Charles Laird said the run of Exit Here in the Gr 3 Kings Cup on the polytrack on Friday night could be ignored and he will now likely go straight into the Gr 2 Canon Guineas on the opening night of the South African Champions Season on Friday May 6.

Laird also spoke about Ice Machine and his promising two-year-old winner on Sunday, Good To Give, as well as some of his other chief feature race contenders.

Charles Laird (Nkosi Hlophe)

The Kings Cup was run in the rain, and followed a torrential downpour, meaning Exit Here had to work a lot harder than usual to get into his favoured handy position from a draw of eight. He also “hated” the wet conditions. He not surprisingly found nothing in the straight and finished last. The Gr 1 Daily News 2000 is likely a trip he is looking for so is also on the agenda.

Laird also felt a line could be drawn through Stormy Eclipse’s run in the Kings Cup, despite him running on for third, as the conditions made it difficult coming from off the pace due to the water being kicked up.

Ice Machine was unlucky in the Gr 2 Hawaii Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein last time out when a slow pace saw him flying from last place to finish a close up third. Laird thought it was a fine performance and said, “If the race was over 1402m everybody would have said it was a great run.”

Ice Machine put up a fine gallop coming up the bottom sand track at Summerveld yesterday (Monday) and is on track for the Gr 1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m on Classic Day at Turffontein, April 2.

Philanthropist colt Good To Give ran on in eyecatching style on Sunday to win on debut in a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1000m under Anton Marcus.

He displayed a fine turn of foot and Laird really likes the Philanthropists, of which he has three. “He is a proper sire,” he said. Philanthropist was a middle distance horse, while Good To Give is a half-sister to Sweet Sanette, who finished third in the Gr 1 King’s Stand Stakes over five furlongs at Royal Ascot, so the young colt has some speed too. Laird believes Good To Give will get 1600m so has a nice quandary to be in, whether to run him in the CTS $US500,000 1200m race at Kenilworth next January or the CTS $US500,000 1600m race. Good To Give is sure to be a player in the South African Champions Season Gr 1 races before that.

Laird was very pleased with the performance of Viva La Var on Friday night. He led until close home in a MR 102 1000m handicap, a race run in dry conditions before the deluge, and was only overtaken by a good sort in Captain Alfredo. That was his first outing since last October at Turffontein and he is now going to be targeted at the innovative R100,000 Easter Dash at Scottsville on March 27. This year is to be run over only 500m, so Viva La Var’s early speed will give him a big shout.

Laird said the promising three-year-old Main Submission had benefitted tremendously from an enforced layoff. The Oracy colt was injured in the float on the way back from the R2,5 million CTS Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1400m on October 31, where he ran a decent sixth. He will be at the races soon and will later likely line up in the Canon Guineas too.

By David Thiselton

Feature image: Exit Here (Nkosi Hlophe)

Apprentice Lyle Hewitson, who rode 23 winners as a workrider, expects to have his first winner in the professional ranks at Fairview on Friday.

Fittingly it will be on a horse his father Carl owns a share in and also helps condition, being assistant trainer to Yvette Bremner.

Hewitson rides the Bremner-trained Blizzard Belle in a Conditions Plate for fillies and mares over 1000m.

Lyle Hewitson

The Western Winter mare has won her last five on the trot. She is second best in at the weights on Friday off her 99 merit rating.

However, Hewitson’s 4kg claim will alleviate some of the 7kg she is under sufferance with the best weighted horse in the race, stablemate Love To Sail.

The latter is a classy sort, who has her first run since being sent to Port Elizabeth from the Mike de Kock yard.

Love To Sail would prefer a touch further, but hasn’t run since last November, so could do well in this sprint.

Hewitson needs five qualifying rides down the straight before being allowed to race around the turn.

However, he is only allowed a maximum of two qualifying rides per racemeeting, even if he has more rides on the day. He has three qualifying rides under the belt to date.

Hewitson has had eight rides in the professional ranks to date for one third place and one fourth.

He compared it to riding in workrider races, “It is a lot tighter and there isn’t just one pace, there are changes of pace throughout the race.”

However, he added the communication between riders was a lot better, which obviously made the safety factor better.

He concluded, “It is just a lot more professional.”

By David Thiselton

Durbanville’s ridge and furrow, one of the main reasons for the Cape Town course failing to attract enough runners, is to be eliminated as part of the grand design for the racecourse and the Milnerton training centre.

Kenilworth Racing director Hassen Adams announced in November that a synthetic track would be installed alongside the grass one. He hoped then to have the work done by the end of this month but it has taken longer than planned to put all the necessary arrangements (including finance) in place.

Durbanville race track

Adams, the prime mover behind the project, is emphatic that it will all go ahead and will be accompanied by the replacement of the turf course.

He said: “Durbanville was originally established as an amateur racecourse used only during the winter months and so the corrugations didn’t much matter.

“The trainers still want to retain a grass track there and so what I would like to do is rip up the existing surface and take out the ridge and furrow.

“That won’t be expensive but putting in a polytrack will be. However I want to get an extension of the boundaries so we can have both grass and polytrack.

“I regard it as my job to make quite sure that we get the best out of Durbanville and it looks as if I will get the Milnerton development through quite quickly. That will give us enough money to be able to do all this.

“I have already secured the necessary environmental approval to make the Milnerton training track a circular one and, when that is done, we will have three tracks alongside one another – grass, polytrack and sand.”

The existing training track is less than five furlongs and riders have to start thinking about pulling up when they have only gone three and a half. As a result trainers have to use a race to get their horses fully fit. The new one will be around ten furlongs in circumference.

By Michael Clower

Captain America satisfied Brett Crawford when running on to take third in the Champions Day Pinnacle Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday. The five-year-old will now attempt to repeat last year’s HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut win on April 2.

Crawford said: “For a prep run I was happy enough. I don’t think the race was run to suit him. They went very slowly and he was caught three wide but he did come back at them at the end.”

Captain America was set to give weight all round and he drifted from 6-10 to 11-10. He looked like being swallowed up at the 200m mark but he responded well to JP van der Merwe’s urgings to finish third to Silver Scooter. Regular rider Corne Orffer will take over in the Horse Chestnut.

Cape Flying Championship runner-up Brutal Force is being aimed to the Computaform Sprint at Turffontein on April 30. The four-year-old is already in Johannesburg under the care of the Joey Ramsden assistant Alson.

Stable companion King Of Pain, winner of last month’s CTS Chairman’s Cup, is to go to Durban where he won the 2014 Rising Sun Gold Challenge. This time he will run in staying races.

By Michael Clower

Picture: Captain America (Liesl King)

Richard Fourie has decided, a little surprisingly perhaps, to ride as a freelance for the time being.

When he won on the Justin Snaith newcomer Le Harve on only his second ride back at Kenilworth on Saturday it looked business very much as usual, with his signature on the record-breaking trainer’s dotted line all that was needed to restore the pre-Hong Kong partnership.

But Fourie said afterwards: “I’m not making any decisions yet and at this stage I don’t want to commit myself to anything. I want to see if I can pick my rides.”

Snaith, meanwhile, is busy nurturing his two-year-old talent and said: “I will wait a bit with Le Harve, put him away and look after him. But Bishop’s Bounty could run in the 1 100m race on Saturday although he needs ground while I am tempted to geld Sergeant Hardy (Met day Listed winner) as he is a very big horse.”

Richard Fourie (Liesl King)

Tar Heel, who led from halfway for Joey Ramsden in the OFYT Pinnacle, looks like having a crack at next month’s Computaform Sprint – albeit by default.

Derek Brugman reasoned: “He is an out-and-out 1 000m horse and Group-wise there is not much for him in Durban. The Computaform wouldn’t be first choice and you couldn’t go into it with a lot of confidence but I can’t see an alternative.”

Donovan Dillon, who rode the 7-1 shot, is developing a useful association with Glen Kotzen and gave the Woodhill trainer his 40^th winner of the season on newcomer South Side in the Birchwood Hotel Maiden.

Andre Nel is planning a tilt at the Fillies Winter Series with the Midas Handicap winner Captain’s Flame while Percival will also be kept in Cape Town after getting the better of Little Mo close home to justify some hefty support in the First Cut Handicap.

Nel said: “Captain’s Flame can be a little hot but she is pretty talented. Percival is improving all the time and I think he is going to enjoy the winter.”

Winners are what most jockeys want for their birthdays and Aldo Domeyer, who celebrated his 29^th with an Alan Greeff treble at Fairview on Friday, partnered both the Nel winners and got Pixelate up in the final furlong of the Boland Promotions Maiden for Shane Humby.

Both Bernard Fayd’Herbe and Brett Crawford are convinced that Me Myself And I will be better over further after the 8-1 chance came into her own in the closing stages of the mile Tytec Maiden. The winner is owned by the Ridgemont Stud which was also successful with the filly’s year older half-sister Chinawhite at Turffontein 90 minutes earlier.

Riding master Terrance Welch has abandoned post-CTS Million Dollar plans to go countrywide with Heavelon  van der Hoven who partnered the 17^th winner of his lucrative season after the Mike Robinson-trained Bold Aspen was backed from 12-1 to 6-1  in the Brilliant Glass Maiden.

Welch explained: “Heavelon will go to PE and possibly some apprentice races in Durban but riding elsewhere is not going to work. It’s in Cape Town that he gets his support and the trainers here want the jockeys with them in the mornings. Once riders start disappearing they don’t want them at all.”

By Michael Clower