“She needed that last run in the Meydan Sprint and despite not having raced for nine months, she was running at them and only finished 1.75 lengths off the winner. She will have come on from that run and while she is meeting a strong field in the Al Quoz, I expect a very good run from her”, said De Kock.

Via Africa (Liesl King)

Mubtaahij (IRE), a three-year-old colt by Dubawi, owned by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and trained by De Kock, is currently the favourite for the $2 million Gr. 2 UAE Derby. De Kock confirmed that the plan is for Mubtaahij to contest the Kentucky Derby should he finish in the first two come Saturday. He did however caution that while the horse may be favourite, he faces stiff competition from the Japanese contingent as well as the two Godolphin entries.

In the $1 million Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup, De Kock saddles Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Almoonqith (USA), which he considers to be his best chance on the night. “He is a very versatile horse. He has shown that he has the speed to win over a mile and yet he has the stamina to win over 2800m as well.”

Other De Kock entries include Pylon and Prayer For Relief (USA) in the Gr.2 Godolphin Mile, Umgiyo (AUS) in the Gr.1 Dubai Turf and Star Empire and Mushreq (AUS) in the Gr.2 Dubai Gold Cup.

However, he was not writing him off and also had hopes for his other Gr 1 runner on the day, Banbury, who takes her place in the Gr 1 Wlgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic over 1800m.

No Worries (Nkosi Hlophe)

Van Zyl said that the five-year-old Kahal gelding No Worries had been given a break after the Sansui Summer Cup and would be using Saturday’s run chiefly as a preparation for the Gr 1 R2 million President’s Champions Challenge over 2000m at Turffontein on April 25. However, he added that he would not be far off his best and unlike in the Charity Mile, where he was drawn widest of all in 16, he now had the pole position draw, so could well find himself in “the box seat”.  Van Zyl also believed that quite a number of the field on Saturday would be viewing the race as a preparation event for the Champions Challenge. He concluded, “This isn’t No Worries’ target but he won’t be disappointing.”

Banbury, a promising filly by the late great Horse Chestnut, benefitted from a change of tactics when winning the Gr 3 Bradlows/Morkels Fillies Mile on Sansui Summer Cup day. Instead of being out in front, she was held up off the pace and finished strongly to overtake the decent sort Smart Call and win by 1,25 lengths. She is held on paper over a mile by Siren’s Call and Same Jurisdiction, but Van Zyl said that if she could bring her last win she could have a chance. Indeed, she reversed form with Smart Call in the Fillies Mile with that change of tactics, so could be a threat to Siren’s Call and Same Jurisdiction if the same tactics are employed. Van Zyl said that she had been given “a little bit of a break” after the Fillies Mile and they hadn’t had her ready in time for last month’s Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas. However, he added that she was now “fit and well and in a good place.” The manner of her Fillies Mile win suggested she should get the 1800m. She has a fair draw of six in the small ten horse field, but Piere Strydom, not surprisingly, will stay aboard the Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Siren’s Call and is replaced on Banbury by Bernard Fayd’Herbe.

Banbury (Nkosi Hlophe)

Van Zyl clearly thinks a lot of the two-year-old colt Captain Al colt Redcarpet Captain, who runs from draw seven under S’Manga Khumalo in the Gr 3 Englezakis Protea Stakes over 1100m. On debut he showed good cruising speed in a Juvenile Plate over 1000m, which allowed Khumalo to ride a confident race, sitting on him until the closing stages and then producing a telling late burst to win cosily by 0,75 lengths. He is now 3kg worse off with the runner up from that race Mogok Master, but Van Zyl said that he had improved a lot since that last run and had been working well. He concluded, “He is a smart colt, the formlines are unestablished and this is new territory, but I expect him to be competitive.”

The yard step the four-year-old Seul Amour gelding Heart Of A Lion up to 2850m in the Gr 3 Caradoc Gold Cup. He is the best weighted male in the race, but the new conditions invented for these sorts of races usually favour females and two of the latter, Rodeo Sioux and Wild Ash, are duly the best weighted horses according to official merit ratings. Van Zyl said that there was no reason why the well regarded Heart Of A Lion shouldn’t enjoy the trip. The gelding jumps from draw 8 in the 12 horse field and Muzi Yeni rides.

Van Zyl was bullish about the chances of Vino Veritas in the Gr3 Jacaranda Handicap over 1800m for fillies and mares, despite her having to carry topweight. She is drawn well in four with Piere Strydom up and Van Zyl said, “She is on the up and has been doing very well.”

He felt that his other runner on the day, the two-year-old Noordhoek Flyer gelding Schillaci, who runs from a difficult draw of ten under Yeni in a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1400m, would improve on his first run and could run into the money. He finished 6,75 lengths behind Redcarpet Captain on debut and looks to have a form chance here over a step up in trip he should enjoy.

But he has no ride in the Rugby 5 Maiden where Legal Force is taken to make amends for last time’s unlucky defeat.  Karl Neisius’s mount looked certain to win until Fourie somehow conjured hidden depths from Garden Feature but it was earlier in the race where the hard luck stories originated and she was slowly away.

Sean Cormack

“That didn’t worry her but she then got a big bump in the middle of the race,” recalls Paddy Kruyer who is hoping that all goes smoothly this time.

His charge is evens favourite with Betting World who make the equally luckless Hilaria a 2-1 chance. She was second three times on the trot, including defeats by a head and less than half a length, before being upped to 1 400m at Durbanville. That didn’t work because she took too strong a hold early but Heavelon van der Hoven’s 4kg claim makes her a formidable proposition.

One to note each way is Philadelphia who got worked up in the pens at Durbanville but has a chance on her previous Kenilworth run. She is a huge price at 20-1.

Malachite Sunbird was considered good enough to run in the Listed race on Met day but she was found – after the race – to be suffering from the virus that affected several of the stable’s runners that day.  She reappears with Cormack in the irons in race three and Snaith comments: “I don’t say she is a good thing but she will run well.”

First run out of the maidens is normally the kiss of death but Fear Not won with such authority that she has opened 3-1 favourite for the Soccer GG Handicap even though the handicappers upped her 1.5kg for the way she broke her duck. “She has improved since, she is above average and I think she has the pace to get over from her eight draw,” says a hopeful Adam Marcus.

Ashram (who has surprisingly drifted from 9-2 to 8-1) came from a long way back to win a maiden over 200m further but Silvane Spring appeals most at 5-1.

Gauteng was second to Ashram last time and so the Glen Kotzen horse’s running will be a pointer in the last for which Gauteng is 28-10 favourite. But 3-1 chance Natatela makes most appeal over the mile.

This is the filly on whom Andrew Fortune thought he had won on Valentine’s Day only to find he had been beaten a short head. The pair tried again over 200m less a week later but could manage only sixth.

It looked as if the trip was too short but Darryl Hodgson says: “It was more that the race came too soon although we might have been alright if it had been 1 400m and then 1 600m.”

The opener is tricky. The form book says Bonfire Heart but Victoria Lavelle’s debut run was boosted by the way Jet Air won on Saturday and the ground Tar Heel lost at the start also puts him in the picture. Maybe Bonfire Heart but don’t take less than 2-1.

There are usually one or two “spooks” on the big Turffontein racedays that upset the applecart and sends dividends for the exotics soaring. These spooks are not easy to find, but it pays to look at every horse in every race as some of the outside winners have hidden form that becomes clear after the event. It will also pay to look at the ground conditions on the day and whether there is any going bias that will favour certain draws and styles of running. For example on Sansui Summer Cup day, horses coming from off the pace appeared to be at an advantage but in other big Turffontein racemeetings this season, handy horses have been favoured. Horses that have decent collateral form with any previous winners on the day should also receive a tick of approval.

Ertijaal (Liesl King)

The Gr 1 SA Classic heads the card at Turffontein and will prove whether the unbeaten Investec Cape Derby winner Ertijaal is some sort of superstar and also whether the top class KZN raider Harry’s Son stays the 1800m trip. Ertijaal will relish the galloping nature of the Standside track and the trip, while Harry’s Son showed in the Gr 1 Grand Parade Cape Guineas, when over racing early but still staying on well for second that, the 1800m could be within his stamina range. However, they are both very widely drawn, so exotic punters will have some tough decisions to makes.

Is Ertijaal, who clearly has a huge engine to go with his superb action, a banker or must Harry’s Son and a few lesser fancied horses also be included?

Another horse that has to be considered here is French Navy, who was closing in rapidly when finishing second to Harry’s Son in the Gr 2 Betting World Gauteng Guineas. He will relish the step up to 1800m, is improving all the time and he has landed another plum draw of two. Forest Fox, who ran on strongly from way back in the Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas to finish only 1,75 lengths, back also has a good draw of six. This Dupont gelding’s pedigree suggests the mile would be more down his alley, but on that last performance he could well get the 1800m.

MLJet was caught very wide in the Gauteng Guineas before the jockey eventually decided to round the field and lead, so he not surprisingly found little extra. This horse has been one of the season’s disappointments, as big things were expected of him, so he can’t be written off in his second run after gelding from pole position over a trip he should enjoy.

Same Jurisdiction (Nkosi Hlophe)

An outsider worth considering is Illuminati as he came from last to finish fifth in the Gauteng Guineas and appears to have benefitted from the removal of the blinkers. He has quite a wide draw but Sean Cormack, who won this race two years ago on Love Struck, is aboard. Highly rated Unparalleled is only a reserve runner as his trainer failed to declare him before the stipulated deadline, but if he does get in he will have to be considered as he has landed a good draw at last and his facile Investec Dingaans victory suggested he would stay this trip.

The Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic could present one of the best bets on the card in Same Jurisdiction, who suffered a nightmare passage in the Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas. However, her class when moving up in the straight on that day was clear to see and from draw 2 with Anton Marcus aboard she could make amends.

Siren’s Call won the Gauteng Guineas with Smart Call third and both will much prefer the 1800m here, so will be huge runners too from fair draws. Banbury is held by the top two on mile form, but should enjoy the step up in trip, as she finished well to win the Gr 3 Fillies Mile in tough conditions on Sansui Summer Cup day.

Pine Princess will relish the step up in trip, but Anthony Delpech has opted for Estidraaj, who beat older horses in good fashion over this trip last time out and is drawn in pole position. Gauteng Fillies Guineas runner up Trophy Wife and fourth-placed Tamanee are improving all the time. Over this trip the latter looks more likely to trouble the favourites, but neither can be written off.

The switch from a tapeta surface to dirt has seen the quality of the Dubai World Cup improve this year and among the starters for the 2000m race will be American Horse Of The Year California Chrome, who won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. In his Triple Crown bid in the Belmont he finished tie fourth but was later found to have had some tissue torn from his right front heel in an incident at the start. In his only start this year on February 7 he finished a 1,5 length second over nine furlongs on dirt to the top class Shared Belief, who is to date a six-time Gr 1 winner. That run alone makes California Chrome hard to oppose on Saturday.

African Story (Emirates Racing Authority)

The highest rated horse in the race is the Japanese contender Epiphaneia. This five-year-old entire won the Japan Cup over 2400m last year, beating 2014’s highest rated horse in the world Just A Way, by a facile four lengths. However, he might not be as effective over 2000m and has also never raced on dirt before.

The USA raider Lea won the Gr 1 Down Handicap over 1800m cosily in February last year at Gulf Stream Park and made a decent comeback after nearly a year’s layoff to win a Gr 3 over a mile at the same venue in January  before finishing second in the Down Handicap last month. However, on strict formlines Lea looks held by California Chrome and so does another American horse Candy Boy.

Last year’s World Cup winner African Story lines up again, but there were no big American horses in the race last year and in the 2013 running he was beaten seven lengths by Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom. The Australian eight-year-old raider Side Glance won a Gr 1 over this trip on turf in 2013 and is interesting on dirt.

The US$5 million Dubai Sheema Classic over 2410m produced a brilliant Japanese winner in Just A Way last year and Harp Star, who came from last to finish sixth in the Arc, could be another Japanese horse to conquer this year under the brilliant Ryan Moore.

The Gr 1 Dubai Turf over 1800m, formerly known as the Dubai Duty Free, could also be won by Moore as his mount The Grey Gadsby beat the much acclaimed Epsom and Irish Derby winner Australia in the Irish Champion Stakes over 2000m last time out in September last year.

The Gr 1 Golden Shaheen over 1200m on dirt could go to the USA raider Secret Circle, who finished well ahead of last year’s Golden Shaheen runner up Rich Tapestry the last time they met in an America Gr 1 over this distance on dirt and he also beat another contender Big Macher easily in that event.

South African Gr 1 hopes at the meeting will rest on Via Africa in the Al Quoz Sprint over 1000m on turf and she could well do it if coming back to her brilliant best in a division that is not very strong worldwide.