Andrew Harrison

CAPTAIN FONTANE had garnered a reputation before he even set foot on a racetrack and he gave credence to those views with a smashing victory in the last at Hollywoodbets Greyville today.

A comfortable winner on debut, that form was rubber-stamped when runner up Hail Columbia hacked up at Hollywoodbets Scottsville last Sunday.

Today’s performance was something out of the top drawer as Garth Puller’s charge spread-eagled the opposition, putting five lengths of daylight between them.

Missing the kick, Lyle Hewitson managed to slot him in on the rail and hold his position. But once off the false rail, Captain Fontane extended like a really good horse to win as he liked.

A pricey yearling purchase, Captain Fontane is owned by Hong Kong-based trainer David Ferraris and his partner C.W. Hui. With Hewitson having completed an extended if fruitless spell in Hong Kong, he will be in a position to give Ferraris valuable feedback and the green light for the Far East may well be flickering.

 There are few riders that can get a horse out of the gate quicker than the rest. Anton Marcus is a past master and anything drawn wide that prefers to race handy and is on the rail before the opposition has woken up to the fact that they are in a race.

The Ghan may have, in the end, have proven to be a touch superior to his rivals as Marcus made plenty of early use of him, giving him a breather up the hill before skating away to win the second.

The race was the second leg of a double for the rider and Brett Crawford’s assistant Peter Muscutt as Marcus had employed similar tactics in the card opener as he catapulted odds-on favourite Deep Thought out of the gate and was never there for the catching.

That was two favourites home before the wheels came off as far as many punters were concerned.

Aquae Sulis, second at her penultimate start but never sighted last time up, started the rot as she got home comfortably for Mike Miller with Ashton Arries breaking an extended drought.

Born To Perform was the next favourite to bite the dust and was never in the hunt as Hexatonic and champion jockey Warren Kennedy got the better Special Blend inside the last 50m.

Hexatonic and Aquae Sulis (R42 on the tote) both returned 14-1 on the books.

One can count on one hand horses that have made it past 100 visits to the track in the past two decades, but at nine years old Putchini is still playing the right tune as he notched his 11^th success from 112 starts. Ivan van Wyk has never been shy to run his charge who at times has run twice a month for six months in succession, testimony the geldings iron constitution.

DAVID THISELTON
ST. John Gray (pictured) and Sherman Brown both rattled off hattricks at Turffontein Inside yesterday and one leg of the double they had together was Dance Class, who has now won five in a row and is threatening to become the next black-type earner in a Gray-owned family whose star member was Dance Class’s close relative, Dancewiththedevil.
The latter looked to the casual observer to be a useful handicapper halfway through her four-year-old season before beating a Grade 1 winner in a Graduation Plate and then proving that was no fluke by winning the Grade 3 Acacia Handicap, the Grade 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes and the Grade 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes within a period of six weeks. 
She later won the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge and the Grade 1 Sansui Summer Cup.
Dance Class, who won over 2000m yesterday carrying 57,5kg off an 87 merit rating, has a long way to go to match those feats.
However, being a late maturer is not the only similarity she has to Dancewiththedevil.
Firstly, she is by the same sire, Modus Vivendi, and is out of the five-time winning Jam Alley mare Dance Alley, who is a half-sister to Dancewiththedevil.
She is not quite as classy as Dancewiththedevil was but like her, she is not tall but is strong and has a tremendous turn of foot.
She took a while to get going from a handy position yesterday but once she hit top gear she passed her full-sister Jive Express and then fetched the topweight Heartstwings to win by a comfortable 1,50 lengths.
Gray said in the post-race interview that her acceleration indeed reminded him of her famous three-parts relative and he concluded by saying she was not far off Dancewiththedevil’s class and would also be especially effective on the Turffontein Standside track.
Gray won the first two races at the meeting with the progeny of Bezrin.
The first-timer colt After Hours, who is a half-brother to the three-time winner Grindelwald, started favourite in the first over 1200m and ran on well under Brown to win by 0,75 lengths.
The filly Feather The Nest, who is out of three-time winning Announce mare Nesting Call, ran on well in the second over 1200m and just held on under S’Manga Khumalo to convert odds of 5-1, having been backed in from 13-1.
Gray owns and bred all three of his winners. 
Brown’s other winner was the favourite for the third over 1200m, the Paul Peter-trained Var filly Way Of The World. 
Peter scored a treble for the second time in five days and both Khumalo and Piere Strydom rode doubles. 

DEVONNE GOVENDER
GLEN Kotzen takes Coral Bay and Je Ne Sais Quoi to PE for the Jockey Club Stakes (Listed) at Fairview on Friday. Coral Bay could be the value bet of the day at ante-post odds of 11-1. She has run in strong company, finishing third in her penultimate run behind Myabi Gold.
Her las run can be ignored as Kotzen said, ‘’she over raced, but she is eating up well and I expect a decent performance with a big run .”
Je Ne Sais Quoi will probably prefer this 2000m and could be on her way to stud after this run.
Others to watch are Elusive Heart, who should be involved if she stays the trip. Another to keep an eye on is American Princess who tops the betting boards at 3-1. She does have solid form to recommend in an open betting race where there could be healthy dividends all round.
Modakhar in Race 2 is the best bet of the day with current odds of 22-10. The son of Flower Alley will love the step up in trip and will take a power of beating on current form with jockey Wayne Agrella aboard.

GLEN Kotzen takes Coral Bay and Je Ne Sais Quoi to PE for the Jockey Club Stakes (Listed) at Fairview on Friday. Coral Bay could be the value bet of the day at ante-post odds of 11-1. She has run in strong company, finishing third in her penultimate run behind Myabi Gold.
Her las run can be ignored as Kotzen said, ‘’she over raced, but she is eating up well and I expect a decent performance with a big run .”
Je Ne Sais Quoi will probably prefer this 2000m and could be on her way to stud after this run.
Others to watch are Elusive Heart, who should be involved if she stays the trip. Another to keep an eye on is American Princess who tops the betting boards at 3-1. She does have solid form to recommend in an open betting race where there could be healthy dividends all round.
Modakhar in Race 2 is the best bet of the day with current odds of 22-10. The son of Flower Alley will love the step up in trip and will take a power of beating on current form with jockey Wayne Agrella aboard.

DAVID THISELTON

ANDREW Fortune, assistant trainer to his wife Ashley, brought down a couple of horses to gallop on the Hollywoodbets Greyville polytrack before the racemeeting yesterday including Grade 1 contenders Invidia, Chantyman and Validus.

Fortune learnt a lot from the trainer he regarded as the best he had ever worked with, Joey Ramsden, and believes it is important for the lungs to be cleaned out properly in a hard workout ten days before a big event.

Therefore Invidia and Chantyman were galloped together and Validus was worked hard with a companion.

Invidia and Chantyman both put in good workouts and will be ridden by S’Manga Khumalo and Ant Mgudlwa respectively in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m. They were drawn eleven and four respectively among the 15 who were still standing their ground at time of writing.

Invidia won the CTS 1200 on Sun Met day and in his reappearance after lockdown finished a half-a-length second to Eden Roc in the Grade 2 Post Merchants over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville. In the Grade 1 Golden Horse Sprint over that same course and distance he was shifted continually outward from a seemingly good low draw and finished a 1,85 length sixth. He was carrying only 52kg that day so now faces a much tougher task under weight for age conditions.

Chantyman had to give Invidia 4kg in the Post Merchants and was beaten 3,65 lengths by him. He subsequently won a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1100m on the poly on Vodacom Durban July day. However, under weight for age conditions he also has it all to do. 

Invidia will be 8,5kg under sufferance in the Mercury with the highest rated horse Kasimir and Chantyman will be 4,5kg under sufferance.

Validus did nothing wrong under Anton Marcus in yesterday’s workout but the companion he worked with, a first-timer, was particularly eyecatching.

Dynasty colt Validus made his debut in the Grade 1 Golden Horse Medallion over 1200m and finished a not disgraced 8,50 length eighth after opening at 13-2 and drifting out to 14-1. He followed that up with a 1,90 length win over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville at odds of 9-10. He was ridden by Craig Zackey on both occasions but Anton Marcus has been booked for the ride in the Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes over 1600m on WSB Gold Cup day. Validus was drawn 12 out of the 15 horses still standing their ground at the time of writing.  

DAVID THISELTON

ADAM Marcus sent the Grade 1 Thekwini contender Princess Calla to Hollywoodbets Greyville today for a gallop on the polytrack and the classy looking daughter of Flower Alley strode out well on her own under Anton Marcus.

Marcus also spoke about some of the other big guns in his yard.

The chief reason for Princess Calla’s move to the Adam Marcus yard is that she will be targeted at the Grade 1 Cape Fillies Guineas.

The Mario Ferreira-owned filly made a fine debut for Dennis Bosch over 1200m on the poly and, using her big action, pulled away from them in the closing stages to win by 3,20 lengths.

She is rated a 14-1 chance by Track And Ball for the Thekwini.

However, Anton Marcus commented after today’s gallop that she was still very green.

She is drawn nine of the 18 entries. The field will be cut to a maximum of 14 at the declaration stage tomorrow.

She is also entered in the Grade 2 Debutante Stakes over 1200m.

She will be the Adam Marcus yard’s only runner on Gold Cup day.

However, he is looking after two WSB Gold Cup contenders from the Geoff Woodruff yard, Dharma and Sunshine Silk, who have both landed good draws.

He said they had both been doing well.    

Marcus explained the reason for Vardy to return home to Cape Town and thus miss the Champions Cup.

He said Hollywodbets Greyville in fast going had not suited the big 17 hands horse especially when the race was turned into a canter and sprint for home. He also said shortly after the July that it had now been confirmed he did not stay that sort of trip.

He added, “The Champions Cup would have been the best race for him but I spoke to the owners and told them by the time he gets home after that race and then has his African Horse Sickness Vaccinations there would not be enough time for him to prepare for the Cape Summer Season so we opted to skip the race and send him home.”

He said Twist Of Fate’s disappointing KZN campaign this season could be put down to increasingly problematic haemoconcentrating. He has duly been gelded.

DAVID THISELTON

DONOVAN Dillon was at Hollywoodbets Greyville well before today’s meeting to ride the Kumaran Naidoo-trained Grade 1 Thekwini contender Vihaan’s Pie in a gallop on the poly.

He will have some other good rides on Gold Cup day including the Vodacom Durban July-trained Golden Ducat in the Grade 1 Champions Cup and he spoke at length about the potential of this Eric Sands-trained stalwart.

Vihaan’s Pie put up a good workout and Dillon said she was a lot better than the form of her last run suggested.

In that race, the Grade 2 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper over 1400m, she was caught wide early from a high draw and although she did eventually find cover her finishing effort was not strong enough and she passed the line in ninth place, 5,35 lengths behind the winner. 

The good looking chestnut is by Futura and is a half-sister to the Grade 1 Cape Guineas third-placed MacThief (Time Thief), so should enjoy this trip. Her mother, Yellow Card by Trippi, only had seven starts and won two of the first four of them over distances of 1200m and 1400m respectively.

Vihaan’s Pie is drawn ten out of 18 entries and is rated a 36-1 shot by Track And Ball. The field will be cut down to a maximum of 14 at the declaration stage tomorrow and this race will undoubtedly have one of the strongest fields on the day. 

Meanwhile, Golden Ducat has drawn nine out of eleven entries in the Champions Cup and Track And Ball have him as the 10-1 fourth favourite.

Dillon said this Philanthropist half-brother to Hawwaam and Rainbow Bridge did not yet know how good he was and reckoned he would win next year’s July.

Golden Ducat’s performance in the July this year was incredible considering he raced handy behind a blistering pace and had no cover virtually the whole way around and yet still managed to stay on for a 1,90 length fourth. 

Dillon said the strong pace had suited the big galloper as he was a horse who liked to use his action. 

Golden Ducat’s July run suggests he has oodles of stamina and Dillon agreed he would have been a big runner in the Gold Cup, a race he might be aimed at in time to come. However, Sands is wisely sticking to the classic distance Grade 1 races at present considering he has been showing enough speed to be a contender and is improving all the time. The Cape Derby winner did not handle Hollywoodbets Greyville in his first two starts this season but the fitting of a new noseband did the trick for the July.

Dillon’s successful effort in slimming down to 53kg to make the weight for Golden Ducat in the July did not receive the accolades it deserved. Although his official riding weight is 56,5kg the tall youngster had been walking around at 59kg in some stages of this season. He said he had taken advice from experienced jockeys and formulated a three meal a day routine with a limited number of calories and the pounds had come off. He said he had not felt any weaker for it but had fallen ill a couple of weeks after the July, so his body had obviously felt the effects. Today’s meeting was his first since August 5.

Dillon felt Golden Ducat had a tough task at the weights in the Champions Cup against the like of Rainbow Bridge and Do It Again but he was confident this horse would have a fine season and he was obviously hoping to keep the ride for his Cape campaign.

PHUMELELA’s Business Rescue Practitioner, John Evans, has published his long-awaited Business Plan, in which it has been established that MOD (Mary Oppenheimer Daughters), has provisionally acquired the horse racing assets and business from the embattled company following a head-to-head contest with UK Bookmaker, Betfred.

In effect this means that, on approval of the Business Plan by Phumelela’s creditors and regulatory authorities, MOD will take control of Phumelela’s racing assets and establish its vision and own management for the business of racing thereafter.

Approval of the plan, with or without modification, will depend on the outcome of a creditors meeting to be held electronically on the Zoom platform on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 at 11am.

ANDREW HARRISON

A top stable, a top jockey, an international owner, a blue-blood pedigree and a R2 million price tag do not necessarily make for a racing certainty but Blue School Baby ticks all those boxes and the gentlemen of the crossbar – named when they stood out in the weather under an umbrella – have taken no chances and 14-10 was about the best price on offer ante-post yesterday.

The opposition in the second at Hollywoodbets Greyville today does not look particularly strong although Lucy Lu has the benefit of a run and the experience. Slow out but finishing strongly, Lezeanne Forbes’s filly is sure to have made some improvement from that outing and should give Blue School Baby a run for her money.

Most punters took a pounding a Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday and they could be in for further punishment on what looks to be a decidedly difficult card where obvious bankers are in short supply.

There should not be much between Ticket To Cairo and Precious Love in the opening leg of the PA with just over a length separating the pair when last they met. The former is a short-priced joint favourite while Precious Love, who was making her local debut and having her first run in five months, is 14-1.

However, Johan Janse van Vuuren saddles two debutants in On A High Note and Wildeye, both short in the market.

Celtic Voyager, a smart winner on VDJ Day can back up that win in the first leg of the jackpot. With apprentice Jabu Jacobs claiming 2.5kg, his handicap penalty has been nullified. He is a possible banker but once you look past him, the field in this Pick 6 leg becomes an option.

Punters face a similar dilemma in the fifth although this time around there does not appear to be an obvious standout. The books are offering 5-1 the field which just about sums the race up.

Whizz Of Odds is slowly coming down in the handicap and gets 4kg off her back. Extravagant was narrowly beaten by Dice Captain last time out but the latter has a tougher draw while Clock Stopper took to the poly last run and can go one better.

Donald McDonald is unbeaten since being put over ground and will be a popular banker in the sixth but Pollard will be a threat after being touched off by the useful Christopher Robin in the KZN Breeders 1900 and the Rivalland stable is coming good.

Santa Vittoria is a tentative choice in the seventh but she is a little too short in the ante-post market at 2-1 as there are plenty among the opposition that will make her gallop, including Super Fluke and Pina Colada although both are hamstrung by a wide gate.

Corvette Captain is a weak favourite for the seventh, another open race, but he is lightly raced and may be looking for the extra furlong now that he is older.

Cliffie Miller has led the way for his fellow former Kimberley-based colleagues with three successes so far but it could be the turn of Sarel Von Willingh Smit in the last where he saddles Rock To The Music with Miller’s Mambo Lyric a likely threat.

Warren Kennedy is one of many jockeys that are able to travel interprovincially to ride.

FOLLOWING the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday evening (15 August 2020) that the Covid-19 restrictions in South Africa being relaxed to Lockdown level 2 regulations effective 18 August 2020, which in essence indicates a moderate Covid-19 spread with a high health system readiness. Our racing districts are no longer classified as “hot spots”.   The NHA is pleased to announce further amendments to its current protocols.

• Riders travel restrictions will be lifted. (Interprovincial travel allowed).

• The Racing Operators can determine the time of the last race, but the carded time of the final event should NOT be later than 21h30.

• The field sizes can revert back to normal as per the Racing Operator conditions.

The status quo as per the following rules remain effective:

• Owners are permitted to enter the racecourse subject to the strict protocols as issued by the Racing Operators and the Racing Association.
• Any persons with comorbidities shall NOT be able to attend a race meeting.

Further relaxations may be implemented in conjunction with the status of the Coronavirus pandemic, together with any positive changes to the Government’s adjusted risk strategy.

The NHA is again pleading to all participants to continue to self-regulate regarding prevention and hygiene practices.  Although the Covid-19 pandemic has now reached its peak in South Africa, the scientific and worldwide statistics, have also shown a resurgence of the virus after same has been achieved in other countries. Therefore, we cannot become complacent or abandon any of our health precautions that we know are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.  Individual responsibility will go a long way in assisting the South African Horseracing Industry to be in the position to be able to continue racing and to create value and the ultimate sustainability of the sport.

ANDREW HARRISON

BY their high standards, the Dennis Drier stable has been quiet since racing resumed after lockdown but it was business as usual at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday with three winners lifting the gloom.

Most impressive was maiden winner Hail Columbia and given Drier’s high praise for the Irish import, the gelding is definitely a horse for the notebook.

Although bred to northern hemisphere time which puts him six months behind others of his generation, he has been a late starter mainly due to his aversion to the starting stalls.

“He has been a bit of a nightmare at the pens,” revealed stable rider Sean Veale. “Many thanks to (horse  behaviouralist) Mike Shaw.” The starters assistants were given some work to do before taking up his gate but there were no serious issues.

Hail Columbia was hard into the bit for the first few furlongs but still had plenty to come when Veale eventually released the handbrake.

Well fancied on debut, he came up against the highly rated Captain Fontane, but both Drier and Veale were disappointed that they got beaten. “I thought he would win,” said Drier, “but he bumped a bloody good horse and Garth’s horse is going somewhere.”

“If people were watching closely, my horse slipped coming out of the pens. We could have finished a lot closer,” said Veal.

“I think (mine) is a progressive little horse,” concluded Drier.

Earlier the stable sent out Spring High who also let the side down on debut. “He was so green,” said Veale. “The boss was clever and put on the blinkers.”

“We though he would win and were disappointed but we put on a little pair of blinkers,” confirmed Drier.

Three runs later Dieci completed the Drier treble as the mare backed up her last win with a stout effort to get the better of favourite Georgina Rose.

Solid Gold has always had potential but has never been the easiest to catch ‘right’. He was in a galloping mood yesterday and in spite of stretching Serino Moodley’s arms in the early exchanges, he quickened smartly in the straight to hold a fast-finishing Brass Bell and give Michael Roberts a double with Rachel Venniker doing the honours on Enjoy The View in the Workriders Conditional Plate.

A seasoned punter once opined that when the weather changes suddenly before a racemeeting one needs to be wary of upset results. His prophecy rang true yesterday, with berg wind to freezing overnight. Solid Gold (10-1) started the Pick 6 rot and after the last leg was run the pay-out was to 0.05 tickets with R1093554.50 carried over to another day.