If there was any argument that last season’s crop of three-year-old fillies was above average it was finally put to bed by star filly Inara at Turffontein yesterday. Also stuffed under the blanket was that carefully planned, Cape Town-based horses have no trouble competing on the Highveld.

Winner of the Gr1 Klavervlei Majorca Stakes in two consecutive seasons, Inara took her form to the ‘Big Smoke’ and put their best away with ease in the Gr1 L Jaffee Empress Club Stakes, second leg of the unofficial fillies and mares Gr1 WFA 1600m Triple Crown.

Trainers from the Western Cape have traditionally been reluctant to travel to the Highveld where the rarefied atmosphere, 6000m above sea level, has often been blamed for disappointing performances. But if altitude came into play yesterday it was not in evidence as Inara made some high class opposition look decidedly ordinary.

Inara (Liesl King)

The field dawdled the first fractions but if the opposition plan was to blunt Inara’s finish it was misplaced. Grant van Niekerk rode a supremely confident race pushing for home early and Inara responded like the good horse she is.

Fitting was that Mike Bass, who has had difficult health issues of late, was on track to collect the trophy.

If Inara franked the three-year-old fillies form then Carry On Alice reinforced it. Second to Alboran Sea – another of the ‘Fillies Super Crop’ – in the G1 Computaform Sprint last year, she staked her claim for another crack at the big prize at the end of the month with an emphatic victory in a Pinnacle Stakes sprint over 1000m.

Even though she had everything in her favour, the win could not have been more emphatic and S’Manga Khumalo was looking through his legs for the opposition a long way out.

The Computaform Sprint will be more competitive but Carry On Alice showed enough yesterday to suggest that she will be a tough nut to crack.

Horses from champion trainer elect Sean Tarry’s yard have been almost invincible of late but there have been a couple of hiccups along the way and it is obviously preying on his mind. “I’ve had a number of odds-on favourites beaten when they looked to have everything in their favour,’ he surmised after Carry On Alice’s win.

Anyone who understands horse racing will be aware that things can go pear-shaped in a matter of seconds – tendon, muscles whatever – so it’s best to know the facts before shouting.

Mike Azzie, much like Tarry, has a wealth of talent in his yard and Rabada was back on track in a Progress Plate. Abashiri may be the stable darling as he heads for the final leg of the triple crown but Rabada has always been rated by Azzie as a horse with lots of potential.

Anton Marcus rode a supremely confident race, tracking the pace for much of the way up the straight, and Rabada responded smartly. The colt’s lack of race fitness started to tell over the final furlong as Machismo and Prospect Strike chased hard to put him under pressure.

By Andrew Harrison

Newlands, one of Joey Ramsden’s legion of smart two-year-olds, looks good for the Place Your Bets Maiden Juvenile at Kenilworth tomorrow.

Donovan Dillon (Nkosi Hlophe)

Donovan Dillon’s mount went into punters’ notebooks after taking third against older horses after failing to go the early pace over 1 200m on debut. The extra furlong here will be much more to his liking – he is by Epsom Derby winner High Chaparral out of a mare by Fusaichi Pegasus who won the Kentucky Derby – and he has a plum draw. He opened at 12-10 with World Sports Betting yesterday. The Justin Snaith-trained Pride Rock, 22-10 second favourite and the obvious danger, is drawn in the bush.

Snaith and Ramsden also dominate the opening Fillies Maiden Juvenile but this time the draw advantage is reversed with the Milnerton-trained 12-10 favourite Captain Gambler wide. Her form looks slightly better and Dillon is one of the few Cape Town jockeys to have made a noticeable effort to emulate the Anton Marcus starting methods.

That said, Alpha Girl  has the benefit of the in-form Heavelon van der Hoven’s 2.5kg claim and, as low numbers have a huge advantage over 1 400m on this course, she is marginally preferred –and yesterday’s 8-1 is a big price.

The majority of Dean Kannemeyer’s 61 winners this season have come in Durban – indeed he is the leading trainer at Greyville at the moment – whereas only 13 of his total have been in his native Cape Town. But the handicappers reckon he should add to this with Playboy Buddy in the 2 500m maiden.

Grant Behr (Nkosi Hlophe)

Grant Behr’s mount is the highest rated horse in the race and at the weights she has a theoretical 5kg in hand. Little wonder that she opened as short as evens. True, she has been off for two months but she did run up to her handicap mark when finishing well over a mile last time. Although she has never raced beyond 2 000m, she finished second when she did try that trip. Olympic Power (5-2) and Tropical Heat (16-10), who look the main dangers, have also not been further than 2 000m.

The Quinte Plus Maiden is on form a coin-toss between the top three and French Captain gets the vote only because he looks more accustomed to this 1 000m than the other two. But watch out for Snaith two-year-old Tweak the Wind. He opened 22-10 joint favourite with French Captain.

Sean Veale, successful on Triptique in the Cape Merchants here in November, gets the call from Brett Crawford as Corne Orffer is out for a week for an interference offence on Rock On Geordies three weeks ago.

Veale’s best chance is almost certainly on 3-1 shot Baqueira in race five assuming she can cope with the drop in trip. The filly has most to fear from 14-10 favourite Emerald Gal, Kwando (5-1) and 11-2 shot Garden Tea Party who is better than her last run would suggest (she was returned not striding out).

By Michael Clower

The highlight of the weekend is the GR 1 Laurie Jaffee Empress Club Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein On Saturday and it will see an intriguing clash between three leading lights of probably the best female crop in South African racing history.

Inara (Liesl King)

There is also plenty of other highlights on both the Highveld and in KZN to look forward to.

The Mike Bass-trained Inara is a three-time Gr 1-winner who is ideally suited to the course and distance of the Empress Club Stakes and she is well drawn. She has never run to her best around a right hand turn but that probably had more to do with a lung infection she was incubating in the Champions Season in KZN last season. She has had to travel from Cape Town to Summerveld to prepare for the race and then travel up to Johannesburg this week. However, the Bass yard are already showing signs they are in for a fine season in KZN and she is undoubtedly the one to beat.

The Frank Robinson-trained Olma has not run well in three outing at Turffontein. However, she has matured and the use of a tongue tie has made a big difference. She is also proving to be best suited to the 1600m trip so as one who is getting better and better she is an interesting contender.

Trophy Wife will pick up the pieces if the top two go missing as she is an ultra consistent sort and as a Gr 1 bridesmaid deserves to one day be in the winner’s enclosure.

Later the Listed Spook Express Handicap over 2450m could see yet another marathon race win for the Weiho Marwing yard, who excel at these events and their up and coming stayer Zafira has snuck into the handicap with the minimum weight.

The meeting also sees the return of top class sorts Carry On Alice and Rabada.

Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)

Carry On Alice should hold too many guns in the fifth race over 1100m. An interesting runner for a place here is Winter Al as she is way out at the weights, but is well regarded and one day when this difficult customer  finally gets through the preliminaries unscathed she could pop up at long odds.

Rabada has had to come back from a couple of setbacks so might be beaten by Prospect Strike in the 1400m event as the latter has class and has had a good preparation.

Another intriguing race is the fourth where three classy types, Rainy Day Blues, Smart Mart and Jubilee Line clash over 2000m and they are slected in that order although it should be a mammoth tussle.

In KZN the exciting sprinter Natal appears in a race over 1200m, but might be ousted by Captain Alfredo. The latter has to give Natal 2,5kg but will relish the 1200m trip of Scottsville and has Gr 1 Tsogo Sun contender written all over him.

By David Thiselton

Africa’s Greatest Horseracing Event the Vodacom Durban July, traditionally run at Greyville on the first Saturday in July, is now worth R4,25 million, an increase of R750 000 over the prior year.  Further to the announcement of the increased stake, Gold Circle also confirmed that Vodacom Has extended its sponsorship of the Vodacom Durban July for an additional three years.

First entries closed on Wednesday, 13 April 2016, and the 65 nominations were unveiled at the launch of South Africa’s Champion Season 2016 held at Greyville Racecourse.

At the top of the list was the country’s highest rated horse, Legal Eagle. Sean Tarry’s champion won the Gr1 SA Derby last season and has already won two of the three legs of the unofficial WFA “mile” championship in the Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and the Gr1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes. He is current favourite for the Gr1 Premier’s Champion Challenge to be run at Turffontein on Derby Day at the end of this month.

Tarry, well on track for his second National Trainer’s Championship, has nominated nine other runners. French Navy, arguably unlucky last year, is likely to be back for another crack and is the third highest rated runner on the list. Victory would also make it a treble for Tarry and owner Chris van Niekerk, the pair having won successive Julys with Pomodoro and Heavy Metal in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Also nominated is the country leading three-year-old Abashiri who on Derby Day will be attempting to round off his bid for the Triple Crown with victory in the Gr1 SA Derby. Michael Azzie’s smart colt has already garnered the first two legs, the Gr2 Gauteng Guineas and Gr1 SA Classic for owners Adriaan and Rika van Vuuren.

Mike Bass, already a three-time winner of the Vodacom Durban July, will be pinning his hopes on Paterfamilias and his trio of smart fillies Inara, Silver Mountain and Nightingale.

Fascinating this year will be the battle of the three-year-old colts leading up to the July. Abashiri aside, Johan Janse van Vuuren has three smart entries in Unparalleled, Brazuca and New Predator but there are a host of colts that for one reason or another have not been fully exposed.

Some in this category include the Duncan Howells pair of Ten Gun Salute, already a Gr3 winner in Open company, and Sylvester The Cat. Howells has also nominated the classy Saratoga Dancer.

Justin Snaith has entered Investec Cape Derby winner It’s My Turn and Baritone, narrowly beaten by one of Dean Kannemeyer’s entries Mambo Mime at Greyville last Friday. Another Snaith entry is Dynamic, a controversial second behind another Kannemeyer July entry Cape Speed at Scottsville last Sunday.

Surprisingly the powerful Mike de Kock yard only has three nominations, Jubilee Line, Persian Rug and the Australian-bred Kinaan.

Important Vodacom Durban July dates to diarise:

• First Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 9 May 2016
• First Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Tuesday, 10 May 2016
• Second Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 30 May 2016
• Final Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Monday, 6 June 2016
• Weights Published: Tuesday, 7 June 2016
• Final Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 20 June 2016
• Final Field and Draw: Announcement of the Final Field and Barrier Draws will take place on Tuesday, 21 June 2016
• Public Gallops:  7am at Greyville Racecourse, Thursday, 23 June 2016

Africa’s Greatest Horseracing Event, the Vodacom Durban July, traditionally run at Greyville on the first Saturday in July, is now worth R4,25 million, an increase of R750 000 over the prior year.  Further to the announcement of the increased stake, Gold Circle also confirmed that Vodacom has extended its sponsorship of the Vodacom Durban July for an additional three years.

First entries closed on Wednesday, 13 April 2016, and the 65 nominations were unveiled at the launch of South Africa’s Champion Season 2016 held at Greyville Racecourse.

The full list of entries are as follows:

Entries:  65

Important Vodacom Durban July dates to diarise:

• First Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 9 May 2016
• First Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Tuesday, 10 May 2016
• Second Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 30 May 2016
• Final Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Monday, 6 June 2016
• Weights Published: Tuesday, 7 June 2016
• Final Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 20 June 2016
• Final Field and Draw: Announcement of the Final Field and Barrier Draws will take place on Tuesday, 21 June 2016
• Public Gallops:  7am at Greyville Racecourse, Thursday, 23 June 2016