David Thiselton

This season’s jockey’s championship is turning out to be a thriller and it has meant there is a sideshow to a lot of meetings because the trio involved, reigning champion Richard Fourie, current log leader Craig Zackey and twice national champion Gavin Lerena, battle it out.

One amazing statistic, for example, is that there have been 24 races at Fairview this calendar year and only five of them have not been won by either Fourie or Zackey.

In the eight race meeting of January 3 on the turf, Fourie had five wins and Zackey two; in the eight race meeting on January 7 on the poly, Fourie had four wins and Zackey two; in the eight race meeting on January 10 on the turf they both had trebles. 

The two stalwart jockeys represent the powerful stables of Alan Greeff and Gavin Smith respectively and this has added to the intrigue of the perennial East Cape trainer’s championship battle between these two yards. 

Alan took over from his father Stanley many years ago, while Gavin took over from his father Andy and before that it was Stanley and Andy who battled out the championship. It is apparently decades since a Greeff or Smith did not win the East Cape championship. In recent times Alan captured seven titles in a row from the 2012/2013 season to 2019/2020, Gavin then won the next three championships, before Alan was back on the throne last season and he leads Gavin by eight wins this season.

Fourie broke Greg Cheyne’s record of 116 wins in an East Cape season last term and went on to set a new mark of 119 wins.

This season Fourie is on 59 wins in the East Cape and Zackey is on 36. 

Meanwhile Gavin Lerena is not being left out. He had a treble on Saturday at Turffontein Standside, while Fourie and Zackey only managed one win apiece in the Saturday meeting at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. This saw Lerena creeping up to within three wins of Zackey.

However, Zackey was the only one of the trio to ride at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Sunday and he scored a double. That took him to 114 wins for the season, five ahead of Lerena and seven ahead of Fourie.

At present Zackey is the only one in the country riding in all four centres, while Fourie is only riding in the East Cape and Cape Town, while Lerena rides on the Highveld and in select meetings in KZN and Cape Town. Thus, it would seem Zackey should be in the pound seats.

However, Hollywoodbets go 8/10 on Fourie for the championship and 23/10 for the other pair.

The reason is probably that the championship is in Fourie’s hands i.e. if he decided to start travelling to KZN he is likely to soon draw clear as he is in great demand there and he could also even travel to the Highveld. The title could depend on how much Fourie cherishes defending his title and of course the usual scenario of avoiding suspension and injury is another factor.

The respective strike rates of the three riders tell a story: Lerena’s strike rate is 26.72%, Fourie’s is 24.49% and Zackey’s is 18.21%.  

Another championship that was full of intrigue last season was the KZN Trainers Championship, with a number of yards in contention before Gareth van Zyl’s late spate of winners took him past Alyson Wright.

This season it is former champion Garth Puller who is well clear with 30 wins at a strike rate of 16.39% with Mike Miller on 20 wins at 11.83% while Van Zyl and Peter Muscutt are on 19 wins and Wright and Michael Roberts are both on 18 wins and Andre Nel is on 17.

The KZN jockeys’ championship is intriguing this season with Rachel Venniker leading on 39 wins and Sean Veale on 35. Serino Moodley is on 25 together with Zackey. Lerena is on 24 and Tristan Godden is on 23.   

Soccer13 C/Over R 2 752 252, Estimated Jackpot: R 5 Million (13 of 13) on Wednesday, 15 January 2025 . Pool Closes at 20h45. Sport 11 and Pool 1.

Andrew Harrison

Mike Miller is a wizard at getting his horses to come early and generally dominates the early two-year-old exchanges in KZN.

With the new KZN Futurity progamme in place courtesy of Hollywood’s anticipated takeover of Gold Circle, Miller was not caught napping in taking advantage of the R300k stake on offer, going home with the lion’s share of the booty, winner Comic Relief unbeaten in two.

Miller had three fillies taking on males in the first of the KZN Futurity races at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday and it was 1-2-3 for the yard with Holds The Key, the only colt in his quartet, finishing fifth. Given the increased stake money, this trend of fillies taking on males is likely to be ongoing and likely encourage other trainers to have a rethink about how they go forward with their juveniles.

Holds The Key was quickly out of the blocks and went tearing off to the lead with stable first call rider Tristan Godden biding his time on Comic Relief who looked to be the stable’s first choice.

And so it proved, as Comic Relief finished off her race smartly to hold off charging stable companion Captains Envy with Siesta Sunset a comfortable third.

Former Betway Summer Cup winner Royal Victory was widely expected to land the Non-Black Type Michael Roberts Stakes but clearly 1750m is now way short of optimum as market rival Imilenzeyokududuma gave Sean Veale a double for Hollywood Racing, after scoring earlier in an enterprising ride on the Stuart Ferrie-trained Capsaicin.

Always within striking distance of the pace, Veale went for home at just the right time on Gareth van Zyl’s runner to hold off the Miller-trained Narina Trogon with Royal Victory making late progress to make up the trifecta.

William Robertson, back over one of his favourite courses and well weighted to win the Non-Black Type African Holly Stakes, found one too good for him as Siphesihle Hlengwe got outsider Captain Bombshell home to hold off the late-charging favourite. With the ground a touch on the soft side, William Robertson looked to be somewhat out of his ground in the early exchanges as Craig Zackey sat off the pace, and although finishing strongly, William Robertson ran out of runway the last 200m.

Ride of the day went to Veale on Capsaicin in the opening leg of the Pick 6. His mount to took a hold of the bit, intentionally or not – he was reluctant to be drawn on the issue – but he went many lengths clear in the manner of an inexperience 4kg claimer.

However, as the opposition closed up at the top of the straight, Capsaicin kept on giving in what was an heroic victory.

Mike and Dianne de Kock along with son Matthew were on course, no doubt hoping that Calantha would win for the Ladies Onamission syndicate of which Dianne is the nominee, but the filly was run out of it by the Miller-trained Licence To Thrill.

However, the team did not go home empty handed as Top Seed, rested and gelded after pulling up dodgy on debut, made short work of his opposition in the first leg of the PA, winning with authority and De Kock senior making the point that Top Seed will not die a one-time winner.

David Thiselton

Greaterix confirmed himself an exciting prospect at Turffontein Standside on Saturday and there was also another impressive feature win for Pomodoro’s Jet and a welcome Graded win and accompanying black type for Gimmefabulous.

Greaterix was caught in front and then did too much in the Gr 2 Betway Dingaans last time out. He finished a bit distressed that day and returned home with abnormal blood readings, so was given a two week break by Mike de Kock, who consequently felt he actually needed the run on Saturday in the Gr 3 Betway Got The Greenlight Stakes over 1400m. De Kock divulged also that he is unable to work the Vercingetorix colt with other horses at home because he is simply too fast. He said time would thus tell whether he would be a classic horse i.e. stay the mile and further, or whether he would prefer shorter trips. However, he felt Greaterix would have a fitness improvement advantage over his rivals in his next start in the Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas.

Muzi Yeni, in just his fourth meeting back from a broken collar bone, had a fine day and Greaterix gave him a hattrick. Muzi’s aim at home and on Saturday was to get Greaterix to relax into his big stride, so it did not augur well when he was short of room from the off jumping from draw four as there was a horse on his heels. Muzi did have cover in a one out position in fourth place, but said the horse had never felt comfortable. He said when the pace stacked up and considering Greaterix’s big stride he had had to let the grey colt roll early. He showed a fine turn of foot under the hands to hit the front at the 400m mark. He was able to keep going under the hands after shifting to the rail. Muzi used the stick for the first time in the last 50m to keep the Dingaans runner up Fire Attack at bay, as the latter had run on strongly from last.

Greaterix won by 0,70 lengths from Fire Attack. Both will be big players in the Gauteng Guineas.

Cosmic Speed stayed on very well from well back for a 3,10 length third, suggesting he might enjoy the Gauteng Guineas trip. 

Potberrie was a maiden for ten starts so has shown amazing improvement lately and he finished a 3,70 length fourth with the recently disappointing The Specialist putting in a performance that was more like it, finishing a staying on 5,80 length fifth.

Yeni said it was a win full of merit and Greaterix’s owners Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Messrs M F de Kock, C S Haynes, G Ragunan & Mrs N P Malherbe will be looking forward to the Al Adiyaat South Africa (Pty) Ltd-bred colt’s Guineas run.

Earlier, the Mike and Adam Azzie-trained Laurence Wernars homebred Gimmethegreenlight filly Gimmefabulous got up on the line under Raymond Danielson to win the Gr 3 Betway Mother Russia Stakes over 1400m.

Gimmefabulous was sitting second last in the eight horse field after jumping from draw five.

She made up ground steadily, but in the business end Danielson lost his stick.

He said afterwards that incident had been a blessing because he said she had not been responding to the whip but after losing the stick she had responded well to him “playing with the rains with her.”

She denied the Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Selenio Peninsula (Vercingetorix), who is also a Laurence Wernars homebred, by a neck.

Both of the first two are owned by Laurence, Jarryd and Tessa Wernars.

Miss Lia and Cocomelon were beaten just 0,40 lengths and 0,70 lengths respectively and Bakwena was fifth.

Earlier, the runaway Grand Heritage winner, the Brett and James Crawford-trained Pomodoro’s Jet (Pomodoro) romped in again in the Listed Wolf Power 1600 under Gavin  Lerena, despite having been given nine points for his Grand Heritage win. He beat a good field too and was 3,50 lengths clear of Chestnut Bomber with Texas Red, Silent War and Truth next best. The Crawfords’ opinion of this horse was obvious last year as they kept him in the Hollywoodbets Durban July right until the eliminations stage. However, he seems best at 1400m to a mile. The six-year-old gelding has now won seven races and has come into his own so can win more.

Another notable win on the day was for the Janse van Vuuren-trained Wernars homebred Barbaresco (Gimmethegreenlight), a half-brother to Selenio Peninsula, and this classy sort stormed home over 1160m under Lerena despite carrying 62kg.

The Lucky Houdalakis-trained None Other (Flower Alley) won a 2400m Pinnacle by 4,25 lengths under Lerena, her first win since landing the SA Oaks a couple of seasons ago.

Lerena’s treble put him within three wins of the jockeys national log leader Craig Zackey.

Graeme Hawkins

Without a win for close on two years, and with very little in the way of recent form, the Piet Steyn-trained Gem King delivered a 100/1 knockout blow when he suddenly bounced back to winning ways in the eighth race at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, the R160 000 Klawervlei Stud Class 3 Handicap over 1200m. Ridden by Corne Orffer, Gem King joined issue with the front-running Arctic Wizard inside the final 200m and although the latter tried gamely to cling on to his advantage, Gem King found that bit extra to score by a head. 

Talk To The Master had to switch at a crucial stage of the race but stayed on to finish third ahead of War Chariot and a one-paced Riverstone. Marsh Shirtliff and Bryn Ressell race both Gem King and Talk To The Master in partnership, while Marsh also bred the runner-up Arctic Wizard to complete a “personal” Trifecta which yielded a dividend of R3004-00. Gem King’s unexpected victory saw the exit of most Pick 6 tickets and the nett pool of R492 554 was largely carried over.

The Justin Snaith stable has dominated the early juvenile races in the Western Cape and the first race on Saturday, a Maiden Juvenile Plate (Fillies) over 1000m, proved no exception with Music Of The Night (28/10) under Richard Fourie drawing clear of the tote favourite Whatastar to score by more than a length. Both the winner and runner-up are sired by Drakenstein-based stalwart What A Winter.

Lucy Rocket belied odds of 66/1 to score a dominant victory in the second race, a Maiden Plate over 1000m, but fortunately for Bipot punters the favourite Catch A Penny snatched the runner-up berth just ahead of Summer Snow and Flying Finley. The third race, a Cape B Stakes (F&M) over 1200m, produced a form result and a good finish between Miss World and Mai Sensation. Fourie attempted to make all the running on Miss World (9/4) but was collared late by Mai Sensation (7/2) who continued trainer Lucinda Woodruff’s rich vein of form.

Pick 6 punters began on the front foot in the opening leg, a D Stakes over 1800m, when the well-supported Summer Night City (28/10) just prevailed over My Only Weakness (4/1) by a very narrow margin in a driving finish. The improving 3yo My Only Weakness, a half-sister to Equus Champion Bless My Stars, conceded 5,5kgs to the more seasoned Summer Night City and was certainly not disgraced in defeat. Summer Night City was ridden by log-leading Craig Zackey and was the first leg of a race-to-race double for trainer Eric Sands.

The fifth race, a Class 4 Handicap over 1600m, saw another stirring battle between the favourite Hoodia and the Eric Sands-trained 5yo son of Pomodoro, Kebonalesedi. The latter took up the running from pole position at a solid gallop and fought on bravely when tackled by Hoodia approaching the final 200m. Just when it seemed as if Hoodia (9/4) would gain the upper hand, Grant Van Niekerk extracted hidden reserves from Kebonalesedi (7/1) who rallied bravely to score by a head.

The first nail in the coffin for Pick 6 punters came in the sixth race, a Class 4 Handicap (F&M) over 1600m, with recent maiden winner Tap Shoes (16/1) finishing strongly from quite far back to run down Family Power and win going away in good style. Tap Shoes, a chance ride for Ashton Arries, was having only her fourth start and the full sister to Zapatillas is clearly on the upgrade. Enchanting Choice had every chance in third spot but failed to quicken at the business end while Kamchatka disappointed badly, fading tamely over the final 200m to finish downfield.

Palace Gift was the subject of shrewd support in the seventh race, a Class 5 Handicap over 1200m, and the Shane Humby-trained 4yo son of Potala Palace scored readily by more than a length from the fast-finishing Rougarouin. Ridden by Oswald Noach, Palace Gift was in control throughout, registering his maiden victory at the tenth time of asking.

Kelp Forest has taken on a new lease of life since being equipped with blinkers and was a popular winner of the ninth race, a Class 4 Handicap over 1200m. The 5yo son of Flower Alley followed up on his victory a month ago with a commanding effort, notching up the sixth win of his career for trainer Adam Marcus and giving Grant Van Niekerk a double on the day. Kelp Forest (28/10) lagged some way off the early speed, but he quickened up smartly under a confident ride and was more than a length ahead of the well-backed Sooty at the line.