Andrew Harrison

If those outside of Kingsmead cricket ground – headline sponsor Hollywoodbets – didn’t know who Krystl was, they know now. “Hollywoodbets Dolphins players can identify with ‘Kingsmeads Krystl’ named after a bubbly staff member,” confirmed Hollywoodbets’ Brand and Communications Manager Devin Heffer.

And the name could be in lights for a little longer as the Alyson Wright-trained filly scored a comfortable victory under Anton Marcus in the first at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday.

It was probably asking a little too much of Kingsmeads Krystl to take on winners in her first three starts, including two group races, but yesterday confirmed what Wright thought all along with a convincing win that suggests that she has more to offer.

Kingsmeads Krystl was far from disgraced in any of her first three outings and in spite of finishing over a dozen lengths back to Desert Miracle in the Gr2 Golden Slipper, she was in the pack with the rest of them as Mike de Kock’s filly sauntered to an eight-length victory.

Kingsmeads Krystl is definitely a name to go into the notebook.

Nathan Kotzen has mined a rich vein of form over the past week, with a treble at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday, and followed up with Noble Nova landing the odds in a small field in the second.

It was a three-way contest entering the final furlong but S’Manga Khumalo extracted the best out of his mount to get home by a neck from Bijoux who fought back gamely to edge out Claudina.

It was no quarters asked or given in the third over 1400m, with some modest maidens going hard in what would have been a testing pace over five furlongs.

A long way off the pace turning for home, Tristan Godden sent Magic In Motion up the inside rail with a storming run to collar a bunched field with Bay Breeze and Indomavel in the shallow end of the purse. It was a 36-1 winner for the brother and sister combination of Wayne Badenhorst and Barbara Kennedy.

Weiho Marwing launched a lightning raid, his first two strikes missing, but he was on the money in the fourth as Craig Zackey led the field a merry dance on Midnight Caller. Opening up early which had much of the field off the bit, Zackey kicked for home at the top of the straight and just kept his mount’s nose in front as Pink Floyd and Naval Secret got going late – too late!

A small field lined up in the fifth where Keep The Lights on reverted to Graduation company. Her feature race form panned out and the result was never in doubt as Marcus aimed straight for the wire and had the race wrapped up at the top of the straight.

Maria Corolina completed a Wright double, and back-to-back wins, when making short work of the opposition in the sixth. She took the step up in trip in her stride and unfortunately for her, the handicappers will also be impressed!

It’s never easy for horses to win more than two or three races under the current handicapping rules, so it takes some clever placing by the trainer and a favourable programme to stretch beyond. However, seven-year-old Gentleman’s Wager bucked the trend and is seemingly getting better as he gets older when in the winner’s enclosure for the eighth time. Leading for most of the way under Donovan Dillon, Peter Muscutt’s charge was never under threat.

Rise and Twice The Quality went at it hammer-and-tongs over the final 100m in the last with the Khumalo ‘rising’ to the occasion.