over 1200 metres, where eight runners will charge down the Kenilworth straight. True Horizon caught the eye when running on strongly last time and looks capable of another bold effort with Adam Marcus and Damyan Pillay combining. Avignon, for Piet Botha and Brevan Plaatjies, should be cherry-ripe for his third run after a layoff. Très Chic had excuses last time but must show improvement on current form, and others are preferred. Varun Jodhee takes the ride.
Fort Red, an eight-year-old campaigner, is seldom far off the action and seems to have found the ideal field in which to run a big race, perhaps even securing another victory. Gravity found one better last time and looks the horse they all have to beat. United We Stand remains a maiden and appears held by stronger opposition. Lovers Lane, from the Reeves stable with Nicola Yuen aboard, has been consistent and, despite taking time to win again, looks ready now. He has earned in most of his recent runs. Black Path is ultra-consistent and cannot be ignored in any calculations.
Gravity is the narrow choice, ahead of Lovers Lane, with Black Path and Fort Red expected to make their presence felt.
