Mike Bass’ South African Champions Season string will be worth following this winter as they have all been doing well at Summerveld.

The string at present consists of Inara, Silver Mountain, Nightingale, Tafferty Tart, Helderberg Blue, Mountain Master, Three Balloons, Lanner Falcon, Ernie, Fly By Night and Night Trip. Paterfamilias is still in Cape Town but will be entered in the Vodacom Durban July and it hasn’t been decided yet when he will join the string. There are others who might also still make the journey and these include the exciting Var filly Wake Up Maggie, who was bred by rival Milnerton trainer Joey Ramsden and is unbeaten in two starts.

Inara is being prepared for the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein on April 16. This Trippi filly is a leading light of possibly the best female crop in South Africa racing history.

In her last two starts she finished runner up in the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m to Smart Call, who is currently rated the joint sixth best racehorse in the world, and she then successfully defended her crown in the Gr 1 Klawervlei Majorca Stakes, her third career Gr 1.

She was not herself in KZN last year and was reportedly found to have had a lung infection, but all seems well so far this year and she put up a pleasing gallop yesterday (Tuesday).

Lanner Falcon is another older female who must be followed. Assistant trainer Robert Fayd’Herbe said this Trippi five-year-old is just getting better and better. He reckoned she has the ability to win the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint in what might be a below par season in the female sprinting division and other races like the Gr 2 Tibouchina over 1400m and Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m will likely be on her agenda too. In her last two starts she won the Gr 2 Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes over 1200m comfortably, beating Gr 1-winning stablemate Fly By Night, and then finished third in the Majorca.

Fly By Night, who won the Mercury Sprint two seasons ago at Clairwood, has become difficult to predict, but appears to be in a good space at present and the City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint is her obvious target.

Silver Mountain stamped herself as the best three-year-old filly in the country when demolishing the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas field by five lengths. She was subsequently narrowly beaten into fourth in the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas and was then a 0,75 lengths runner up in the CTS Million Dollar. The latter two performances were disappointing to those who are willing her to greatness, but in the context of her SA Champions Season tasks, they were peerless. She is a diminutive filly with an electric turn of foot and will be ideally suited to the tight Greyville track. The yard are considering finding a race for her before her first big target, the Gr 2 Canon Fillies Guineas on the Friday night of May 6.

Tafferty Tart is just below the best three-year-old fillies, while Nightingale is a progressive sort who could develop into a Woolavinton 2000 or Oaks type.

Helderberg Blue will likely have a similar program to last year where he raced in the Drill Hall,  the Betting World 1900, Cup Trial, July and Champions Cup, finishing fourth in both the Cup Trial and Champions Cup.

Ernie always goes to the races with the words “Believe in Ernie” ringing in his ears due to the fun characters of his owners and such will be the case on Friday night when he runs in the Gr 3 Byerley Turk over 1400m at Greyville. This is his maximum trip and he will subsequently be kept to sprints with the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville on June 4 a possibility.  This Elusive Fort gelding has a fine turn of foot and as Cape Town merit ratings tend to be suppressed due to the superior class of horse it would be no surprise to see him win on Friday night as he is officially the third highest rated horse in the race off 101.

Mountain Master’s aim is to win races, without taking in big features, and he is one to follow in handicaps off an attractive merit rating of 82.

Three Balloons is a stayer who was raised 13 points to 89 after his Gr 3 CTS Chairmans Cup runner up finish over 3200m and the big staying features culminating in the Gold Cup are his obvious targets.

The enigmatic Night Trip has been accompanied to KZN by his retired lead pony Epic Tale and his chief ambition will be to win the Listed Darley Arabian over 1600m on the poly on Super Saturday for the third year in succession.

By David Thiselton