Ashburton trainer Paul Gadsby has a chance of landing a Gr 1 victory in the Premier’s Champions Stakes over 1600m on Super Saturday with the Gimmethegreenlight gelding Gunner, although he admitted the favourite Zodiac Ruler would be hard to beat.

He said, “I would like to hope he has a chance, although if I had a choice between 1400m and 1600m at this stage I would probably go for 1400m. He has a lot of quality and is a trier, he has a very big heart. He is a light framed horse and tends to lighten up in his races, so I almost had to give him a week off after his July day run, but he will look spot on in the parade ring on Saturday.”

Gunner caught the eye on Vodacom Durban July day in the Gr 2 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m. He was caught wide the whole way from a draw of nine yet still managed to say on very well for a 1,75 length third to Zodiac Ruler. He has another tricky draw of seven in an eleven horse field, but if Brandon Lerena, who replaces S’Manga Khumalo, is able to slot him in he could have a shout and should stay the trip.

Gadsby concluded, “I hope to be in the first three or four.”

Gadsby runs Reigning Wave in the first over 1600m for fillies and mares, where she is the best weighted horse. However, she has a tough draw to overcome.

He said, “”She has got her problems as she is a bit back at the knee and jars up, so ideally I would have liked a turf race over a bit further. She has had a bit of a rest so we decided to take our chances despite the wide draw.”

He said his other runner on the day Roy’s Mambo had not been gelded yet chiefly due to him being quite light framed, but he believed he was looking for the 1900m trip of the second race on the turf, where he has a wide draw of eleven.

David Thiselton

Justin Snaith believes he has his first ever “proper” shot at the eLan Property Group Gold Cup with the “class act” Ovidio and the generally good draws he has landed with his other runners on Super Saturday have made him hopeful of enjoying a better day than he did on Vodacom Durban July day.

Snaith added the current waterlogged KZN training tracks had given the R1,25 million Gold Cup a degree of “pot luck” about it.

He said, “It is not ideal but everybody is in the same boat as nobody is going to be able to get the work they would like into their charges. But you never know it might work in our favour.”

Ovidio has always had the Gold Cup as his target.

Snaith said the Australian-bred gelding by Danehill Dancer had “the odd soundness issue”, so was given a five month layoff after his fine victory in the Gr 2 J&B Urban Honey Stayers over 2800m on J&B Met day and had also been kept in Cape Town for the bulk of his Gold Cup preparation due to the more forgiving ground at this time of the year.

Ovidio arrived at Summerveld three weeks ago. Snaith said, “He is very well, I am very happy with him. He is a proper staying horse, there is no stamina doubt, and he has a perfect draw (seven), I wouldn’t want to be any closer in.” Piere Strydom rides and will be hoping to make it a Vodacom Durban July/Gold Cup double.

Snaith runs the classy three-year-old Trippi colt Baritone in the Gr 1 Mike and Carol Bass Champions Cup and was bullish about his chances.

On July day he ran a cracker in the Listed Daisy Business Solutions Handicap over 1600m on the turf. He did not have the clearest of passages, but was doing excellent work late for a 5,15 length fifth. He ran off a merit rating of 104, meaning he carried 60kg and was giving weight to most of the field including older horses.

Snaith said, “It was a brilliant run, he had it all to do at the weights. He is a dark horse as he is not far off my best three-year-olds. He just cannot crack a good draw, but still always runs creditable races.”

This colt has struck as a progressive type throughout the season and the tongue tie obviously helped last time after he had been reported to have “choked up in the latter stages” in the Canon Guineas, when moving up well and not finding the necessary extra. Anthony Delpech staying aboard is another bonus, but the wide draw of twelve makes it tough.

Snaith also runs the new yard acquisition It Is Written in the Champions Cup from a plum draw of five with Strydom up. Strydom with his good hands and immaculate balance should suit him perfectly as this Dynasty gelding does tend to over race. He is 3,5kg under sufferance on official merit ratings with the best weighted horse, Punta Arenas, but the distance looks ideal.

Snaith said, “He is doing well, although he’s not the easiest horse and has had a long season. But the Champions Cup is a bit weaker than normal besides Marinaresco and we are taking our chances.”

Snaith has another new yard acquisition on the day, Fortissimus, who was recently bought into the yard. She runs in the Gr 1 Thekwini Stakes with Grant van Niekerk up.

This Mogok filly was caught a bit flat footed at the top of the straight in the Gr 2 Gold Circle Golden Slipper over 1400m last time, but then began staying on and ended up seventh. She has 7,25 lengths to make up on the winner of the latter race, Final Judgement, but looks likely to enjoy the step up to 1600m.

Snaith said, “She will run well although I don’t know if she is up to it. She has a lovely temperament and her work has not been bad at all so she could be a dark horse from a nice draw (eight of 14).”

Snaith runs the unbeaten Australian-bred colt Zodiac Ruler in the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Stakes over 1600m, where he will be a warm order. This big colt has lost ground in both of his starts before powering through to win impressively, and this was particularly so last time out in the Gr 2 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m. He looks likely to relish the step up in trip and jumps from pole position with Strydom up.

Snaith said, “He is very well, I am happy with him and he is improving all the time.”

The yard run the Captain Al filly The Merry Widow in the Gr 2 Debutante over 1200m from a plum draw of two. However, as a three-time winner up against one-time winners and a maiden she has to give 4kg to the rest of the field. She won her first three starts from 800-1200m, including a Listed race, before being beaten 0,5 lengths in a Gr 3 over 1200m. She has a better draw than she had in the Golden Slipper, when having to be dropped out. Snaith said she had been doing well, but admitted as a “tiny filly” she had “a hard task” giving away that amount of weight.

He runs the three-year-old Dynasty gelding Brooklyn Brawler in the Listed Darley Arabian over 1600m on the poly and expected a better run than his last outing in a Listed race over 1600m on the turf on July day.

He said, “He was caught wide and nothing went right, he will do much better tucked in.” Van Niekerk rides from draw seven and this classy sort must be a big runner, although he has not worked on the poly so there is a question whether he will take to the surface.

Harry Lime did not make many inroads from a handy position in a 1000m poly event on July day, but Snaith expected some improvement on Saturday in the Listed Umgeni Handicap over 1200m on the poly. This horse has suffered a knee chip in the past, so is not the easiest to train, but he did prove his class in January when beating the like of Brutal Force and Talktothestars in a Pinnacle race over 1000m at Kenilworth.

David Thiselton

Triple Crown hero Karl Zechner rides at Durbanville for the first time in his career today when he has three booked mounts.

He has ridden over 100 winners this term and says, explaining the visit: “I want to finish off the season with a few more.”

His best chance could be on Persian Silk in the last even though the Glen Kotzen filly has been off since February but on the equine front the most intriguing horse on trial is Argo Solo in the Itsarush.co.za Handicap.

This colt was a 55-1 supposed no-hoper when he made his debut at Kenilworth two months ago yet he ran out an impressive winner, beating hot favourite Oceans Trip by a comfortable two and a quarter lengths. The runner-up boosted the form by winning next time and reopposes here on 2.5kg better terms.

“Argo Solo didn’t surprise me that day – he had been working well,” recalls Brett Crawford. “He has done very well since, he has been to Durbanville and I expect him to run a big race.”

He opened at an appealing 9-2 with World Sports Betting which makes obvious danger Ovar favourite at 3-1, Oceans Trip 9-2 and top weight Kirumbo a 5-1 chance. The Adam Marcus runner ran well here last time and should not be left out of calculations.

Mike Stewart’s surprise first time course winner Blazing Rebel is a 14-1 chance. “He’s a little horse but he has a chance if he can get to the front,” says his trainer.

Harakiri is 3-1 favourite for the first despite her outside draw and she has shown enough early pace to be able to get across. However  Justin Snaith cautions: “It is extremely difficult. She is going to have to be fast early.”

Maybe it would be more prudent to side with 33-10 shot Miss Malbec and Glen Kotzen’s filly probably has more scope for improvement than Moulina (9-2).

Devin Ashby returns in race two for the first time since shattering his ankle and shin in a freak accident going down to the start at Kenilworth at the beginning of the year. Good luck to him on Me-Horse and his other three mounts.

There is not much to choose between 22-10 favourite Kenny Trix and 4-1 shot Black Parrott – and both are badly drawn – but the vote goes to the latter. “He is an improving type and he will like Durbanville,” says his trainer.

Snaith and Richard Fourie should follow up with Miss Hyde 35 minutes later. She was only a head behind second-placed Sandy Bay on debut here four weeks ago but she had to overcome a poor draw, was last away and was still last turning for home.

Snaith’s Figure Of Grey is 15-10 favourite for race four but she could find it hard to beat Emerald Gal (16-10) with Andrew Fortune in the irons.

Michael Clower

Vodacom Durban July runner-up Marinaresco is reported in good shape for Saturday’s Champions Cup but there are serious concerns about another wide draw, particularly as it proved his undoing in the big one.

Candice Robinson, who takes over her father’s licence a week today, said: “Marinaresco is doing well but we are going to have to hope for a bit of luck because we again have a bad draw (14). We will have to again drop him out because he doesn’t race up with the pace.”

Grant van Niekerk’s mount is as short as 8-10 with Betting World to score for Mike Bass whose most recent victories in this race have been with African Appeal in 2007 and Africana Lion four years earlier. Favourites have won the last three runnings. Exit Here is second favourite at 9-1 with Punta Arenas, Saratoga Dancer and Baritone all on 10-1.

Justin Snaith is optimistic that his Golden Horseshoe winner Zodiac Ruler can follow up in the Premiers Champion and said: “The colt has done well since July day and he has improved. In fact he is improving all the time.”

Piere Strydom takes over from Richard Fourie who will be on duty for the stable at Kenilworth’s Champagne Stakes meeting. Fred Crabbia’s Australian-bred is 12-10 favourite with World Sports Betting which has already priced up all 12 races. Mike Azzie’s Rivarine is 9-2 second favourite with Golden Horseshoe fifth Palladium next on 7-1.

Snaith may have seen his wins-in-a-season record (198) fall to Sean Tarry but he reached 189 when Fourie followed up their Fairview Friday treble on Northern Ballet at Kenilworth on Saturday. However 5-2 favourite Acrostar proved expensive in the Final Fling, managing only eighth.

Fourie reported: “The race didn’t work out for me – the pace was too slow . Had it been faster I would have tried to get a run up the inner but I had to come up the middle where the ground wasn’t the best.”

Harlem Shake at 12-1 was the longest priced Final Fling winner since Glen Kotzen sprang a 50-1 shock with Escapology ten years ago and a was a triumph for the CTS Million Dollar combination of Glen Puller, Heavelon van der Hoven and an ownership group that includes Frank Carruthers and Ian Robinson.

The last-named had positive news of Illuminator, saying: “He is still only walking around the yard but there is no sign of the injury and the vet says he can now start trotting. We are still hopeful and we haven’t gelded him.”

Donovan Dillon, enjoying his best season so far, reached 60 on Prize Peg for Mike Robinson while work rider Lungisani Geledu’s all-the-way win on Flying Monarch gave Vaughan Marshall’s his 70^th success of the campaign. The Steyn brothers scored a notable family double – Piet with Friendly Tibbs and Andres with Power Grid.

The last-named and the Harold Crawford-trained Cream Soda Green completed a double for leading first-season sire Gimmethegreenlight, much to the delight of Hassen Adams whose deep-rooted faith in the horse now looks fully justified.

Ian Sturgeon could be the next South African jockey to try his luck in the oft-volatile cauldron of Mauritius. According to the Turf Club trainer Jean-Michel Henry has applied to bring him out to replace Anthony Andrews who has cut short his contract and returns to South Africa at the weekend.

Michael Clower

An interesting sideshow this week will be the race for the Breeders Championships. KZN kingpins Summerhill look set to wrest the trophy from reigning champions Klawervlei Stud and thereby land a milestone tenth national title.

On Saturday Glen Puller and Heavelon van der Hoven helped Klawervlei close the gap on Summerhill by winning the Gr 3 Final Fling Stakes over 1800m at Kenilworth with Harlem Shake, who became Warm White Night’s first stakes-winning daughter.

By close of play on Saturday Klawervlei on R19,782,625 were R610,187 behind Summerhill, whose runners had earned R20,392,812 in the season up until then.

The two biggest stakes earning opportunities on Super Saturday are in the Gr 2 R1,25 million eLan Property Group Gold Cup and the Gr 1 R1 million Mike and Carol Bass Champions Cup and Summerhill are the only one of the pair represented in either race.

The Dean Kannemeyer-trained Summerhill-bred five-year-old Kahal gelding Solar Star showed he will likely stay every inch of the Gold Cup 3200m trip when staying on for a 2,3 length fifth in the Gr 3 Gold Vase over 3000m on Vodacom Durban July day, despite having no cover the whole way. He will be better off in the weights with all four who beat him and is now drawn in pole.

The Summerhill-bred five-year-old Geoff Woodruff-trained gelding Arch Rival is by the stamina influence A P Arrow and is another with a fine chance, despite a wide draw of 14. In his last two starts he has won the Gr 2 Gold Bowl over 3200m and a Pinnacle Stakes event over 2450m, both at Turffontein. In the latter event he beat the ruling Gold Cup favourite Enaad by 0,4 lengths and is now 1,5kg better off.

In the Champions Cup over 1800m the Gavin Van Zyl-trained Summerhill-bred six-year-old Kahal gelding No Worries bounced back to form with two fine performances over 2400m, but then proved this had little to do with a step up in trip when running on strongly off the back of a slow pace to win the KZN Breeders Million Mile. He is drawn nine on Saturday.

Klawervlei might close the gap early in the meeting with their sole representative in the Gr 2 R300,000 Debutante Stakes. Vaughan Marshall has had a fine SA Champions Season, sending out 49 runners for ten wins, a strike rate of 20,41%, and included among them are two Gr 1s and a Gr 3. His runner in the Debutante is the Klawervlei-bred Philanthropist filly Flash Fire, a long striding sort who did not find the necessary extra from a high draw in the Listed Devon Air Stakes over 1400m on the Greyville turf last time out. Her previous two runs had also been over 1400m and yielded a win at Scottsville. She now steps down to 1200m, albeit from another tricky draw of seven. If breaking well she is a dark horse as she is not without speed.

Both Summerhill and Klawervlei have a runner each in the Gr 2 R300,000 Umkhomazi Stakes over 1200m. The Tony Rivalland-trained Visionaire gelding Count Von Count won the Eightfold Path KZN Breeders Juvenile 1200 in eyecatching style on the poly and from a good draw of three should  be able to use his fine turn of foot to good affect again. He will also have a 2kg weight advantage over the Sean Tarry-trained Klawervlei-bred Trippi colt Flying Myth, who beat the useful Rivarine on debut before finishing third in the Gr 3 Protea Stakes and then romping home in a Juvenile Plate event over 1160m at Turffontein. Flying Myth has a fine chance, but faces a tough draw of eleven.

Summerhill have a runner in both the Gr 1 R600,000 Thekwini Stakes and the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Stakes, both over 1600m, while Klawervlei are not represented in either race. The Mike Azzie-trained Summerhill-bred Golden Sword filly Oasis Queen won over 1450m at Turffontein with second time blinkers on and then, despite odds of 25/1, finished a two length second to Safe Harbour over 1400m. She relaxed well in front in the latter event and being by Golden Sword, who won a Gr 3 over twelve-and-a-half furlongs, out of a National Assembly mare who has produced both a 2000m and an 1800m winner, she should enjoy the step up in trip in the Thekwini. She could be the dark horse from a plum draw.

In the Premier’s Champions Stakes the Tarry-trained Summerhill-bred Visionaire colt Africa Rising could be anything having caught the eye on debut when running on strongly to win over 1200m. He was backed in from 6/1 to 2/1 and beat the hard-knocking Rock Of Africa by 0,75 lengths and there was a further 5,25 lengths back to the rest of the field. The athletic sort is out of a Braashee mare, so might enjoy the step up in trip.

In the Gr 2 R400,000 Gold Bracelet over 1800m, Klawervlei are not represented while Summerhill have the Sean Tarry-trained Kahal filly Intergalactic and the Doug Campbell-trained Visionaire filly Lala. Intergalactic is course and distance suited and is the joint second highest merit-rated horse in the weight for age event, while Lala has a tough task being the joint second lowest rated horse.

In the Listed R150,000 Umgeni Handicap over 1200m on the poly Klawervlei have the widely drawn Charles Laird-trained filly Beloved Country, who will need to improve on her last run.

Klawervlei’s slim hopes of retaining the title appear to rest on them having an exceptional week in the minor meetings and doing well with their few big race opportunities on Super Saturday, while they will also have to rely on Summerhill failing in all of their many big race opportunities.

David Thiselton