David Thiselton

Friday and Saturday were full of racing action around the world.

In Qeberha on Friday the Glen Kotzen-trained King Regent did not disappoint at Fairview and produced his usual devastating finishing burst under regular rider Denis Schwarz to become the first horse to ever land all three legs of the Nelson Mandela Bay Poly Challenge.

He thus claimed a R250,000 bonus for owners Martin Wickens and Giselle Burg.

King Regent’s chief danger on Friday was probably himself due to his issues at the starting stalls.

He would have benefited in his career from being able to jump out of the hood, but that is no longer allowed and it is now a matter of timing to remove the hood just before the starter presses the button.

However, he tends to “bunny hop” out of the stalls.

Yesterday, he lost about a length, but from pole position he was able to stick to the rail and get into fifth place in the seven horse field.

Coming off the false rail the Ridgemont-bred Dynasty gelding was switched to the centre by Schwarz and he took off.

The five-year-old passed the three horses inside of him to win by 1,25 lengths from pacemaker Cherry Ano with Bush Tracker and The Mauritian next best.

His easiest win was in the first leg over 1200m, which he won by 3,25 lengths, and he then produced a devastating finish from last place to win the second leg over 1400m by half-a-length from one of the best horses in the East Cape, Luna Halo.

Every leg of the challenge carried a total stake of R175,000, so he earned R328,125 in first place prize money plus the R250,000 bonus.

It was King Regent’s seventh career win which has come in just 17 starts and his official stakes earnings are now R1,183,187.

Denis Schwarz, who rode him in all three legs of the challenge, said in the winner’s enclosure on Friday the “not too quick” pace had been suitable for the horse and he had been confident coming onto the straight.

He added, “The front horse skipped away, I thought he ran a cracker , he stayed up there for very long and it wasn’t easy to peg him back. But King Regent did it!”

Kuyan Kotzen represented his father Glen on course and said, “The King has done it!”

He spoke of the many cogs that had to work to get the wheels turning and thanked the whole Woodhill Racing team, as well as owners Martin Wickens and Giselle Burg, and he thanked Sharon and Greg Kotzen for helping the team while they are in Gqeberha.

The Challenge was inaugurated in 2016 and the previous closest to winning all three legs was in that inaugural year when the Jacques Strydom-trained Gogetthesheriff won the first two legs before finishing a 0.50-length third to Jet Explorer in the final leg.

On Saturday the world’s richest turf race, the Aus$20 million Everest, took place over 1200m at Royal Randwick in Australia and for the first time it had Gr 1 status.

The Ciaron Maher-trained Pride of Dubai mare Bella Nipotina scored her fourth victory at the highest level and became the first female to win the Everest. Despite jumping from the widest draw of all in the 12 horse field she held on from a flying Clayton Douglas-trained Giga Kick, who won the race as a three-year-old two years ago. The Maher-trained Growing Empire held on for third, beaten 1,25 lengths.

Breaking from the far outside post Bella Nipotina spurted forward and stalked 3-year-old colts Storm Boy and Growing Empire in the early stages.

The mare dug in determinedly when called upon, willingly taking on her younger rivals with a furlong to run, and got up in a thriller.

Having won the 2022 Everest on Giga Kick, champion jockey Craig Williams took down his second Everest win with Bella Nipotina, besting Giga Kick, under Mark Zahra, on the line.

“We drew 12, we were hoping for more rain, but the track was to her liking… and we said let’s not be negative, let’s be positive and let’s go forward.”

“You know, we thought she was in career best form and she got her conditions to suit.” Maher said. “We said at the barrier draw, she s got an uncanny knack of running very well from any gate.”

Williams said, “I’m very lucky I really know her. Before I even gave her a pat and a cuddle, then she really takes off.”

Bella Nipotina, who finished The Everest trip in 1:08.76, notched her 10th win, and fourth Group 1, from 55 career starts and increased her lifetime earnings more than AUS$18 million with the AUS$7-million winner’s share.

An AUS$80,000 Inglis Premier purchase for Lindsay Park Racing / Andrew Williams Bloodstock / Mt. Hallowell Stud from the Rosemont Stud consignment, Bella Nipotina was bred in Australia by Collingwood 1990 AFL premiership star Michael Christian and partners at Longwood Thoroughbred Farm and they retain a share in her ownership. Her dam is the Silent Witness mare Bella Orfana.

Meanwhile, former Summerveld trainer Dylan Cunha, who started out in the UK just over two years ago with just three horses reached his goal last week of having 30 wins this season with two wins last week.

He had his date with destiny on  Saturday when he sent out the former Aidan O’Brien-trained reject Prague in the Gr 1 QE II Stakes at Ascot. A stable employee who has worked for the Cunha yard for 18 months, the Venetian Amedeo Dal Pos, managed to get together 10,000 Gns to buy Prague at a Tattersalls Horses In Training Sale and when looking at the magnificent Galileo colt after the sale he and Cunha could not believe they had landed him.

The unraced four-year-old won easily at odds of 40/1 on debut and after three more good runs in good company he added the Gr 2 Joel Stakes over a mile on the Newmarket Rowley Mile, a race Mike de Kock had won twice with Eagle Mountain (in course record time) and with SA-bred Soft Falling Rain.

Cunha and Dal Pos decided to supplement him for £70,000 for the QE II Stakes, believing it to be an opportunity that should not be missed.

Alas, he turned out to be drawn on the wrong side and after being prominent all on his own down the centre under regular rider Daniel Tudhope he faded as the horses on the far side went on.

Europe’s best miler, the Roger Varian-trained Charyn, won by an easy two lengths.

Johannesburg, 15 October 2024 – 4Racing in conjunction with the Handicappers have published the first log for the 2024 R6 million Gr1 Betway Summer Cup to be run at Turffontein on Saturday 30 November.

Second entries close at 11am on Tuesday 05 November, and final entries at 9am on Monday, 18 November 2024, after which weights will be announced. Declarations must be in by 11am on Wednesday, 20 November 2024 and barrier draws will be conducted at a Betway event on 20 November 2024. The final log will be published on Tuesday 05 November 2024.

TABGOLD have added a Pick 6 to their daily menu of QuickMix bets, which are popular with many customers because they combine races from different local and international meetings, and are completed much quicker than multi-race bets on single meetings.

The addition of the Pick 6 brings the number of QuickMix pools offered most days to six – three Jackpot QuickMixes and a QuickMix BiPot, Place Accumulator and Pick 6. Until further notice, the QuickMix Pick 6 will always be the last six legs of the Place Accumulator QuickMix.

To play the Pick 6 QuickMix, TABGOLD retail customers must mark VENUE SPM and RACE 2 on the betting form.

It must be noted that the Pick 6 first-timer rule will apply to South African races in the bet if these races form part of a South African Pick 6. The first-timer rule will not apply to all other races, including South African races that are not part of a local Pick 6.

Andrew Harrison

Sunday was a Gr1 R18 million race in Singapore. Yesterday it was a R90K maiden winner on the poly at Hollywoodbets Greyville as Muzi Yeni went back-to-back on two continents.

The conditional maiden looked to be a two-horse race between Glamorz and Head Girl but it proved to be a lot closer than expected but not with Head Girl involved. Calvin Habib had no hesitation in taking Head Girl to the lead in spite of a stiff headwind in the straight and she came up empty. Yeni stalked the pace on Glamorz and set sail at just the right time as he had to work hard to keep the late charging Miss Mayfly at bay with Chakpori holding station for third.

Siphesihle Hlengwa is obviously living up to Garth Puller’s high standards as the former champion jockey is giving the young rider more and more chances. He made no mistakes on the rejuvenated Masterbling as he made a bee-line up the straight to tackle longtime leader Ndaka with Love In Winter also making a nuisance of himself up the inside rail. Ndaka tried gamely to hold onto his lead but Masterbling out-ran him over the final 50m.

If you doubted Hlengwa’s ability, he reenforced a half-hour later as he rode the perfect race on the Puller-trained African Dusk. With the scratching of ante-post favourite Field Marshal, the Mike de Kock pair of Jaham and Woodland Glade were at the top of the boards. Woodland Glade made the early running but folded tamely in the straight leaving the way clear for Jaham. However, Hlengwa was wide awake and tracking in from the outside he joined Jaham who looked at one stage to have gone on by. But African Dusk was far from done and kept finding to get the better of his younger rival in spite of giving him 6kg.

Hlengwa and Rachel Venniker were in the same final year in the SA Jockey Academy and they have done the world-respected intuition proud. Venniker has been afforded international exposure and flown the country’s flag high and has made huge strides locally to where she is among the top echelon of riders. Mentored by the maestro himself, Michael Roberts, Venniker continues to improve with the experience afforded her as she showed aboard the Roberts-trained Chill In The Air. The son of What A Winter is obviously progressive but won fluently from Brave Bomber, the pair pulling many lengths clear of the opposition including favourite Amor Fati who folded tamely in the straight.

Calvin Habib had been making the second box his home in the early part of the season but the wheel appears to be turning. He did it all right on Mark Dixon’s mare Spirited Flight as he tracked the early pace and took the shortest way home catching a break on favourite Purple Flower. All the late money was for Purple Flower but Athandiwe Mgudlwa was caught out by a wide draw and had to settle probably much further back than planned. Alyson Wright’s mare was making up ground fast in the closing stages but Spirited Flight had already flown.

Puller is always keen to mentor apprentices who show some talent and commitment and he gave Mxolisi Mbuto his first winner aboard Littleblackvelvet. Drawn wide and instructed to tuck in, Mbuto said that he went to ‘plane B’ and raced on to make the pace.

 Mbuto obviously has some ‘bottle’ because he sat and sat in the straight in spite of the opposition attacks, and only at the 300 m mark did he ask for maximum. The filly, with a hollow or sway back, responded to the riders urgings, and without using the stick, she came home in fine fashion.

One does expect stable rider Craig Zackey to be on the ‘right’ one but it does not always work out that way as Sean Veale took advantage to get ‘second string’ Savantrix home in the seventh. Before slating Craig Zackey, who gave favourite French Flame a perfect ride, giving his mount every chance, rather take note of what goes on behind the scenes. There is not enough space in this piece to explain the all the intricacies but it will be worth it for those that are interested to listen to the explanation from Dean Kannemeyer’s assistant Nicolette Roscoe to fully understand what goes on when working out where to place a horse in the ‘right’ race. It is a difficult task that does not always work out as expected.

Serino Moodley rounded off the afternoon riding a confident race on Andre Nel’s runner Querari’s Dream. Well back in the early exchanges, Moodley hunted a dream gap up the inside as Forest Jump and King Bavarian stuck to their guns but Querari’s Dream pulled out the extra to win comfortably.

Local Quartet pools with fractional betting on selected UK race meetings will return to the TabGold betting menu from this Thursday following a mixed reception from customers to the introduction of commingled Quartet pools on all UK and Irish race meetings last month.

Such commingled Quartet pools have been welcomed in some quarters, but many TabGold customers have complained that this has resulted in them being unable to play fractional Quartet bets on UK races.

TabGold have taken note of the complaints and from this Thursday 12 September customers can enjoy the best of both worlds. As before local Quartet pools with fractional betting will be offered on two UK meetings most days with commingled Quartet pools on all other UK and Irish meetings.

Whether an Irish or UK meeting has local or commingled pools will be displayed clearly on Tab sheet race cards in store and online.

Unfortunately for several reasons, including vast differences in exchange rates, it is not technically possible to offer fractional bets on pools commingled internationally.

The minimum unit for commingled bets is R1 (more in the case of countries like the USA) and this is itself a fractional bet in international tote pools.

As an example, the unit of a UK Tote Quartet is one Pound and a customer playing a R1-unit Quartet with TabGold on a UK race is buying about 1/24th of the bet, depending on the exchange rate on the day. And if that bet is the only winning ticket, the customer will get 1/24th of the pool and the remainder will be carried over. To get the full UK Tote payout on a commingled Quartet requires playing the bet to a R24 unit.

That aside, the introduction of commingled Quartet bets has given TabGold customers many more opportunities to play Quartets on UK and Irish races, and access to bigger pools and payouts.