This colt has always been held in high regard and is a fantastic specimen. The professional Snaith yard have always said about him that he was a typical Dynasty and would therefore take a few runs before the best of him was seen. Indeed, Friday night’s race was the first time he had contested a feature since running third to Act Of War in the Gr 3 Cape Classic over 1400m in his second career start last October. An aspect of his win on Friday night that will augur well in his bid to win his probable main target, the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 on May 30 at Greyville, was that he settled very well in the running despite the race having been run at a crawl. There are few Dynasty’s that don’t have good actions and Heartland displayed his when running on all the way to the line.

Heartland (Liesl King)

The confusing aspect was that the 0,75 length runner, the Western Winter colt Kingvoldt whose pedigree suggests that 2000m will stretch his stamina reserves, was surging strongly at the line despite being keen early and conceding 3kg to the winner. He will enjoy the KRA Guineas trip, but will he take his chances in the Daily News?

Third-placed Easy Lover set the pace and his limit is likely the mile.

However, fifth-placed Light The Lights, who was beaten 2,05 lengths at level weights to the winner, was an eyecatcher and will be an outsider to consider for both the Daily News and the July. He was extremely keen both going down and in the running, showing that he needed the run after a three-and-a-half month break, but just as his run in the straight appeared to be petering out he came back again and was doing good work late. He has a nice long stride and the Daily News and July distances will likely be right up his alley. This Western Winter colt strikes as being a tall, relatively lightly framed sort who is maturing and therefore improving all the time.

Act Of War looks likely to stay at home for the Cape Winter Series and the horse he beat in the Grand Parade Cape Guineas, Harry’s Son, will be hard to beat in the KRA Guineas. He was not quite himself in the Cape Guineas after an aeroplane journey that didn’t go smoothly, but still managed to beat Kingvoldt into second. The Paul Lafferty yard have also revealed that Anton Marcus said after Harry’s Son’s fifth place in the SA Classic over 1800m that the champion colt’s turn of foot had been blunted in the soft conditions.

Act Of War (Liesl King)

The yard believe the ground and not the distance got to him, so he could well still line up for the Daily News.

The Sean Tarry-trained SA Classic winner French Navy will be lining up for the SA Derby on April 25, but should have enough time to recover and be freshened up for the Daily News.

This ever improving sort should be a leading contender in the latter race and it will be interesting to see whether he can follow in the footsteps of the Tarry-trained Pomodoro, who was touched off in the SA Classic before going on to win both the SA Derby and the July.

The SA Classic runner up Amsterdam stayed on superbly in that race despite the testing ground and having been forced to make his run down the unfavourable side. He is also Daily News bound and looks the type who could set the pace.

SA Classic third and fourth-placed horses Deputy Jud, who strikes as an improving sort, and Unparalleled are both well regarded and are others to consider.

Nothing went right for Gauteng Guineas third-placed Forest Fox in the SA Classic, but he will be a force to be reckoned with in the KRA Guineas and possibly the Daily News too.

The Investec Cape Derby winner Ertijaal was asked to do a lot when leading the SA Classic in testing going and duly faded out to lose his unbeaten record. He will also be a Daily News contender in likely fast going.

Ertijaal (Liesl King)

Duncan Howells has said that his impressive, long-striding gelding Saratoga Dancer would likely be better as a four-year-old, so he would not “plan too much” for him during the Champions Season, but he added that he would “take his chances” if “the right races fall into place at the right time for him”, so it will be interesting to see whether those include the KRA Guineas or the Daily News.

The De Kock-trained Anjaal made an impressive comeback after a layoff in a 1400m event at Turffontein on Saturday and could be a KRA Guineas contender. Another of his classy three-year-old males, Jayyed, had wind problems and is still on the sidelines.

The Cape Derby third and tied fourth horses, Liquid Mercury, Krambambuli and Arniston are others that could play a part in the Champions Season three-year-old male events.

The KRA Guineas and Daily News have become possibly the two best pointers to the Vodacom Durban July as three-year-olds have dominated the latter race in the last couple of decades with 12 wins in the last 20 renewals. The two top class three-year-old events are therefore two of the most eagerly anticipated races in this fabulous three month festival of racing, the Champions Season, which begins with the KRA Guineas meeting on May 2.

However, her awaited clash with Same Jurisdiction didn’t materialise in the end as the latter was declared a non-runner due to her starting gate not opening properly.

This misfortune  didn’t detract from Majmu’s performance. The grey Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum-owned Redoute’s Choice filly was handy in the running and went clear halfway down the straight. She won comfortably despite not having run since her Gr 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas victory in early December. The brave Sean Tarry-trained Trophy Wife found her fourth big race place in succession,  running on strongly for second ahead of her stablemate Tamaanee and the top class Mike Bass-trained mare Hammie’s Hooker.

Majmu (Liesl King)

De Kock, Delpech and Sheik Hamdan had a treble together, all with Australian-breds, as the two-year-old Redoute’s Choice filly Shaama had earlier won impressively on debut over 1160m and later the top class Lonhro colt Anjaal had bounced back to form and easily won a Graduation Plate over 1400m.

Later, the Listed Spook Express Handicap over 2450m was won in good style by the big Australian-bred Dylan Thomas filly Wild Ash, who is trained by Geoff Woddruff and was ridden by Anton Marcus.

Earlier the Louis Goosen-trained Trippi gelding Trip Tease put up an excellent preparation for the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint, to be run in two weeks time, by winning the Henneman Memorial Pinnacle Stakes over 1000m under Piere Strydom, despite carrying joint-topweight and hitting the gate after pre-empting the start. It was the amazing R70,000 purchase’s eleventh career victory in just his 16th career start. Strydom rode a treble to close the gap on National log leading jockey S’manga Khumalo, who had a single winner, to seven.  Delpech’s treble put him just 16 off the pace.

Later in England, the famous Crabbie’s Grand National was won by the second topweight Many Clouds, trained by Oliver Sherwood and ridden by Leighton Aspell.

There was some top class racing at Greyville on Friday night which had three feature events on the turf. It has to be said that the slow pace of all three races will make the overall form quite hard to assess.

The De Kock-trained Trippi filly One Fine Day put up an excellent performance to win the Gr 3 Umzimkhulu Stakes over 1400m. She had to come from second last in a race run at a crawl, but showed  a blistering turn of foot under Delpech to win by a length from the running on Silver Class. The classy Alexis came from last and had to be switched from the inside to the outside in the straight so did well to finish just 1,75 lengths behind the winner, to whom she conceded 2 kg.  All three fillies will be contenders in the Gr 2 KRA Fillies Guineas, although One Fine Day and Alexis were the ones that created the best impression. One Fine Day is owned and was bred by Drakenstein Stud.

Heartland (Liesl King)

The Gr 3 Byerley Turk over 1400m saw another slow pace, this time set by Easy Lover. The Justin Snaith-trained Heartland settled well in the running in third place under Sean Cormack, while  Kingvoldt tugged at the bit behind him. Light The Lights fought with his rider going down and in the running. Heartland showed why he has always been so well regarded when running on strongly in the straight to win by 0,75 lengths. The runner up Kingvoldt was surging late so this was an excellent performance, considering he was conceding 3kg to the winner. Easy Lover carried 2kg more than the winner and finished 1,75 lengths back in third. Light The Lights carried the same weight as the winner and finished 2,05 lengths back, but he clearly needed the run and was doing good work late. He could be a fair each/way ante-post outsider to side with in the Vodacom Durban July.

Heartland was bred by Highlands Farm Stud and is another top progeny of the National Log leading sire Dynasty. He is owned by two of the great sire’s biggest supporters, Jack Mitchell and his daughter Nancy.

The meeting was opened by the postponed Listed Easter Handicap over 2000m and the Paul Lafferty-trained Double Clutch defied the handicapper for the third time in succession to win in good style under Keagan de Melo. This Derek Martin “King”-bred four-year-old gelding by Stronghold has earned the nickname “the miracle horse” as he recovered from a life threatening illness early in his career and has gone on to win five races from just 12 career starts. De Melo cleverly took him to the front having correctly predicted that the normally handy King Neptune would not be as pacey without the blinkers. Double Clutch, who started 33/10 second favourite, then dictated at a slow pace and ran on resolutely in the straight to beat the Duncan Howells-trained 40/1 outsider Crime Victim by 1,5 lengths. The latter ran on in eyecatching style, despite being under sufferance. Silver Spring and Gone Baby Gone finished third and fourth respectively. The favourite Balance Sheet battled to make up the ground off the slow pace and finished fifth. Jockey Delpech said later that Balance Sheet had proved in  need of the run, which was his first as a gelding.

Generalissimo (Nkosi Hlophe)

Another potential three-year-old classic horse that put his hand up during the meeting was the Duncan Howells-trained Mambo In Seattle gelding Saratoga Dancer, who was a bit keen early in a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1600m behind a snail-like pace set by the only filly in the race, Euphoria. The long striding gelding was admittedly only carrying 50kg under Muzi Yeni but created a fine impression when finally wearing down the persistent Euphoria in an exciting tussle down the straight. He had been backed in from 12/1 to start 5/2. The favourite Jet Explorer had little chance of making up the ground off the slow pace, considering he was conceding a whopping 11,5kg to the winner and that this was his Champions Season pipe opener.

Howells said later that Saratoga Dancer would be better as a four-year-old and would probably not be taking on the best during the Champions Season.

The official first race on the card saw an eyecatching debut win over 1400m for the giant two-year-old Ideal World filly Persian Rug, who is trained by De Kock and is owned by two of his assistants Nathan Kotzen and Steven Jell. Anton Marcus schooled the green filly by turning her around on the way to the start and cantering her around the bend. She then beat a weak maiden field effortlessly and looks one to follow.

Dennis Drier looks to have possibly the two best sprinting males in the country in Captain Of All and Generalissimo. The latter made his comeback in a 1200m race on the polytrack and his 15/20 odds proved generous as he annihilated them by four lengths unextended. Drier had told owners Nick and Ben Jonsson to ignore his previous start in Cape Town as a slight sideways knock had affected him and he had duly finished lame. Drier, with the support of the Jonssons, had excercised caution by not running him again in Cape Town. The Gr 1 weight for age Computaform Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein on April 25, for which Captain Of All will be a leading contender, comes too soon for Generalissimo, but Drier said that all going well he would be targeted at the Gr 1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville on May 23.

Betting World opened her at 6-10 yesterday and made Nights Of Stars the biggest danger at 4-1 with Sunset Tripp (7-1) the only other one in single figures.

Fly By Night (Liesl King)

At the weights the Mercury Sprint winner has a minimum of two lengths in hand over the next highest rated – Supreme Sunset (10-1) and Night Of Stars – but that is not a lot when a horse has been off for 11 weeks.

However Mike Bass is confident that she won’t be in need of the run. “She is quite fit,” he points out and says that the joint infection that caused her to run below par in the Cape Flying Championship was relatively short-lived. “It was caused by her whacking herself, one leg against the other, and she wears boots all the time at home.”

This 1 200m is on the short side for Supreme Sunset while Night Of Stars owes her rating to being raised 4kg for last month’s course and distance win. This race will show whether such a hefty increase was warranted.

Jet Supreme (10-1) has been off almost as long as the favourite and over-raced when she finished last in the Klawervlei Majorca. “This is a prep for the winter season,” says Justin Snaith but Andrew Fortune’s mount is another who would prefer further.

This is the only race that Anton Marcus sits out. The four-time champion, who has won on five of his 22 Kenilworth rides (a 22% strike rate) this season, partners six for the in-form Joey Ramsden and R1.3 million newcomer Brilliant Crimson for Bass in the first. The market is likely to provide the best guide here.

Supercilious, who would have finished a lot closer on debut had she started on terms, has obvious claims in race two particularly as her pilot is so brilliant at the gate. However Jane S Piddy finished like a certain future winner on her first start three weeks ago.

The form is difficult to evaluate – the first six were all newcomers and the fifth has been beaten since – but Greg Cheyne’s mount fairly caught the eye. “We have always thought highly of her but I thought 1 000m might be a touch too short for her,” says Glen Kotzen. “I would think she has come on because she was quite green that day.”

Seventh Feather flopped in a work riders’ race last time – she flyjumped and her saddle slipped – but her previous two runs suggested a marked improvement which could see her beat shorter-priced rivals in the Gill Davies Maiden.

“I didn’t change anything but she suddenly turned the corner,” recalls Carl Burger. “Some horses are like that and Gerrit Schlechter says she is now on top of her game.”

The idea of a horse coming from Dubai to win America’s most prestigious race is somewhat foreign to me — And now you know why I never made it as a comic. Seriously, though, folks, I am really starting to warm to the idea of 2015 finally being the year that a horse comes out of the UAE Derby to make some real noise on the first Saturday in May. Oh what the heck, I will just come out and say it — I think Mubtaahij might be just the horse to beat all the Americans and win the 2015 Kentucky Derby.

Boo! Hiss! Before you call me a hater of hot dogs and apple pie — I’m not. I enjoy eating both of those things. Let me run down the list behind my reasoning for liking this son of Dubawi so much.

Mubtaahij (Liesl King)

Running Style – With all the speed lining up for this year’s Kentucky Derby, having a horse who can relax early, is, in my mind, a very positive trait. Moreover, the Derby is seldom won by a stone cold closer, but rather by a horse who has enough tactical speed and maneuverability to find a preferable spot in the early stages, and then take full advantage of the right holes at the right times. In watching his racing in Dubai, it would appear Mubtaahij is just such a horse. Just watch him in his latest, as he relaxes early, measuring his competition. He then deftly moves off the rail to pounce, and when asked, his turn of foot is a thing of beauty. All of this should suit him perfectly on May the 2nd.

Training – Mike de Kock is one of the finest trainers in the world, having trained countless good horses to important wins. With the hearty Mubtaahij, he has been able to train his horse to be stronger and fitter than what we typically see in America. His horse is battle tested and only getting better for the work, and de Kock knows how to win big races.

Dirt – For the first time in several years, the UAE Derby was run and won on dirt, and there can be no doubt that Mubtaahij is a dirt horse. Five consecutive strong performances on the surface have more than proven that. While we never knew about the ability of recent Dubai shippers to handle the dirt, it is not a worry this year. There is every reason in the world to believe that Mubtaahij will take to the Churchill Downs’ main track swimmingly.

Distance – Discount this part of the equation, if you will, but after running a trio of solid races at seven furlongs and a mile, Mubtaahij demonstrated his fondness for a route of ground with two excellent performances at 1 3/16 miles. He’s run twice at distances farther than any other horse in the Derby field will have ever run, and in both cases, he finished very strong. When some are getting leg weary late, he should be prepared to see it out all the way to the finish.

Experience – After not doing much on the turf in England as a juvenile, Mubtaahij has had five quality races on Meydan’s new dirt course. Starting with a New Year’s Eve maiden win, the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum owned colt has moved up the latter of quality while racing on a regular basis. No horse will run in this year’s Kentucky Derby with more three-year-old experience than the horse coming from Dubai. Take a look at his lone loss on dirt, and tell me that this is not a tough horse, who will be more than ready for a fight on Derby day.

Form – There can be little doubt that Mubtaahij is thriving. Since coming to Dubai and switching to dirt, he has continued to improve with each and every start. He his 5-4-1-0 in those races, and his latest was undoubtedly his best yet. Provided that he acclimates well to his new surroundings, he will enter the Derby as a red-hot and improving horse. Considering that he has traveled well before, it is a good bet that he will also do well in Louisville.

Class – How do the races like the UAE Derby and Al Bastakiya stack up against American Derby preps? It’s impossible to know for sure at this point, but I would counter that I also wonder quite a bit about how good the horses that the Kentucky Derby favorites (Dortmund, American Pharoah, and Carpe Diem) have been beating truly are, other than Firing Line. In the $2 million UAE Derby, Golden Barows, Maftool, and Sir Fever all came in with a strong reputation, but Mubtaahij simply outclassed them. Who’s to say that bunch could not compete in U.S. stakes racing? And remember how well last year’s UAE Derby winner, Toast of New York did against America’s best in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Have I convinced you yet? Mubtaahij is a whole new type of Dubai shipper coming for the Run for the Roses. Unlike anything we’ve seen before, he is indeed a major threat to be our next winner of the Kentucky Derby.

–          Horseracingnation.com

Since the departure of Ken Rutherford this role has been filled on a temporary basis by Phumelela’s International Executive Director, John Stuart.

In the new structure Scott will report into Stuart but will be directly responsible for the day-to-day operations on the horse racing television channel as well as implementing strategies for the future growth of it.

In making the announcement, Phumelela’s CEO Rian du Plessis said: “It was always the intention to employ a full-time CEO of Tellytrack and we are delighted to have someone like Rob come on board for this challenging position. His role will be to continue to develop the Tellytrack team to a level where its performance is at least equal to the best global horse racing channels”.

Scott said: “I am looking forward to joining the Tellytrack team. The channel is the window to horseracing and serves a host of customers with varying needs and expectations. We will need to build a strategy that is not only commercially viable but also services our diverse customer base. This will require a team effort and some innovative thinking on our part. A lot of ground work has been put in place under the guidance of John and I look forward to building on this foundation.”

Racing Association CEO Larry Wainstein was excited about Rob’s appointment, highlighting his significant commercial and horse racing experience.