Andrew Harrison

It takes faith in your ability to keep fighting when the odds are seemingly stacked against you, but Yadav Singh, with only three horses in his string reaped the rewards in the first at Hollywoodbets Greyville yesterday as the cleverly named Chakpori obliged with Kabelo Matsunyane taking over in the saddle from a suspended Cole Dicken.

The Greyville poly is running quick these days and with a strong tailwind to help them home, Matsunyane always had Chakpori in contention as Head Girl took up her customary roll. The two came together a long way out with Chakpori gradually eating into Head Girl’s lead and getting up close home.

Hot favourite Princess Goldie did not appear to be enjoying the afternoon and Craig Zackey commented later in the day that the filly just didn’t come to the races. He was at her from the jump and eventually had ‘to take my medicine’.  “She shows good work on the sand back home so this was a disappointing effort,” he said. “She will be back!”

With everything in her favour, barring top weight, War Empress enjoyed the wind at her back and Louis Goosen’s mare won well in a small field. She was always handy under Chase Maujean and kicked on nicely in the run for home to win rather comfortably from Happy Analia and Jane’s Vision.

The scratching of Star Of The Future from the first leg of the Pick 6 saw Gimmethegoodlife top the bookmakers boards and he landed the odds for Gareth van Zyl although it was a close call as Richardthefearless lived up to his name and was not giving in as he pressed Gimmethegoodlife all the way to the line. It was Gimmethegoodlife’s first attempt at a mile and he took Marco van Rensburg on from the start, refusing to settle, so it was a win full of merit.

Every horse has its peculiarities and Lucretius seemingly inherited his ornery temperament from his sire Eightfold Path whose progeny were notorious difficult. Carl Hewitson has done wonders with the gelding who, at one stage had him wondering if he could win a maiden. At times he just refuses to work in the mornings but he was in a galloping mood yesterday as Zackey, his now regular rider, got him to respond up the inside rail to gradually wear down rivals Porfirio and Wave Warrior with favourite Mr Hotstepper making the pace before emptying out in the straight.

Zackey is a little under the radar when it comes to the national title chase but he is hot on the heels of log leaders Muzi Yeni and Gavin Lerena. Princess Goldie was an obvious disappointment but he had two in the bag by the running of the sixth to take his tally for the season to 61 behind Yeni, six behind Lerena and four ahead of Richard Fourie. He posted his second win of the afternoon as he scraped home aboard Garth Puller’s charge Way To Burn  in the fifth, with the judges having to consult the photo finish to separate his filly and Mark Dixon’s Doctor’s Orders. Zackey made all the running on Way To Burn and punched for home crossing the subway and seemingly having the race the won. However, Calvin Habib had all the while been hunting him down. Making up ground from last coming up the hill, Doctor’s Orders delivered the slow poison up the outside and it was a piece of paper that separated the two at the line.

A frustrated Habib has made the second box his home so far this season, with 51 seconds to add to his winning tally of 26.

Dennis Bosch, an exceptional rider in his day before the dreaded scale got the better of him, does not have the fire power that he used to have when starting his training career but there are few better. He has kept Knight Warrior sound and competitive in all of his racing career that now stretches into his seventh season. 

Serino Moodley had the veteran galloper out and racing from his inside draw and was not for the catching. It was a smart ride from Moodley who was in jocular mood post-race. “The way the track’s running you have to ride like you don’t know what you doing. That’s what I did. I rode like an apprentice,” he quipped.

It’s never easy for a horse to win three-on-the-bounce let alone four as the handicappers come a-hunting but gelding appears to have kept Connery’s mind from wandering and it was four up yesterday. Glen Kotzen’s charge made all the running and was not for the catching under Mauritian apprentice Nirvan Nastili. Kotzen’s assistant at Summerveld, John Buckler, has turned to apprentices in his three local runs with a suspended 4kg claimer Jaycee Botes being replaced by Nastili’s 2.5kg claim that could be a ploy to keep the handicappers in check but Connery has jumped 13 points in the ratings for his last two wins and is sure to get another hike after this success.

Stevie Gee finally got Habib out of the second box as the Geof Perkins home-bred, named after one of his sons, pulled out all the stops. For Wendy Whitehead it was a deserved win after a string of placed starts as he kicked on strongly to put daylight between himself and the late-charging Mac Hardy who just got his nose in front of the chasing scrum.

Soccer13, Thursday,14 November 2024 Carryover, R4 326 906 Pool Closes @ 21h00, Sport 12 Pool 1, Estimated Jackpot: R6.5 Million,13 of 13

Rugby8 Win Margin Friday, 15 November 2024 Carryover, R32 996 Pool Closes @ 22h10, Sport 65 Pool 1

Soccer10 Friday,15 November 2024 Add-In R100 000, Pool Closes @ 21h00, Sport 7 Pool 1 Estimated Pool: R1,5 Million

Soccer10 Saturday,16 November 2024 Add-In R100 00, Pool Closes @ 19h00, Sport 14 and Pool 1 Estimated Pool: R1,5 Million

Soccer13 on Saturday, 16th November 2024.Pool Closes at 16h15. Sport 10 and Pool 1.  One Winner Guaranteed Jackpot: R16 Million (if only one 13 of 13 Winner)

SoccerAny13 Xtra on, Saturday 16 November 2024, Add-In R 100 000, Pool Closes @ 16h00, Sport 13 and Pool 1, Estimated Pool: R 400 000.

David Thiselton

The Betway Summer Cup’s final pointer race, the Gr 3 Betway Victory Moon Stakes, has been run and the next step in the R6 million saga is to see whether there are any supplementaries on or before the final entry stage of November 18.

The final field announcement will be on Wednesday November 20. 

The most obvious horse for a late supplementary entry is the Victory Moon winner Greeting My Master.

However, that is unlikely to happen as he will face an impossible task with the Victory Moon  runner up Main Defender and also with the fifth-placed Purple Pitcher.

Greeting My Master beat Main Defender by half-a-length, but would face him on 6kg worse terms in the Summer Cup.

Greeting My Master beat Purple Pitcher by four lengths, but would face him on 11kg worse terms in the Summer Cup.

Purple Pitcher was used as the line horse in the Victory Moon and that allowed Main Defender to escape with a one point merit rated raise, which takes the latter to 130.

Purple Pitcher was 3kg under sufferance with Main Defender and was only 3,50 lengths behind him.

Greeting My Master was raised three points to 110, so as things stand would be 5kg under sufferance if entered in the Summer Cup.

Nothing has happened over the weekend to cause a major shake up of the final log.

However, Thunee Playa, who was one of the outside looking in horses on the log, did run fourth in the Victory Moon, which might warrant him for consideration despite his lowly merit rating of 93, which went up four points to 97.

Rule By Force also won a MR 106 Handicap over 1800m in good style on Monday.

Future Pearl finished last in the Victory Moon and Pure Predator was third last so their positions in the final field might be questioned, despite them both having been in the top 20 on the final log.

Furthermore, the number one on the final log, Dave The King, was said by Mike de Kock to not be running in the Summer Cup. He had him running in a Pinnacle event in December in preparation for the L’Ormarins King’s Plate.

So the certainties in the final field could be See It Again, Royal Victory, Winchester Mansion, Main Defender, Purple Pitcher, Barbaresco, Frances Ethel, Silver Sanctuary, Beating Wings, Hotarubi, Atticus Finch, Puerto Manzano, My Soul Mate, Madison Valley and Safe Passage and also Greeting My Master if he is supplemented.

Those fighting for the last four or five places will be , Pure Predator, Future Pearl, Rule By Force, Thunee Player, Zeus, Litigation, Son Of Raj, Meridius, Aragosta, Shoemaker, Cape Eagle, Red Maple, Nebraas, Indian Ocean, The Futurist, East Coast, Marauding Horde, River Romeo, Atarime and Pomodoro’s Jet.  

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.