Winners proved difficult to find at Greyville yesterday with upset results the order of the day, but the first race back on the turf track after a three-month spring break saw the progressive Miss Minver take her tally of victories to four from six starts in the Beekman Management Services KZN 3YO Series Fillies.
Miss Minver (Nkosi Hlophe)
Dean Kannemeyer’s Dynasty filly boasts a smart pedigree that suggest further than a mile is well within her compass and although she met yesterday’s field on favourable weight terms there was very little in it and she could well prove a candidate for the filly’s classics come Champions Season.
Karatage, who easily landed a gamble on debut, was sent out a luke-warm 5-2 favourite but found the step up in class too much to handle and it was left to Onesie to chase home for second.
Kannemeyer and Anthony Delpech were quickly back in the winner’s enclosure as Pure Logic, making her local debut on the back of some good Cape Town form, finished too strongly for the year-older Calabash.
The trainer and jockey combination got their day off to a fine start with Prince Myshkin building on his two smart poly efforts to shed his maiden in the second of the day.
Trainers are quick to latch onto any apprentice that shows a modicum of talent to take advantage of their claim and both Denis Schwarz and Calvin Habib fall into that category. Both recorded doubles yesterday although punters would not have been well pleased as all four were on outsiders. Schwarz was first off the mark on the Belinda Impey-trained She Done Good (27-1) and following up with an excellent ride on Caprivi (18-1) for Des Egdes as he got his mount to quicken smartly over the final 100m to win going away.
Habib scored a quick double on two long-shots, Joshua’s Answer (22-1) for Lizaane Forbes from a wide gate and following up on the Frank Robinson-trained veteran Sounds Positive (22-1) in a particularly courageous ride as he barged through a closing gap.
Less than one percent of the Pick 6 was won resulting in a large carry over.
By Andrew Harrison
