With six graded and listed races on the card, the nail-biting battle to the line between favourite Moofeed and the lesser-fancied Gulf Storm set the ball rolling on a high note in the Listed In Full Flight Handicap over 1 100m where the Sail From Seattle gelding Gulf Storm prevailed by a narrow margin.

Jockey Corne Orffer showed he was more than capable of mixing it with the top riders in the country when he got the better of Anthony Delpech in the final strides to give trainer Brett Crawford his first local feature winner of the season.

Two very exciting juveniles gave notice of much better things to come in the two Grade 3 races for two-year-olds, the Strelitzia Stakes and the Godolphin Barb Stakes, and both are likely to be short-priced for their big Grade 1 races at Scottsville next month. Both were ridden by Anton Marcus.

Trained by Glen Kotzen, the Visionaire filly Royal Pleasure retained her unbeaten record with a fluid win in the Strelitzia and Seventh Plain, a colt by Seventh Rock from the Dennis Drier stable, put his hand up as a potential winner of the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Medallion on May 23. A performance of note in this race was that of the Argonaut colt Beat The Retreat from the Alistair Gordon stable that came on strongly in the closing stages of the 1 100m event and could be dangerous over the 1 200m of the big race next month.

In the Grade 3 Poinsettia Stakes over 1 200m, the Kotzen-trained Jet Belle showed her class when she won comfortably from the Justin Snaith stable inmate Varikate. Having her first race since January, the Jet Master mare shifted about a little in the closing stages but Greg Cheyne steadied her and she won comfortably.

The Listed Scarlet Lady saw Anton Marcus back in the winner’s enclosure with the Charles Laird-trained Captain Al filly Captain’s Daughter. Marcus had raced her up handy as San Trip set the gallop and moved her to the outside for her run as Euphoria tackled San Trip and looked a potential winner. However, Marcus was at his best and drove Captain’s Daughter up the outside rail to win by a length.

Trainer Dean Kannemeyer can hardly put a foot wrong since bringing his team to Durban and his four-year-old Kahal gelding Solar Star put up a gutsy and impressive performance to beat the opposition under a good ride from Stuart Randolph to close off the meeting in The Sledgehammer over 1 750m.

Joey Ramsden said: “We worked him with Brutal Force at Kenilworth last Wednesday and he went really well.”

Ramsden, who also won the Winter Guineas 11 years ago with another of his stable stars, Winter Solstice, will wait to see how Act Of War is drawn in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge (June 6) before deciding on future plans. The Cape Guineas winner was drawn 23 out of 23 at the entry stage for Sunday’s race but quite a number are expected to drop by the wayside at this morning’s declarations and Ramsden is confident that his star will cope with the outside pen.

Last season’s Mercury Sprint winner Fly By Night will take her chance in the City of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint at Scottsville on May 23 despite disappointing in last Saturday’s Computaform Sprint in which she finished last.

Mike Bass said: “She is fine. The course vet said she was not striding out on her right front but I could find nothing wrong unless it was the tiny saddle that Bernard was using, and even then maybe it was just that I was trying to find something.”

Stable companion Tevez (seventh) goes to Durban although not exactly on his trainer’s wishes. “I can’t get him home without him having to stay somewhere for two weeks in the mountains because of African Horse Sickness regulations. He tends to bleed in Durban but I might run him towards the end of the season.”

The benefits of Mike Stewart’s beachside operation were given a proof-positive by Chris Snaith after Trackmaster returned after nearly three months away to secure a battling win under Richard Fourie in yesterday’s Silicone & Technical Maiden. Snaith said: “He was suffering from sore shins and we were tearing our hair out. In the end we gave him a blister and sent him to Mike.” Stewart said: “When I thought he was ready I rode him myself on the pan, the stretch of my hardest sand, and he went really well. I said to the Snaiths: ‘This is going to be a top horse and he won’t get beaten next time he runs.’”

Andrew Fortune is now riding work for Darryl Hodgson most days of the week and the former champion is being rewarded with more and more of the stable’s rides. He scored a narrow win on Natatela in the Multifix Maiden despite the filly drifting right across the course and owner Hassen Adams ruefully remarked: “I thought he was a bit of a Jonah in my colours as he hadn’t had a winner for me for a long time!”

> Anthony Delpech, 14-1 for the title a fortnight ago, is now 16-10 joint favourite with Gavin Lerena, having reduced the leeway to four. Lerena is on 130 winners and S’Manga Khumalo (129) is a 5-2 chance.

Some might have felt that Majmu let the crop down on Saturday by finishing runner up in the Gr 1 R2 million President’s Champions Challenge over 2000m, but that is probably only due to both the enormous reputation she had  before the event and the fickle nature of the South African racing public. In reality she carried a Gr1 penalty, as opposed to the victor  Wylie Hall who only carried a Gr 2 penalty, so if the performance was equated to weight for age terms she actually put in a marginally better performance than the winner – she was beaten 1,25 lengths over 2000m on 1,5kg worse terms than weight for age.

Wyle Hall was considered by many as unlucky to have been demoted in the Vodacom Durban July at the expense of the Equus Horse Of The Year Legislate last year. He ran on just a one point lower merit rating than Legislate in the July, which puts into perspective just how good a horse he is. Furthermore, Wylie Hall looks to have come into his own this season, while Majmu, having her second run after a layoff, might have run a slightly flat race by her standards on Saturday.

When Majmu won the second Gr 1 of her career in the WFA Empress Club Stakes over 1600m, her runner-up was fellow three-year-old filly Trophy Wife and another three-year-old filly, Tamanee, was third. Tamanee was the only three-year-old in Saturday’s WFA Gr 2 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes over 2000m and she duly thrashed them by 3,75 lengths. The tough and ever improving Trophy Wife has consistently finished second to the brilliant Siren’s Call this year in Johannesburg’s big three-year-old fillies races.

Pine Princess edges out Siren’s Call (JC Photos)

Siren’s Call was ever so unlucky to fail in her bid to win the Triple Tiara on Saturday when losing a shoe at the start of the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks over 2450m and then pipped in the final stride by Pine Princess. Pine Princess has joined Majmu as the only female to have beaten Siren’s Call to date. Pine Princess has always been looking for the Oaks trip and considering the strength of her crop she will be a leading contender for the Gr 1 eLan Property Gold Cup, if she takes that route.

Majmu beat Trophy Wife by three lengths in the Empress Club and in her previous start over that trip she beat Inara by 2,5 lengths in the Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Fillies Guineas. Inara then went on to win two WFA Gr 1s in succession against older females, the Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m and the Klawervlei Majorca Stakes over 1600m. Furthermore, she only just touched off her top class three-year-old contemporary Cold As Ice in the Majorca.

Cold As Ice was denied the opportunity of facing Majmu in the Cape Fillies Guineas when bursting through the stalls, dumping her jockey and running back to the parade ring. However, she followed up by beating older fillies in both the Listed Laisserfaire Stakes over 1100m and the Gr 2 Sceptre Stakes over 1200m. Her respective runner ups in those races were Rosier and Double Whammy, both three-year-old fillies.

Three-year-old filly Alboran Sea proved herself the best sprinter in the country on Saturday by winning the WFA Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m against older males, having also beaten them in the WFA Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship over the same distance. However, on Saturday she was hard pressed to beat her contemporary three-year-old filly Carry On Alice, who had finished third in the Cape Flying despite having been made to stand in the stalls for ages while others were backed out after a horse had broken through the front gates.

The time on Saturday also told a story, 55,59, just 0,63 seconds outside the course record despite the race having been run in soft going, a phenomenal performance by both fillies. It is hardly surprising that the rest of the field, which included no fewer than five Gr 1-winning older sprinters, were four lengths behind the winner and strung out like the washing.

The luckless Same Jurisdiction, who was a Gr 1 winner as a two-year-old, was only just touched off by Siren’s Call in the Gr 1 SA Fillies Classic. She would have preferred faster going, so has to be considered right up with the best of the crop. Same Jurisdiction is probably better over a mile, but she had no sort of luck in the Gr 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas.

One Fine Day, who was a Gr 1 runner-up against the boys as a two-year-old, is also right up there and impressed in her last win over 1400m at Greyville.

Cape Fillies Guineas third-placed Double Whammy is unfortunately sidelined as she is also full of class and the promising Cape Fillies Guineas fourth-placed Jet Set Go hasn’t been seen out since that race.

There are many others of good quality such as Rich Girl, who likely needed her last two starts, Smart Call, Bilateral, Lazer Star and Banbury and others like Alexis, Bichette, Cuvee Brut, Patchit Up Baby, Silver Class, Alice Springs, Flame Cat and Olma who could still make their presence felt at the top level.

The older generation of the racing fraternity, and for that matter of any sporting code, usually regard the gladiators of their heyday as all conquering but they would be hard pressed to name a three-year-old fillies crop as good as this one.

Investec Dingaans winners Unparalleled was the latest to let the crop down when only managing a six length fifth against older horses in Saturday’s President’s Champions Challenge, not a bad effort but he was still put in his place.

Act Of War, as the winner of the Gr 3 Cape Classic, the Gr 2 Selangor Cup and the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas, was the first three-year-old male to put his hand up this season and would probably be given the Equus Award if it was decided today. He was found to have been “a bit quiet” after his disappointing Investec Cape Derby run and tests then found him to have had a “little bit of inflammation in the airwaves” and “a couple of things in his blood that were “not right”. However, trainer Joey Ramsden still did not feel that the findings were enough to detract from the winning performance of Ertijaal.

Therefore it could possibly have been simply a case of not staying the trip. Act Of War is due to stay in Cape Town for the Winter Series.

Ertijaal (Liesl King)

The racing pubic clearly over reacted to Ertijaal’s easy win in the Cape Derby to the extent that one or two called it “the best performance by a three-year-old in the world this year”, having not appeared to notice that the 114 merit rated Act Of War had finished together with three horses merit rated between 82 and 92. The handicappers duly only accorded Ertijaal a 107 merit rating. Ertijaal has a daisy cutting action and his two subsequent defeats in the Gr 1 SA Classic and Gr 1 SA Derby respectively were on unsuitable soft ground. However, champions should be able to go on any ground.

Harry’s Son, an Equus Champion as a two-year-old, is in contention for the Equus Award again as he was impressive when winning both the Gr 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m and the Gr 2 Betting World Gauteng Guineas and he had excuses for all three of his defeats this season. He clearly doesn’t go well in soft ground, as was the case when easily defeated by Unparalleled in the Investec Dingaans and when finishing fifth in the SA Classic. In the early morning of his Cape Guineas runner up finish his aeroplane was delayed and he had to stand on the tarmac for three hours before a two-legged flight via Port Elizabeth. He could still stake a claim by winning races like the Gr 2 KRA Guineas on Saturday.

French Navy was an impressive winner of the SA Classic in very soft going after being beaten into third in the Dingaans and into second in the Gauteng Guineas. He finished third in Saturday’s Derby behind the new kid on the block Legal Eagle. Deputy Jud, runner up in the SA Derby and third in the SA Classic, looks to be an out and out stayer.

The ball is in the court of the like of Legal Eagle to rescue the reputation of the crop. This Grey’s Inn gelding was unexposed before Saturday’s emphatic victory and jockey Anton Marcus said that he gave the feel of an immature sort who had improvement to come. Trainer Sean Tarry said that Legal Eagle would be prepared in Johannesburg for the Vodacom Durban July.

The promising Mike de Kock-trained Anjaal looked to have turned the corner when easily winning his last start over 1400m and he is another who could make an impact. His 105 merit-rated stablemate Jayyed won his maiden last week after successful throat surgery to correct a breathing problem and could still be anything.

Down in Durban the likes of Heartland and Ultimate Dollar will be able to put their hands up by winning races like the Gr 2 KRA Guineas and/or the Gr 1 Daily News 2000. They both look to be coming into their own and possess plenty of class. St Tropez can’t be written off either as he will likely enjoy a step up in trip from 1600m. Another who could make an impact is Light The Lights, who was always likely to come into his own in the latter half of the season.

July entry The Conglomerate is a relatively unexposed sort who could also still make an impact as he beat the season’s disappointment MLJet cosily in the Politician Stakes, although he was receiving 3kg. Kingvoldt is also in Durban but is not a July entry so it looks likely that he will stick to a mile and be entered in races like the Rising Sun Gold Challenge. However, he has proved a bridesmaid to Act Of War and he failed against older horses in the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate.

Duncan Howells said that the impressive Saratoga Dancer would largely be given easier tasks until next season and Alistair Gordon has said the same about Royal Life. Gr 1 winner as a two-year-old, Afrikaburn is back in training and should be ready to race in about five or six weeks time and Run Rhino Run is highly regarded so they are two others to consider.

Guiness, one of the best sprinters of the crop, is on the sidelines.

Zambezi River has only lost once from distances of 1200-1400m, so is one who could still make an impact. His only defeat over that distance range was by Brutal Force over 1200m. Brutal Force has since been beaten by another promising three-year-old, Tomba La Bomba over 1400m, although he was giving the latter 4kg and only went down by 1,25 lengths.

Trip To Heaven beat older horses in the Gr 2 Stonach Group Racing Merchants but hasn’t been seen out since January 3. Belong To Me has some good form on the Highveld, but his chances of making an impact in the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint were dented on Sunday when he was beaten 8,1 lengths by older horses over the Scottsville 1100m in the Listed In Full Flight Handicap .

Overall, the three-year-old male crop have consistently disappointed against older horses and the form of their own races is muddled, so they look to be a below par crop to date, unlike their female counterparts who are possibly one of the best ever crop of three-year-old fillies.

The 117 merit rating of Act Of War certainly looks too high, especially when considering that Majmu, who is the best of the brilliant three-year-old classic fillies, is only a 114. Act Of War looks to have been the yardstick by which the handicappers have measured the crop, so their overall merit ratings should be treated with caution.