Anton Marcus, out of action for over a month, has shown no signs of his lay-off with a winner on Friday night at Greyville and a further three at Scottsville yesterday, including Sweet Lady Jade in the KZN 3YO Series Fillies.

Always a reluctant star of any show, Marcus lets his riding do the talking, and Sean Tarry will have had no quibbles with his handling of Sweet Lady Jade. Up with the pace throughout, Marcus kept his mount hard to her task up the home straight and she responded gamely to hold off the attentions of Beaute Noire and Eden Garden Blitz with Diamond In The Sky filling the minor placing.

Sweet Lady Jade is a daughter of German-bred stallion Querari who is fast making a name for himself with only two crops racing and along with fellow ‘German’ Silvano is another jewel in the crown of Maine Chance Farms.

English racing writer Sean Travass, who has twice been out to South Africa with a contingent of foreign racing press for the Vodacom Durban July, writes a column on South African racing for his audience in the Thoroughbred Daily News. On Saturday he commented, “I have to admit that it (South African racing) is a whole lot more competitive than I ever thought, and that the field sizes are simply astounding … on to the racing at Scottsville on Sunday and the field sizes scared the living daylights out of me.”

He also learned that money for first timers in South Africa, unlike in England, is not necessarily an indication of what is to follow. Travass took a flyer on Mike de Kock’s first timer Malhama in the second, who had at that early stage been supported in from 72- to 5-2, but word from the stable was that the Aussie-bred would be looking for much further in spite of the presence of Marcus in the saddle.

Most money however, was for the favourite Simona, and although Malhama did feature enough to suggest she would pay to follow, Michael Roberts had his filly in top condition and she duly obliged. The daughter of Gimmethegreenight was a picture in the paddock and she streaked home well clear of debutant Kilmokea with the balance in another race.

Simona races in the silks of Newbury Racing with Dennis Evans on course to lead her in.

To drive another point home for Travass there were two major upsets in Newtons Spark winning the 2400m handicap in a race where it looked as if Mike Pappas’s runner had jumped in at the two-furlong marker, followed by Sovereign Reign for Yogas Govender in the seventh. Both incidentally ridden by four-claiming apprentice Dennis Schwarz.

There are pitifully few 2400m races in KZN but when the opportunity arises it would appear as if the jockeys’ judge of pace goes out of the window. The early exchanges resembled a funeral procession with none of the riders willing to commit resulting in a sprint for the line. Schwarz took full advantage of his postage stamp weight and Newtons Spark (25-1) sped clear of pacemaker Born To Rule to win with a week of daylight to spare.

Sovereign Reign, returning from a 113-day break and seemingly more at home over 10 furlongs, raced fresh to score a 20-1 upset to add to Pick 6 punters misery.

Jarred Samuel, recently back after an enforced 9-month break to recover from serious concussion after a fall at Greyville, got his first winner back for Weiho Marwing, winning the last aboard La Vida Blanco for the Ashburton-based trainer. A furlong out is was anyone’s race with the field line-across the track but Samuel kept plugging away and La Vido Blanco found more as the opposition fell away in the closing stages.

Andrew Harrison