Anton Marcus flies in to Cape Town for six rides at Kenilworth tomorrow and he could well pay for Christmas – his own as well as that of the legion of punters who follow him almost blindly – because he has good chances on most of them.

The four-time champion is riding at the top of his game. By mid-week he had won on 59 of this season’s 221 mounts, a strike rate of virtually 27%, and at Kenilworth he has done even better winning on almost one in three.

The Southeaster is a wide open sprint handicap and you could argue that Marcus’s mount Tevez is getting a bit long in the tooth for such a speedy race but he has everything else going for him. He was only just behind Gulf Storm in a Pinnacle and is 1.5kg better, plus he has been dropped a point for his fifth in the Merchants.

Captain Swarovski, only a short head behind in the Merchants, is an obvious danger and now wears blinkers. “This is a bit on the short side and I want to speed him up a bit,” explains Justin Snaith. La Favourari also comes into it if Richard Fourie can get anywhere near 52.5kg (and he did 53 last month).

Marcus can also win the Need For Speed Sprint on Attenborough who is favoured by the conditions over the ultra-fast Sergeant Hardy who is 4.5kg worse off with the selection than he would be in a handicap.

Horse Guards comes out almost level with the Ramsden runner and it’s his third run of the season so he looks a big danger while Myfunnyvalentine is best of all on adjusted ratings.

Marcus kicks off with newcomer Rings And Things but this one may not be forward enough to go in first time. “She will probably prove a better filly than my other runner Hopeful in the long term but I haven’t really pushed her and Hopeful has had a run,” says Candice Bass-Robinson.

Princess Peach should also go well but the Mike de Kock-trained Var filly Rumbavar could be hard to beat. Saint Janine, though, looks one for Marcus in the Racing Association Maiden and his mount Epona may just be good enough to go in again in the Graduation Plate. This half-sister to Jay Peg so impressed last time that the handicappers put her up 5kg.

Free Agent faces a tough task in the next but, if his rider has got one or two on the board by this stage, punters will want to be on.

Michael Clower