The site has been specifically designed to be mobile friendly as official Google Analytics show that 50% of visitors to the site use their mobile devices and this figure will grow in the future.

There have been teething problems, most notably last week when the system was unable to handle unexpected volumes and punters had difficulty logging on. This has been remedied and the site upgraded to handle the bigger volumes.

The interactive racecard, where punters can access statistics and make notes, is designed to be used on-line and is not printer friendly. There are two other printer friendly options for racecards, namely the TabForm sheet or the Racecard Summary.

By request, fixed odds betting for future meetings will be loaded onto the site as soon as it becomes available instead of only on-day display. Horse, trainers and jockey indexes will become an added feature.

It is important to note that one is required to register before you can access the full menu. All of the content that was on the old website is available to registered users. Registration is free and the site currently has over 23 000 unique users.

“We are trying to be proactive,” says Gold Circle Commercial Executive, Patrick Loker. “We are noting complaints and suggestions and where possible will try and embrace these where we think they will add value. The site has been developed with extensive input from different punters, but satisfying everyone in such a diverse population group is a massive problem but one that we want to overcome using our best efforts.”

For suggestions or complaints e-mail support@goldcircle.co.za or call one of the following telephone numbers for assistance:

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Anthony Delpech was asked shortly after landing the Canon and Daisy Guineas double at Greyville on Friday night which of the two Justin Snaith-trained winners he would prefer to partner for the Vodacom Durban July.

Black Arthur was the answer, the main reason being the horse’s stamina reserves. He waxed lyrical about the classy colt and could not quite believe how far out of his ground he had come from. Later, Snaith said the answer to the aforementioned question lay in the betting. Black Arthur’s July odds were slashed from 50/1 to 12/1 last week and following his Guineas win he is now 33/10 favourite with Betting World.

Bela-Bela (Nkosi Hlophe)

Delpech had earlier called Bela-Bela a “special” filly, but was not sure she would get the 2200m July trip, although he felt against her own gender she would “get away” with the 2000m of the Gr 1 Woolavington.

Both horses have come out of their respective races superbly, according to Snaith.

He confirmed Bela-Bela would be going for the Woolavington, which has always been her aim.

However, Black Arthur is a typically immature son of Silvano and Snaith said, “He is high quality and we want to still have a horse for next season, so must be careful which route we take with him.”

It was the first time both Delpech and Snaith had achieved the Guineas double at the same meeting. However, Delpech had been confident of doing it. He had told his family in the morning how badly he had wanted to add this accolade to his CV and felt this could be the year.

Snaith went close to the Guineas double two years ago. In The Fast Lane was beaten in the fillies race at odds of 15/10, before Legislate won the Guineas at odds of 11/2.

This year it was Legislate who let the side down, running no sort of race in the IOS Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m, despite starting at odds of 11/10.

Snaith said the former Equus Horse a Of The Year had been far too “quiet” in the parade ring for his liking and the yard were still monitoring him yesterday, but nothing obvious had yet been detected.

By David Thiselton

Laurence Wernars has owned horses for some 25 years and looks to have a couple of chances of breaking his Gr 1 duck this season, including with Friday night’s Drill Hall Stakes winner New Predator.

Wernars has won plenty of Gr 2s and went close to landing a Gr 1 last season when the Johan Jansevan Vuuren-trained Brazuca only just failed in the Golden Horseshoe over 1400m at Greyville.

Top jockey Weichong Marwing called New Predator probably the best three-year-old around after his start to finish win on Friday night.

Wernars said he would leave it to trainer Janse Van Vuuren to choose the next target for the Australian-bred New Approach colt.

Wernars believes New Predator will get the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 trip if  “ridden cold.” However, Brazuca is a ready-made Daily News candidate, while New Predator’s speed makes him probably better suited to the 1600m trip of the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge.

Meanwhile, a whole new career has been opened to the always highly regarded Dennis Drier Triptique, whose running on second in the Drill Hall proved he is more than just a sprinter.

By David Thiselton

South African apprentice Jose Barnes had a winner in his first meeting in the USA this weekend after being granted a work permit last month.

It was the perfect Mother’s Day present for his mother Monica, who together with Barnes’ father Milton followed his progress through telephone contact with relatives living in the USA.

“I first and foremast want to thank trainer Charles Laird for helping keep Jose’s race riding dream alive,” said Monica. “Charles will know what I mean.”

Jose Barnes (Nkosi Hlophe)

Barnes had three rides for his Santa Anita-based guv’nor Steven Miyadi in a dirt track meeting at Golden Gate racecourse in San Francisco on Saturday.

He had a chance of making a winning USA debut as he was aboard the favourite in the fifth race, but his mount broke awkwardly and could only manage fourth place.

However, in the seventh race Barnes announced his arrival in the land of the stars and stripes with a fine ride aboard Two Steps Of Glory, who paid US$11.20 a win on the Tote. Fittingly the winning owner was ex-patriot South African film producer Gary Barber. Barnes tracked the leaders to the turn, brought his mount two wide into the straight and she then responded to urgings to just get up by a head despite lugging out in the final furlong.

Barnes’ final ride of the meeting yielded a fifth place finish.

Barnes’, who grew up close to Clairwood racecourse, was mentored in his early days by jockey great Garth Puller and was later accepted by the South African Jockeys Academy.

He was officially the shortest rider in South Africa.

After taking 57 rides to break his duck he grew in confidence and became one of the most sort after claiming apprentices in the country, including having a strong association with the Charles Laird yard. He proved many detractors wrong in the process.

However, he was then struck down by a debilitating back injury, which saw him side-lined for months. After an operation he made a brief comeback, but was written off by all and sundry once again after being forced back on to the side-lines.

Monica Barnes then spent her life savings on an operation for Jose performed in the UK by renowned spinal surgeon Martin Knight.

The Barnes family are thankful to Knight as Jose’s back has not given him any problems since.

Jose rode 27 winners and had 141 places in 449 rides in South Africa and having improved his record in just one meeting in the USA the determined youngster is deservedly back on the path to success.

By David Thiselton

At Kenilworth yesterday Joey Ramsden won the Somerset 1200 for the fourth successive year when 5-2 shot Attenborough led two furlongs out under Donovan Dillon and romped home to win pretty much as he liked.

Donovan Dillon (Nkosi Hlophe)

Ramsden said: “He is a smashing horse and he has come on by leaps and bounds since his first run. We are quite keen to keep him here rather than send him to Durban and so he will do the two-year-old winter series – the Cape Of Good Hope Nursery (May 28) and the Langerman four weeks later.”

The Milnerton trainer was optimistic that he would double up with Miranda Frost in the Perfect Promise Sprint but the 8-10 favourite went out like a light inside the final furlong and was found to have a significant nasal discharge.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe slipped The Merry Widow through on the inner to extend the unbeaten record of Gaynor Rupert’s homebred 5-1 chance to three. She will come back for the Fillies Nursery in three weeks’ time.

She is no more than 15 hands and Jonathan Snaith quipped: “She is the smallest horse in the yard and Justin was eyeing her for polo!”

It was a red-letter day for Lungese Geledu. The 27-year-old has been with Vaughan Marshall for four years but has only started race-riding relatively recently and Indigo Storm in the Work Riders’ Maiden was his third ride. He led 50m out to record his first success.

By Michael Clower