South Africa’s Champion Season is still a month off but hands are being raised at every meeting with Cape Speed the latest to show Classic potential at Greyville yesterday.

“He’s a smart horse,” said Dean Kannemeyer. “But I don’t think the penny has quite dropped,” he added after the son of Ideal World had disposed of his four opponents. This was his fourth win from eight starts, his second on the bounce after being gelded. “He was a rig so we had no choice. We took him to Cape Town where he won one but I think it was bothering him,” Kannemeyer continued. “He may still need blinkers to sharpen him up …. I think he will stay 2400m.”

Cape Speed (Nkosi Hlophe)

Anthony Delpech concurred. “He’s a lazy bugger. You saw how I had to wake him up in the ring and I trotted him around at the start.”

Cape Speed races in the same Khaya Stable silks of Lady Christine Laidlaw that Power King carried to victory in last year’s Vodacom Durban July and while Cape Speed has a way to go, the signs are good.

The same combination was back in business half-an-hour later as Never Settle made light of a six-month break to deny the strongly fancied Bagger Vance. “We thought he was our best two-year-old last season,” Delpech revealed in his earlier interview. Never Settle obviously has as he was well supported in the market and came from near last to land the honours.

Racing lore dictates that one race is the equal of four home gallops in bringing a horse on and that was pretty much the case as Zelig hit the front from the jump and galloped the opposition into the ground in the first. The unraced Desert Winter opened favourite but Zelig supports took the bookies to the cleaners as Gavin van Zyl’s runner was backed in to 16-10 from an opening call of 7-1.

“He was very unlucky in his first start. He got squeezed out and dug in his toes,” said Warren Kennedy, but the run obviously brought him on. “We jumped him through the starting stalls with some quite decent horses and he put up a good gallop,” Van Zyl summed up. “He will go a ‘mile’ and has got a bright future ahead of him.” Good news for his legion of owners, many on course to lead in the son of Lateral.

Never Settle (Nkosi Hlophe)

The bookies were wise to Spice Girl in the second and Anton Marcus, taking a leaf out of the Kenney book, had the 4-10 favourite out and running from the start. “She did it the hard way and I think she’s a very decent filly. Thank God we have a share,” commented Charles Laird making music for the ears of Alesh Naidoo in whose silks the filly races. “I want to go for the big races,” said the prolific owner. “I’m tired of the little ones.”

Even the stable cat is in danger of being saddled up while the Tarry yard is in such mustard form as Ostentation gave log-leading Sean Tarry another winner. Owner Chris van Niekerk is probably the best ‘horse’ in the yard but he is very well rewarded as Tarry places his horses expertly and has them right on the day. Long-time assistant Deshone Steyn saddled up for apprentice Lyle Hewitson yesterday where his 4kg claim was the difference between victory and defeat. Registering the sixth win of his professional career, Hewitson edged out former champion Marcus aboard the front-running Victory Takeover.

A drop in distance and merit rating was enough to get Shap Shap home for Brian Burnard with Gareth van Zyl and Warren Kennedy working out how to race the tearaway gelding. “He ran away with me last time,” admitted Kennedy of the strapping son of Noordhoek Flyer. “He fights you all the time and he fought me behind the pens so I just let him stride. He had had enough in the end but it was a win full of merit.”

By Andrew Harrison