The Grade 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes over 1800m at the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate meeting on Saturday could produce a banker in Front And Centre.

This classy daughter of Dynasty cost herself in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 last season by hanging badly inward. However, she has apparently been cured of that antic and from draw two with Anton Marcus up she looks tough to oppose as she is improving all the time.

The Northern Hemisphere-bred Queen Supreme, who has not yet actually turned four, receives a 1kg hemisphere allowance. She ran an outstanding 1,6 length fourth in the Gauteng Summer Cup and would have strengthened and improved a lot since, so from draw eight will be the chief threat.

Snapscan has also strengthened and improved, which is not surprising being by Oratorio, and she comes off an easy win over this trip in the Grade 3 Victress Stakes in which she went from last to first.

She was well beaten in last year’s Woolavington 2000 but did have the winner of that race, Silvano’s Pride, well beaten in the Victress. She was receiving 3kg from the latter in the Victress and beat her by 3,55 lengths but she was likely more forward as it was her third run of the season. Therefore she will still have something to prove in the Paddock Stakes running against fillies who will be at their peaks, but she is beginning to look the part despite not being imposing.

Santa Clara produced an electric performance in last season’s Grade 2 KRA Fillies Guineas and being by Duke Of Marmalade she will also be coming into her own. However, she has disappointed since that run, first in the Woolavington, then the Garden Province and she has been beaten cosily by Silvano’s Pride and Front And Centre in two respective 1400m outings this season. However, she had tough draws in the former two events and likely needed the latter two. Furthermore, she has never before run over 1800m and that should be her ideal trip, so she could surprise like she did in the KRA Fillies Guineas.

Silvano’s Pride will be cherry ripe having her third run after a rest. The rest will be wary of her trying to gallop them into the ground like she did in the Woolavington, which was also her third run after a layoff. She does have the widest draw of all so might have to do some work to get to the front and that could be her undoing. 

Miyabi Gold beat Snapscan over 1800m in her seasonal reappearance but the form was reversed in the Victress where she was beaten 3,25 lengths. However, she is now 2,5kg better off and being by Silvano will still be as good as ever as a five-year-old and can place.

Driving Miss Daisy is a big three-year-old who is unknown over this trip, but as she was running on well for second in the Cape Fillies Guineas she could be a dark horse here.

Platinum Class looked promising last season but has run two disappointing races this term and has to bounce back.

Drama Queen ran fifth in the Cape Fillies Guineas and could improve over this trip but she would be a surprise winner.   

Water Spirit and Castellano are way out at the weights here and look held.

By David Thiselton

Bernard Fayd’Herbe is a rare visitor to KZN in the off season so when he does make an appearance it is best to take note.

He was aboard King Cyrus when Andre Nel’s runner made his debut at Kenilworth where he found some market support before finishing a little less than five lengths off Cape Of Storms.

That was back in November last year but Nel has a happy knack of earmarking horses that are likely to take to the poly track which is probably the reason for his move to Byron Forster who runs his Summerveld yard.

King Cyrus gets his chance in the first on the poly at Hollywoodbets Greyville today but he may have to take a back seat to the filly Glitter And Gold.

Johan Janse van Vuuren has a solid Summerveld base with seasoned trainer Pat Lunn at the helm and Glitter And Gold made a smart poly debut when second to Whizz Of Odds last time out. Gavin van Zyl’s filly looks headed for bigger things come Champions Season which puts that form into perspective.

Track & Ball have her in the red with King Cyrus second favourite at 4-1.

Fayd’Herbe is often the go-to man for Frank Robinson, the two teaming up recently with Roy’s Riviera in the Flamboyant Stakes on Boxing Day. He has two rides for Robinson, Do Or Dare an obvious stable fancy in the second. The gelding doesn’t know how to run a bad race but has also been costly to follow – a beaten favourite in his last four outings.

With Fayd’Herbe up he may be worth another chance in spite of Chattertons Keeper and Ralph The Rascal more fancied in the market.

Ralph The Rascal impressed in his barrier trial, never coming off the bit and can feature in what stacks up as modest company. Chattertons Keeper was not too far back on debut behind the highly regarded Trip To Africa and should come on from that effort. However, his position at the top of the boards may be more due to the presence of Anton Marcus in the saddle for Wendy Whitehead, not a common combination.

Fayd’Herbe teams up with Princess Analia for Robinson in the fifth where the 12-1 currently on offer looks fairly generous given that she is down in class and back on the poly where she boasts some of her better form. Although only a four-time winner, she does seem better than her recent form suggests and you ignore at your peril.

American Princess, blinkered for the first time with Marcus aboard, is ruling favourite ahead of Dean Kannemeyer’s runner Arrabiata, these two dominating the market.

Fayd’Herbe’s agent was on the blower to Louis Goosen for the ride on Truly Wicked in the fourth with Marcus hoping to change the fortunes of Roy’s Physco who is still looking for his second win after a string of placed efforts.

He looked a winner last time out before Romanesca bulleted home from the tail of the field to win going away. He has a worrying tendency to always find one or two better on the day.

Truly Wicked’s merit rating has been dropping steadily and he looks competitive off his new mark. Marcus has jumped ship to partner the market leader but Fayd’Herbe is a more than capable replacement.

By Andrew Harrison

The field for Saturday’s R1.5 million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate is back in double figures after last year’s nine when Legal Eagle tasted defeat for the first time in four years.

Mike de Kock, successful just once so far with Mother Russia in 2011, will – as expected – be two-handed with last year’s runner-up Soqrat (Callan Murray) and hot favourite Hawwaam (Anton Marcus). Bernard Fayd’Herbe replaces the injured Robert Khathi on 66-1 shot Crown Towers.

Fayd’Herbe has won the race five times starting with Trademark 19 years ago while Marcus rode the first of his seven Queen’s Plate winners on Empress Club back in 1993. Richard Fourie, successful on Do It Again 12 months ago, is the only other riding in the Kenilworth showpiece to have won it before.

Hawwaam is marginally odds-on with most bookmakers at around 19-20 while Sun Met winner Rainbow Bridge, beaten over three lengths into third last year, shares second favouritism at 11-2 with Soqrat who failed by only a neck 12 months ago. Do It Again and Green Point winner Vardy are both on 6-1 with the others well into double figures. You have to go back to 13-1 shot Gimmethegreenlight in 2012 to find a Queen’s Plate winner starting at a bigger price than 7-1.

The 11 declared for the Cartier Paddock Stakes is the smallest for the 1 800m Grade 1 since Beach Beauty, and more particularly the subsequently scratched Igugu, scared off all but four others in 2012. Beach Beauty started odds-on that day but was beaten by Thunder Dance ridden by the now Hong Kong star Karis Teetan for Brett Crawford who supplies the 18-10 favourite Front And Centre.

Champion sprinter Kasimir reappears in the Design Indaba Pinnacle and on Friday Candice Bass-Robinson runs five in a bid to extend her remarkable record in the Cartier Sceptre Stakes. Victory for one of them would mean that the Milnerton trainer has won the 1 200m Grade 2 in each of the four years she has held a licence. Last year’s winner Clouds Unfold is the shortest-priced of the quintet at 9-2 and the Sean Tarry-trained Celtic Sea is favourite at 16-10.

By Michael Clower

“This is the biggest weekend of the year in my opinion and a lot of time has gone into planning for it,” says Justin Snaith. “I have put horses away for the last two months and that is part of the reason why the yard has been quiet recently [he hasn’t had a winner at the last three Cape Town meetings]. It’s going to be exciting.”

It wasn’t when he found stable star Do It Again coughing two days after that Green Point rough house but the dual champion trainer is confident that the antibiotic won’t leave the horse flat. “We know the ones that can flatten horses and we make sure we don’t use them. The one Do It Again had was only aimed at the respiratory. It was also a mild one that is easy on the stomach.”

But the five-year-old’s preparation was interrupted. How much of a problem is that going to be? “Last Saturday was his best work-out yet so we are getting there and I’m very happy with him. Obviously it’s a tough field and the Jo’burg boys are confident but that just makes it good racing in my book.

“That said, the way things have turned out we could be better aimed towards the Sun Met but this, remember, is Do It Again. For me he is still the best horse in the race and it’s really just a matter of whether I have got him 100%.”

Richard Fourie’s mount won last year’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate but his Vodacom Durban July performances suggest he could be a better horse over further than a mile. Snaith does not agree. “When he is ready and revved up he can run any distance. But the length of the rest he had between the July and the Green Point was too long. Five months out of a horse’s career is ridiculous and in the Green Point it was as if I had brought him back from a major injury. He was half-asleep. But he is waking up now.”

This time the gelding will have a pacemaker. “We have had too many races in Cape Town lately where they have just cantered, and some where the feature has been run in a slower time than a maiden on the same day. We can’t have that and so Crown Towers is running to ensure that the pace is an honest one.”

And how worried is he by Hawwaam? The normally bullish Snaith did not answer the question in the manner you might have expected or in the way the punter would have hoped, but what he said went a long way towards explaining how he deals with the pressure of expectation from the racing public in general and from owners in particular.

He took his time about answering too. “I have gone into this race like I have done with almost every other race in my career. I don’t care who is in it – Hawwaam or any other you like to name – because it makes no difference to me. I focus purely on my own horses. I feel this is the best way and mine will be there on Saturday as ready as they can be. And, trust me, we normally get it right.”

He certainly did last year when he also won the Glorious Goodwood Peninsula Handicap as well as the Cartier Paddock Stakes for the third successive season. Can Silvano’s Pride, Miyabi Gold or Platinum Class make it four?

“Their last start [all in the Victress Stakes just before Christmas] was a bit of a flat run and the reason was so that they should be ready for Saturday. They are equally talented and I think Myabi Gold is going to be a massive runner but Silvano’s Pride needs things to go her way. I have had an issue with Platinum Class’s feet and her form suggests she is better on the soft but we are hoping for an improved effort.”

And in the other features? “You can expect a very good run from Belgarion and Nexus at the weights in the Peninsula Handicap. I think they are good enough to be in the Met but instead I am saving them for Durban.

“A fast pace in the Heineken Chairman’s Cup would play into Strathdon’s hands – it was too slow in the Cape Summer Stayers – and a slow one would suit Doublemint.”

By Michael Clower

Ten horses ranging from Do It Again on a 136 merit rating down to Crown Towers on 103 will line up for Saturday’s premier weight for age mile, the Grade 1 L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate, and it will arguably be the best field seen in South Africa this century. 

There has been a record sale of early tickets for the glamorous event and there should be a vibe on course in keeping with the meeting’s status as “the Royal Ascot of South Africa.”   

Last year’s Queen’s Plate was dubbed “the race of the century” due to the presence of Do It Again, Rainbow Bridge, Undercover Agent, Soqrat, Legal Eagle and the filly Snowdance. The first four of those mentioned will be lining up again and with the addition of Hawwaam, Vardy, One World and Twist Of Fate it could be argued that it is an even better field this year, although it does not contain as many Grade 1 winners. Hat Puntano’s presence ensured seven Grade 1 winners were in the race last year, compared to five this year. 

The second lowest merit rated horse this year is the 116 merit rated Pack Leader, who did beat both Undercover Agent and Do It Again in the Grade 2 WSB Green Point Stakes over 1600m last time, although he was receiving 2kg and will now face them at level weights.

Do It Again is the Queen’s Plate title holder and is the reigning Equus Horse Of The Year as well as being the Equus Champion Miler, Champion Middle distance horse and Champion Older Male.

That he is at such big odds compared to the hot favourite Hawwaam is partly due to his below par Green Point run.

However, trainer Justin Snaith is not concerned about that outing.

He said, “It was a bit of a quiet run but it was extremely rough. He was bullied the whole way around the turn and in the straight he wasn’t going well enough and was cut off. But he also just needed the run. It was too long since his previous race.  There was nothing for him to run in and he fell asleep just sitting waiting for the Green Point. But he has now had that run plus a gallop on the Kenilworth grass last Tuesday. Under the circumstances he is going to make up a lot of ground on those that beat him in the Green Point. He is ready but it is a very good field. It’s very exciting.”

Snaith admitted that Crown Towers had been entered to ensure a good pace. This four-year-old Camelot gelding has landed the perfect draw to make the most of this role, ten out of ten. Bernard Fayd’Herbe will thus be able to decide what he is going to do as the race unfolds.

Track And Ball have the Mike de Kock pair Hawwaam and Soqrat at the top of the boards at 9/10 and 5,25/1 respectively. Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge are next best on 5,50/1 apiece and the Green Point winner Vardy is quoted at 6,5/1. One World is 14/1, Twist Of Fate and Undercover Agent are each 28/1, Pack Leader is 44/1 and Crown Towers is 66/1.

Hawwaam is a winner of eight from just nine starts. However, he can still be called unexposed as he has won most of his races with consummate ease. The one win where he did have to do a little bit of work was in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 where he beat Twist Of Fate by 1,60 lengths, but that race did not pan out well for him. On the other hand, despite being a three-time Grade 1 winner, he has not faced horses as strong as Do It Again and Rainbow Bridge, so nobody knows exactly how good he is. He has some temperament issues and everybody in the country will be hoping there is no repeat of the starting stall antic which saw him having to be scratched from the Vodacom Durban July.

Hawwaam has drawn in pole.

Twist Of Fate is drawn two. He has a huge heart and will try his best. The trip is interesting considering he won the Politician Stakes over 1800m last year despite pulling. He could give some cheek.

Pack Leader is drawn three. This five-year-old was generally kept to longer trips in previous seasons, so is interesting here as he was dropped out from a wide draw in the Green Point and ran on well for fourth. He now has his third run after a layoff.

Do It Again is drawn four as opposed to six out of nine last year.

The Green Point winner Vardy is drawn five. He has always had class and a turn of foot and he was always going to come into his own as a four-year-old this season. He faces Rainbow Bridge, Undercover Agent and Do It Again on 2kg worse terms but should still beat them on paper, although obviously the Green Point can’t be taken at face value as most of the runners were returning from layoffs, Vardy included. 

Soqrat is drawn six and will be hoping to go one better than his narrow second last year. He is the ultimate professional as he can be turned on and off at will and he has a fine burst of speed and the ability to sustain a finish.

One World, who was runner up in the Green Point is drawn seven, He is versatile and can lead or run on from off them.

Rainbow Bridge, who has a fine turn of foot, is draw eight compared to four last year when staying on for a 3,05 length third.

Undercover Agent, who likes to be up there, is drawn nine and although courageous he looks held by Do It Again, Rainbow Bridge and Soqrat. 

This not to be missed race is off at 16h45 at Kenilworth on Saturday. 

By David Thiselton

There is a nine race meeting at the Vaal tomorrow and the exotics look the way to play it.

The meeting begins with an intriguing Maiden over 1200m which pits Makara against Masaaqaat. The former has not raced since March last year but her form is good with the highlight being a narrow loss to Mill Queen, who has gone on to be a Graded winner. Giving her extra hope after her long rest is that her chief protagonist here Masaaqaat seems to always find one to beat her despite possessing plenty of ability. Another one who could improve to be in the shake up is Malvern. She is by Oratorio so should be improving and her dam was speedy. Furthermore, Warren Kennedy now takes the ride. Samoa and Serenity could also be included in the quartet.

In the second race over 1600m Creation is not a straight forward horse but is well regarded and looks to be full of ability. He can be forgiven his disappointing last start as it was his second run after a long layoff and this 1600m down the straight should suit him. S’Manga Khumalo rides him for the third time in succession. Shenandoah River stayed on after a slow start over 1200m on debut and will also relish the step up in trip. Afraad is a R2,4 million son of Dynasty and is a half-brother to Graham Beck Stakes winner Zen Arcade. He has been disappointing to date but now gets the blinkers on.

The third over 1600m also looks like a three cornered contest. Tilmeeth is improving and having run on late over 1450m she will enjoy the step up in trip. She is a R2.6 million daughter of Captain Al and her half-sister won South Africa’s longest race, the Port Elizabeth Gold Cup over 3600m, so her pedigree also suggests she can win this. Seven Patriots has run three good races over this trip and will be a danger as will Zuluonmystoep who improved last time in her second start over this trip and should be right there if getting a better start.

In the next over 1200m the tall grey filly Sekhmet made a good impression on debut over this trip when staying on strongly to get up and the form has been franked. She starts off handicapping off a lenient mark of 77 so can follow up. Miss Khalifa is interesting stepped down in trip as she stays on well and does have done speed. The Great Queen has hard knocking form over this trip. Midnight Top was narrowly beaten by Sekhmet when they met and now gets 1kg so has a shout on paper. Jenny McGee could earn if reproducing her best.

In the fifth over 1400m Written In Stone is off a good handicap mark at present and proved he likes this trip last time when staying on strongly. Baahir is also off a competitive mark and ran on over this trip last time. Captain Chorus’s debut win over 1200m has been franked and he should relish the step up in trip so has a shout despite carrying top weight.

In the sixth over 1500m the classy pair In The Dance and Vistula should both find this in between distance ideal and will likely fight it out. Mill Queen has had an interrupted campaign but she has class and always give her all so she has to be considered.

In the seventh over 1600m Full Mast became disappointing at one stage but now appears to have come into his own and should go close after running on well in the Grand Heritage. Captain Of Tortuga also ran on well in the Grand Heritage and has a shout here. Lake Kinnaret has a sustained finish and should also be right there despite carrying top weight.

In the eighth over 1600m Elusive Butterfly is knocking on the door and is distance suited. She went close in first time cheek pieces last time and Khumalo stays aboard. Wild Date returns to the trip of her easy Maiden win and the consistent Eightfold’s Lass can’t be ignored. Jetorio is a touch disappointing but this trip might be the answer. Machali won her Maiden well over this trip but looks to have been given a harsh merit rating.

In the last race over 1600m Oh Mercy Me can get it right having improved lately to go close twice over this trip. Miss Lexi might well enjoy the step down in trip. Littlewood has a shout too.

By David Thiselton

Robert Khathi will be out of action until the end of March after breaking his arm when unseated from Twice As Sleek nearing the start of the 1 000m maiden at Kenilworth on New Year’s Eve.

Khathi, 35, said yesterday: “Twice As Sleek is a strong horse and he was handful in the parade ring. My foot came out of the irons as the groom let him go and the horse bolted. I came off just before we reached the start and I broke my left arm.  It’s one of those things but it’s unfortunate that it should have happened just as I was doing well.”

Indeed the break could hardly have come at a worse time with the Cape season heading towards its height and, even more importantly, as Khathi was beginning to establish himself as number two jockey at the all-powerful Justin Snaith operation. He had been due to ride Crown Towers in Saturday’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and Platinum Class in the Cartier Paddock Stakes.

Hawwaam, fractionally odds-on for the big one, pleased the Mike De Kock stable when partnered by Anton Marcus in a spin at Kenilworth on Saturday according to a report in the Sporting Post which quoted De Kock as saying: “Anton worked him over the 1 000m straight. He strode out well and he is in a good place. We are all set for Saturday and then he will go straight into the Sun Met.”

De Kock is also expected to run last season’s Cape Guineas winner Soqrat. I spoke to the trainers of the Cape Town-based runners on Saturday and all eight horses are reported on course for the country’s premier mile race which, thankfully, avoided the stakes cuts and remains an R1.5 million attraction.

Brett Crawford reports that Dynasty’s Blossom will miss the Cartier Paddock Stakes to run in the Peninsula Handicap. Glen Kotzen sends his WSB Cape Fillies Guineas third Third Runway for the Cartier Sceptre on Friday before going for the Majorca while Cape Guineas runner-up Viva Rio will use a progress plate, rather than the Politician, as a stepping stone to the Cape Derby on February 22.

By Michael Clower 

Parterre may have Tony Millard’s Hong Kong stable on his long-term agenda but a more immediate objective is next month’s Cape Derby following his success In the Interbet.co.za Handicap at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Brett Crawford, whose yard is now sponsored by Interbet, said: “The Politician on Sun Met day would probably be the right route but I will have a good look at it because the conditions are a bit funny [although a Grade 3 the weights are largely determined by merit rating] and I need to make sure that he is well in.”

This was the middle leg of a Crawford treble and Count Jack, who spearheaded the stable’s one-two in the last under Keagan de Melo, will also be seen next on Met day – but in his case the considerably more lucrative CTS 1600 with R5 million split between the first five.

Smart William, ridden like Parterre by Corne Orffer, kicked off the treble when odds-on for the Tabonline.co.za Maiden Handicap. But he fly-jumped as the starter pressed the button, was left three lengths and only caught the pace-setting King Saladin in the dying strides. “Absolutely nerve-wracking – particularly at my age!” exclaimed owner Cheryl Gabler who has had to be ultra-patient with this horse – he sat out the whole of his two and three-year-old careers after fracturing a pedal bone.

Warren Kennedy has not got where he is today – top of the log and heading towards a first championship – by getting things wrong but apparently the Cape crawl caught him out when Miraculously Ours started favourite early last month. “He came in saying he didn’t ride that very well,” recalled Glen Kotzen but the four-year-old repaid the losses – punters’ as well as the owners’ – when justifying odds of 15-10 under Morne Winnaar in the TAB Telebet Handicap.

In the days before wooden rails were largely replaced by plastic, scribes were apt to write of winning jockeys riding so close to the inner that they came back with paint on their boots. Usually it was no more than literary exaggeration but when Sandile Mbhele returned on his winner number 57 – Mario Ferreira’s well backed (12-1 to 13-2) White Lace – interviewer Grant Knowles pointed out the tell-tale evidence of contact with the rails. “It was a terrific ride,” said an admiring Vaughan Marshall, “but he was damn lucky he didn’t go over them.”

Marshall also won the 1 200m maiden with the M.J. Byleveld-ridden Speed Of Night but some of the gloss was taken off Ken and Jane Truter’s celebrations by the filly being suspended for 60 days for bursting a blood vessel.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe made it look a good deal easier than it actually was when getting the Dennis Drier-trained Perfect Air home by a head in the 2 000m handicap – “With her 61.5kg weight I felt I would have to track M.J. (Fynbos) but I thought he would pull me through longer than he did,” explained the jockey. “And I knew that Richard Fourie (Rattle Mouse) was coming for me.”

Greg Cheyne, Kennedy’s nearest pursuer but some 30 winners adrift, had no such problems on Proclaimer in the first. He was well clear from before halfway and the 7-4 favourite came home under hands and heels to give Candice Bass-Robinson and Ridgemont the honour of Cape Town’s first winner of 2020.

BLOB Orffer, Fourie and Grant Behr were each fined R 1 000 for using their whips more than the 12-stroke limit and Anthony Andrews was fined R1 500 for the same offence. If the National Horseracing Authority officials mean business with this rule they need to look at it again. The present version is not working.

By Michael Clower

Chantyman, who wanders around his yard like a pet dog is a terrier on the track, making short work of a quick field in the African Holly Handicap (Non-Black Type) at a blisteringly hot and humid Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday.

Obviously a stable favourite, both Dennis Bosch and rider Anton Marcus were enamoured with the win. “He has the nicest disposition and one day will make someone very happy,” said Bosch obviously referring to the gelding’s retirement from the hard grind of the racecourse. “I’m not usually an emotional person,” said Marcus. “But this horse is close to my heart. He can’t breathe, you should hear it, (when under pressure in races) but he gives it his all.”

Chantyman has only twice been out of the money in 18 starts and yesterday’s win was one of his easiest.

It was always going to be a quick race with the likes of Effortless Reward and Calvary in the line-up, so Marcus tracked the pace on the outside where Calvary, with his 4kg claimer up, was cutting the pace. Pressing Chantyman to keep up with the pace a long way out, the cards folded up front and Chantyman was singing the right tune a long way out as Marcus geared him down to a comfortable win without calling for any extra encouragement.

Earlier, Brilliant Disguise was most pundits best bet on the card and he duly obliged, rollicking home under Marcus and leading from the jump. He went down to the start sporting red ear-muffs, now standard equipment for horses that may get upset in the preliminaries but removed at the start.

They worked a treat for Brilliant Disguise who ghosted to the start and was hardly off the bit in the race.

“He’s a bit hot,” said Duncan Howells, “but if we can keep his temperament under control, he will win a few.”

It was from high to low come the second for Howells as favourite Trip To Africa trailed in last. Solid Gold set a smart pace under Serino Moodley under instruction from Michael Roberts and the regally-bred son of Rock Of Gibraltar was never in danger. “He has a few issues at the gate,” confirmed Roberts when quizzed on the gelding’s temperament, “but otherwise he’s fine. You must just let hm do what he wants and Serino gets on well with him.”

Trip To Africa jumped awkwardly and was reported lame after the race.

Whether you are an owner, trainer or punter, close finishes are what make this sport what it is. Winter Retreat, in front, then behind and then in front, will have had many hearts pumping. In front for much of the race, replacement rider Gareth Wright got the best out of Shane Humby’s filly when it counted, snatching the decision on the line as the hard-charging Electric Surge was short-circuited one jump before it counted.

It was a trying afternoon for Marcus and more pertinently Robbie Hill, with Electric Surge beaten on the line and Moon In June and Marcus suffering a similar fate next up.

Red Al and Arizona Sunset looked to have it wrapped up going down the inside rail, but Escape Club and Moon In June roared home on the outside rail to run them out of it two jumps from the line.

Apprentice Denis Schwarz, out of his time after a five-year stint at the South African Jockey Academy, has been making a name for himself with a steady supply of winners for Gary Alexander and more recently with a variety of high-profile Highveld trainers as he has honed his talents.

He indicated that he will be a regular visitor to KZN and did his reputation no harm as he guided Celebration Rock to a narrow, if somewhat fortunate, win. “He’s not a horse that you can boss around, you just have to let him do it on his own,” said Schwarz.

Possibly unluck was Letaba who ducked off a straight course under relatively inexperienced apprentice Joshwin Solomons, but to his credit, he did gather his mount and come for a second bite, only to be denied by a piece of paper.

Beaten in a couple of close-up finishes, it was not all gloom and doom for Marcus who rounded off the meeting with a quick double, bringing his afternoon total to a healthy four wins as he obliged on favourites Divine High and Han Solo to round off the day.

By Andrew Harrison

Divine Hugh, second to subsequent Gr2 Dingaans winner, Shango, looked to be a fairly solid bet when taking on a modest maiden field over the Hollywoodbets Scottsville 1400m last month but was not able to match strides with Master Tobe inside the final furlong.

This was the geldings second outing after a fairly lengthy break and given that this should be his peak run come Sunday over what looks to be a more suitable trip, Divine Hugh rates the one to beat in the seventh.

Dangers! On The Bayou is starting to show better form as he goes further but Anton Marcus has forgone the ride to partner Divine Hugh which may be an indication of their relative chances.

Shane Humby had a winner with Suzie Woo on New Year’s Day and as a trainer who is not one to rush his charges, the five-year-old Double Gemini has only his eighth start but has been improving all the time and looks to be over his optimum trip so is a must inclusion in all exotics.

Marcus has stuck with Han Solo in the last where Glen Kotzen’s runner is likely to start at cramped odds in the last. Marcus has been aboard at his last three starts and was making late progress when four lengths back to favourite Themba last time out. The step up in trip should suit and Han Solo could prove a little too good for Bayview Express and Declaration Of War who, on recent form, look the obvious dangers.

Duncan Howells has been relatively quiet of late given his high standards and he could open with the first two winners on the card. Brilliant Disguise was probably just have needed his last run when a close-up third from a wide draw and should come on from that. A threat could come from Avro Lancaster who is well regarded but has been costly to follow. However, his new trainer may now be putting him over a more suitable trip.

Trip To Africa was a facile maiden winner on debut but the form behind him has been iffy and he takes on a useful Progress field in the first leg of the PA. However, given his pedigree, extended trip, draw and handy weight he could prove progressive enough to have the measure of the well exposed Exclusive Quantity. Caliente and Sea Dance are others to consider.

The first leg of the Pick 6 is an open affair with most of the runners in with a decent winning chance but Mark Dixon’s mare She’s A Dream has come good in a tongue-tie and was an excellent second last run. She has a big weight but has finally found her feet and could prove too good for the likes of Electric Surge, Winter Retreat and Arianos Spinner.

The fourth is another tricky affair but Connect Me failed narrowly when going 2000m for the first time. She is always game and can go one better. Railtrip has been disappointing but the blinkers are back on and at best she will be worth another chance.

In the fifth, another tricky handicap, Master Of Illusion has his third run after a break and is 1.5kg better off with course specialist Celebration Rock and can turn the tables. Tarsus showed up well first run for his new stable and is sure to come on from that effort and is 1.5kg better off with the unbeaten Pearl Of Asia who has won both starts in yielding going and beat the smart Mr Fitz last time out.

The sixth will be an all-out sprint with whoever last longest the winner. Coldhardcash, Chantyman and Effortless Reward are all quick but all have breathing issues while Cumulus is never-say-die and will test them all to the line.

By Andrew Harrison

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Image Caption: Paul Lafferty saddles ON THE BAYOU in the The White Horse Function Room Maiden Plate at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday.