This might have scuppered the plans of last season’s Equus Champion two-year-old Harry’s Son, who was among a 15-strong Paul Lafferty-trained string that was due to campaign in the Cape Summer Of Champions Season. Lafferty said the 40 day delay would have a snowballing effect as it would mean the horses would have less time to recover from their arduous journey down to Cape Town before some of their chief targets.

If travel is not possible before the 40 day period is over, a flight down to Cape Town close to the date of the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas on December 20, which is Harry’s Son’s chief target, could be an option. Another option is that he could be re-routed towards a Johannesburg campaign instead. However, it is early days in the problem that faces Lafferty and not only is he awaiting the decision of the veterinary authorities, but any proposals made will still have to be discussed with connections.

Among other good horses in Lafferty’s intended Cape Town string were Garibondy, Flying Loot, Goldie Coast and some promising two-year-olds. Meanwhile, Dennis Drier’s entire Cape Town string had fortunately already arrived in Cape Town before the horse tested AHS positive at Summerveld.

Picture: Trainer Paul Lafferty and Harry’s Son (David Thiselton)

Vaughan Marshall said: “I’ll have to see but it’s more than likely.” However the combination of a 6.5kg penalty and a wide draw means that Durban Golden Horseshoe winner Afrikaburn will miss the Classic.

Dean Kannemeyer said: “He was a little shaken up after his second in the Matchem and he will either go straight for the Selangor on 22 November or have another run before that. At this stage I don’t know if I will even have a runner in the Classic.” Light The Lights, beaten only a length and a quarter when fifth in the Premiers Champion, will also miss the Cape Classic. Glen Kotzen has decided to send him to Port Elizabeth for the Listed Racing Association Stakes at Fairview the previous day. Justin Snaith, who has six in the Classic, is having second thoughts about running impressive wide-margin debut winner Heartland and said: “I can’t gallop him beforehand so I doubt if he will run.”

Picture: ML Jet and jockey MJ Byleveld (Nkosi Hlophe)

The four-year-old Horse Chestnut gelding was just outside the top 20 on the first Summer Cup log, so might have to win the Michaelmas to get in. He has drawn 12 out of a list of 24 entries in the latter event. The Michaelmas meeting will see the first turf racing at Greyville since the spring treatment, but in order not to give the track an early pounding, only two races on the eight-race card will be on the turf and the rest will be on the polytrack.

Bold Inspiration has had seven career starts for five wins, but has won all three of his starts since joining Laird with consummate ease. Laird said the big horse had needed gelding upon arriving in his yard and had given the impression of being a Gold Cup type, so could “only get better” with age. He reckoned that as an up and coming sort this could be the “right Summer Cup” for him. He didn’t view Bold Inspiration as a J&B Met type, so the KZN Champions Season will likely be his next big campaign after the Summer Cup (presuming he gets into the latter race).

Laird’s Australian-bred Rock Of Gibraltar filly Rich Girl is on top of the Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Cup log at the moment, thanks chiefly to her runner up finish in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson over 1200m at Scottsville in May. The R3,85 million race, the richest horseracing event the country will have ever seen, will be run at Turffontein on November 1 over 1400m, a distance she is yet to prove she gets. However, Laird is confident she will stay the trip, provided she is ridden the correctly, and with Anton Marcus likely to be in the irons there is every chance that she will be. Rich Girl has shown outstanding speed in her sprint races, but is likely to be held up off the pace in the Ready To Run Cup, so a lot is likely to depend on how much cover she gets and how well she settles. Laird has won the Ready To Run Cup before with an Australian-bred filly, in 2010 with Hollywoodboulevard, who upset the mighty Igugu.

Laird has some classy sprinters at present and two of them, Viva La Var and Pej,  will be aimed at Johannesburg features, while another two, Normanz and Beloved Country, will be aimed at Cape Town’s big races. Viva La Var, who recently won his debut for Laird to remain unbeaten in four career starts, is being aimed at the Listed Golden Loom Handicap over 1000m at Turffontein and his long term aim will likely be the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over the same course and distance next Autumn. Pej, a speedy four-year-old filly by Kahal who has won five times in eleven starts, will be aimed at some of the fillies feature sprints in Johannesburg.

Normanz, a four-year-old gelding by Var who won the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint last season, made his reappearance on Sunday at Greyville on the polytrack. He had a slow start and nothing much else went right for him, so he did well to finish just two lengths back. Laird was pleased with the effort and is aiming him at the Gr 1 R1 million Betting World Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth next January.

Beloved Country, a Trippi filly who has won three out of five starts, will be running on the same day in the R1 million Cape Thoroughbred Sales Book 1 Graduates race over an ideal trip of 1200m. Laird doesn’t believe the latter race will be ultra strong as a lot of the best graduates will be racing in the Cape Summer Of Champions classic events.

Picture: Bold Inspiration and jockey Anton Marcus (Nkosi Hlophe)

This six-year-old Muhtafal gelding has benefitted in his last few runs from a change of tactics in that he has been held up before running on and despite needing the run yesterday he once again took off late to get up and beat the well weighted Pej. The Tote favourite was the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint winner Normanz, but he didn’t get a good start and proved in need of the run, finishing a 2,05 length fourth at level weights with the winner. Showmetheway should still have plenty of racing in him, as sprinters can blossom in their six-year-old year, and he is being targeted at the Gr 2 Merchants over 1200m at Turffontein at the end of November.

Anton Marcus had a rare blank on Greyville’s Friday night card but he won the second, third and fourth races yesterday, all on favourites, the Dennis Bosch-trained Regardstobroadway, the Greg and Karen Anthony-trained Nottingham Forest and the Glen Kotzen-trained Garden Treasure. It was Bosch’s second Greyville winner of the weekend.

Apprentice Callan Murray made up for his narrow loss on Pej by winning the fifth and sixth races on the Jeff Freedman-trained Royal Denise and the Charles Laird-trained Clipperton Island respectively. Royal Denise was making her polytrack debut and after being backed in from 33/1 to 12/1 she produced a strong finish to get up late. Murray gave Clipperton Island a particularly good front-running ride over 1600m, a fitting way with which to notch up his 20th winner and lose his 4kg claim.

The Michael Roberts-trained Indian Connection won the seventh over 1600m. The Duncan Howells-trained favourite Saratoga Dancer could only manage third after being caught wide and committed early, and this might have cost him his chances of making the R3,85 million Emperor’s Ready To Run Cup field.

Kumaran Naidoo had his second Greyville winner of the weekend when Shivrani, who looked a picture in the parade ring, comfortably won the last over 1900m under Warren Kennedy.

Picture: Showmetheway (right) edges out Pej to win the first at Greyville yesterday (Nkosi Hlophe)

Drier said that the colt would instead run in a forthcoming Graduation Plate over 1200m and added that it still had to be decided whether he would then go the classic route, consisting of the Gr 2 Selangor Cup over 1600m on November 22 and the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas on December 20.

Drier said that there had been a couple of cases of travel sickness among his Cape Town string that had arrived at the Phillippi training centre recently, but Generalissimo had not been one of the horses affected.

Picture: Generalissimo (Nkosi Hlophe)