Diminutive apprentice Callan Murray (pictured) has been making a name for himself since his move to the Highveld and he had a red letter day at Turffontein yesterday scoring on all three of his rides including the biggest win of his career, the Gr2 Victory Moon Stakes.

He sent 11-2 shot Deo Juvente for home shortly after hitting the home stretch and he piloted Geoff Woodruff’s runner to a comfortable victory to book the gelding’s place in the Sansui Summer Cup. Easy Lover made a belated effort to peg back the winner but was never going to get there. However, he finished ahead of emergency acceptor Platinum Jet and long-time leader Ahlaam who ran a cracking race from a deep draw.

Murray had earlier warmed-up winning the first two races on the card and he gave Deo Juvente the perfect ride. Mid-field from a wide draw he had the gelded son of Trippi poised to strike at the top of the straight.

With plenty of horse under him he went for home early and once in front was never in danger of defeat. The balance of the field were labouring a long way out and just how the form for the Summer Cup stacks up will be interesting.

Old salts will tell you that you judge a jockey’s talent by the races he shouldn’t have won but did. Apprentice Craig Zackey, along with Murray, comes out of his time at the end of January but he has already established himself as a rider with a cool head and heaps of talent. Yesterday he took a calculated gamble on the speedy Little Genie in the Gardenia Stakes (Listed) and won a race that had ‘cheek’ written all over it.

Although coming off a break, Carry On Alice looked to have more in her favour than against and in the final analysis it was Zackey’s enterprise that carried the day as only a head separated the two at the line.

Zackey took the field on from the break and was clear in a matter of strides. Over two furlongs out his mount was seemingly under pressure but the young apprentice kept her nose down and drove for the wire.

Anthony Delpech, replacement for S’Manga Khumalo who was injured in the preliminaries before the first race and replaced by Muzi Yeni in the International Challenge, looked to have timed his challenge on Carry On Alice to perfection as his filly pulled up along sides his rival but Little Genie fought resolutely and Carry On Alice never looked like getting past.

Since Dominic Zaki fitted the daughter of Judpot with blinkers and teamed her up with Zackey she is unbeaten in five starts although yesterday’s triumph could come at a price. She was rated 15 pounds inferior to Carry On Alice and is likely to be shunted up the handicap.

Dennis Drier broke his Cape drought when bottom weight Triptique defied the handicapper with a game win in the Cape Merchants to deny a game Tevez his third straight win in the Gr2 race.

Under sufferance in the handicap, first call lightweight rider for the Drier stable, Sean Veale, produced the gelding out of a packed field with a telling run to deny a charging Tevez the hat-trick.

Haley Turner, the UK’s most successful female jockey ever, rounded off her career with a final victory in the Racing. It’s A Rush Jockey’s International Challenge at Turffontein when getting up in the tightest of finishes to deny Grey Cheyne and Cassie O’Malley on the line in the second last race of the challenge. Turner announced her retirement from the saddle earlier this month and this was her last victory as a professional jockey.

Her win was in vain as the local riders had the luck of the draw as far as mounts went and ran out easy winners of the Challenge.
By Andrew Harrison

The Racing. It’s A Rush – International Jockeys’ Challenge (IJC) adds a bit of spice to this weekend’s racing menu with the country’s best jockeys, captained by Gavin Lerena, taking on an international team headed by England’s Hayley Turner.

The IJC is contested over two racemeetings with the first leg consisting of four races run at Fairview today (R5-8) and the second at Turffontein tomorrow (R4, R5, R8, R9). Sandwiched in between tomorrow’s four races is the all-important Sansui Summer Cup pointer, the Gr2 Victory Moon Stakes.

Last year’s winner, Judicial, went on to finish third in the Summer Cup and is back to defend his crown. Trainer Tyronne Zackey appears to be using a similar routine this season running the improving five-year-old fresh. Judicial has his work cut out with top weight and a wide draw but it’s worth noting that his last run, a Pinnacle Stakes win over course and distance back in July, was assessed by handicappers as a career best.

Disco Al is six now but trainer Joey Ramsden’s decision to take him up north could see further improvement yet from the son of Captain Al who has a habit of leaving it late. The Turffontein standside track should be ideal and Disco Al was finishing best of all in his prep run behind St Tropez last time out.

Another to impress behind St Tropez last time out (1800m Pinnacle on the Turffontein inside track) was the lightly raced Deo Juvente. The Geoff Woodruff yard have been patient with this four-year-old Trippi gelding and he comes into this race with a similar profile to that of Judicial entering last year’s race.

Ahlaam finished ahead of both Deo Juvente and Disco Al last time out but, despite being well in on official ratings here, the four-year-old filly is worse off at the weights with those two this time around. The daughter of Asiatic Boy is, however, still on the up and could be a danger if allowed to dictate.

It’s a competitive race and a good case can be made for many of the remaining carded runners. But the most intriguing of these could be the recently gelded Prince Of Orange. The four-year-old disappointed in features last season but caught the eye in his first start as a gelding last month, a close up second to the progressive Toro Rosso over a too short 1450m.

A chance is taken on Prince Of Orange who is probably aimed at bigger races to come but is most likely better than his current rating (94) with healthy respect for Disco Al and Deo Juvente.

By Brendan Pather

Picture: Gavin Lerena

Tevez attempts to win the Cape Merchants for the third year in a row at Kenilworth tomorrow and no-one knows how to land this hotly competitive handicap better than the Mike Bass stable which has won seven of the last 17 runnings.

Aldo Domeyer’s mount has followed the script that worked so well last year and the year before, reappearing in the October pinnacle – he was third in 2013, fourth last year and sixth this time – and then going straight into the Merchants. No second run after a rest problems with this horse. Also he has only gone up three points in the ratings since last season’s win.

“Tevez has come on (since the Pinnacle),” confirms Candice Robinson. “But at the weights I think Line Break could be the pick of our three. He ran well in that Pinnacle and he is a bit better off with Exelero.”

Bass, whose third runner is the Fairview scorer Tomba La Bomba, has long held Line Break in high regard and the yard now thinks he could be a sprinter even though he is by Dynasty. In what is a wide open race he is the one that makes most appeal. He has a light weight and a cracking good, even if still under-rated, jockey while his low draw is a plus. The sprint course is evening out but the latest penetrometer analysis shows that the ground is still fractionally faster on the inside to the middle.

No Merchants winner has carried more than 60kg in 15 years which stacks the odds against Same Jurisdiction, 5-1 favourite in the TAB sheet forecast. “This is a bit short for her but the concern is the amount of weight,” says Duncan Howells. “She could run into the money.”

Exelero looks much more likely to start favourite but that is not exactly a plus – every one since 2001 has been beaten. However MJ Byleveld’s mount has bounced back to his best and, although raised 3kg for his Pinnacle win, he is still weighted to beat those that finished behind him. He is also the best age – five-year-olds have won six of the last 14.

“That was the maximum they could have put him up. Had it been an ordinary race he would have gone up more,” says Vaughan Marshall. “I think he will run very well.”

Dennis Drier’s Cape Town contingent are beginning to run into form and for a few weeks last season Generalissimo held the 1 200m course record. “He may need it,” says the trainer, emphasising the word may, “but he is doing very well.”

Mister Matchett started slowly when third to Exelero three weeks ago and is now 1.5kg better. However Chris Puller says he didn’t lose very much ground that day.

Gulf Storm, fourth in that race, could pose a bigger threat while stable companion Sail South (seventh) and Happy Forever (ninth) did lose ground at the off. The latter has since been dropped a kilo.

Asstar (eighth) has a chance – he still looks as if he has yet to reach his potential – while Zambezi River has won half his ten starts and has a back-to-form genius in the irons. But it’s too short for King Of Pain and Double Whammy has surely been off too long, Triptique is 1.5kg under sufferance and for once the Snaith runners are hard to fancy while the much-travelled Talktothestars attempts what would be an amazing inter-province hat-trick and will be a big price.

By Michael Clower 

Picture: Aldo Domeyer

With the Vaal sand a thing of the past, the next best surface for the confirmed sand larks appears to be the Greyville poly track. Many an older horse with mileage on the clock has been given a second chance as the more forgiving surface seems to be a little kinder on aging legs.

Further, given that the polytrack ratings are the same as turf ratings, most of the horses with high sand ratings and low turf ratings appear ‘tossed’ in at the weights in their first few outings on the poly.

This has been a valuable point to consider when hunting winners on the poly and Jade Vine is an example. She was unlucky not to make a winning poly debut behind stable companion and poly specialist Chennai Babe and looks set to run another big race this evening.

Across The Ice (JC Photos)

With a sand rating of 96 she made her poly debut off a 67 and came in for a ton of market support, backed in from 10-1 to start 28-10. However Andrew Fortune made a rare error of judgement running up a blind alley and she finished fourth beaten less than two lengths. Sean Tarry’s runner jumps off the same mark in the sixth at Greyville tonight and Fortune will be looking to make amends.

Jade Vine takes on a progressive filly in Way Out Front looking for her third win on the bounce but although she is probably running off a capped merit rating after getting the maximum six pounds for her last win in a Novice Plate, she still has to give Jade Vine 2,5kg which could be beyond her.

Another interesting runner tonight is the veteran Across The Ice. Tarry does not give up on his horses because of age and if he thinks there is still potential he keeps them rolling. Nine-year-old Across The Ice is an accomplished sprinter on the sand with a peak rating of 106. Recent form has seen him drop to 100 but he jumps off an 88 turf rating this evening. That coupled with apprentice Eric Ngwane taking a further 4kg off his back he could well prove to be the joker in the pack in spite of his indifferent recent sand form.

Likely favourite here is the Glen Kotzen-trained Hip Hop Dancer. The lightly raced gelding pulled up lame last run after making a smart return to the track from a three month break. This will be his third outing since and with a handy weight and inside draw he should be a factor.

Another to have found his form on the poly is the American-bred Nicklaus. Unbeaten in two starts for his new stable he takes a further rise in class when he contests the fifth. However, he showed no signs of stopping when beating Last Tiger recently jumping from the worst of the draw. He has pulled gate 2 tonight and he can row in again in spite of the stronger opposition.

By Andrew Harrison

The Highveld spring season is in full swing and the form is starting to hold up with an increased number of well-backed favourites arriving at Turffontein in the past week. With this trend in mind, it could pay to follow the money at the Inside Track tomorrow.

Dublin Rebel should get favourite-backers off to a good start in the opener. The son of Jay Peg is returning from a slight break but the form of his last outings is far superior to anything else on offer in this Work Riders Maiden Plate.

Market movements are likely to be of less significance in a competitive first leg of the Bipot with the primary fancies being the two course and distance specialists, Beach In A Bottle and Loco Por Ganar, together with Finchatton who has been campaigning against stronger.

But it’s worth monitoring the boards before attempting a Place Accumulator with the third looking open to domination by first timers. There’s very little to enthuse over in terms of recent form, although the keen-racing Sweet Singer could be better suited by this shorter trip, and any support for debutantes Sapphire Girl, Clever Move and Submergence should be respected.

First timers are often avoided in the Pick 6 but it may be safer to include a few this time around with again little form on offer in the fourth. Of the raced runners, big improvement is expected from Sao Paulo who was green on debut and possibly Relampago who has been running on over shorter. But the jockey bookings for the first timers Invincible Flame, Trip To India and Winning Sister have not gone unnoticed and neither will any market support they attract.

Alec Laird’s Ntoma will be a popular banker in the opening leg of the Jackpot and justifiably. The 89-rated maiden, well clear of the rest in her last two starts, finally cracks a decent draw and should get off the mark.

The next three races are tricky and punters are advised to go as wide as possible in exotics. Noah From Goa and Bull Valley are likely to top the boards in the sixth but handicaps limited to three-year-olds often throw up results and it could pay dividends to look further down in the weights toward Coral Fever and Lunar Approach.

Similarly, Sapsan and Sharp Princess will be popular inclusions in the seventh, a three-year-old fillies handicap. But it’s difficult to eliminate any of these on overall form and once again it’s worth considering runners further down the weights, especially Miracle Rising, News Filter and Gold Shades.

Sean Tarry has a strong coupling in the eighth, Hawaiian Sun and Heptagon, but both have wide draws to contend with and this brings quite a few others into the race. Flaming Ace and Pyramus are easy to find on form but Nahoon Beach could be one that’s overlooked. He ran a cracker at the weights behind Brazuca and Front Rank in a Graduation Plate last time out and looks well in here back in a handicap.

The market could again be a good indicator in the last with a few noteworthy first timers to consider but the consistent Golden Man could be worth bankering in smaller Pick 6 perms to qualify as the first raced runner home.

By Brendan Pather

Picture: Alec Laird