Silva’s Bullet faces an up-hill task if he is to make the final Vodacom Durban July field in spite of being on the receiving end in a bumper-car rally. Dean Kannemeyer’s runner was a relatively short priced favourite for the Garth Puller Racing Progress Plate, but any chances he had of winning were scuppered a long way out.

The stipendiary stewards were quick to call for a race review but after considering all the video evidence and the distance by which Silva’s Bullet had been beaten, they decided not to take action.

It all started at the 500 m mark when Warren Kennedy lost his right hand stirrup iron resulting in the ultimate winner, Our Coys becoming unbalanced.

Once regaining his right-side iron, Kennedy’s left foot came adrift, resulting Our Coys shifting abruptly inwards carrying Hand On Heart and Silva’s Buller inwards just as Silva’s Bullet was beginning his run.

Keagan de Melo was forced to switch Silva’s Bullet in but was faced with Our Coys and eventual runner-up Capoeira drifted in across him, forcing De Melo to switch again.

Silva’s Bullet was eventually beaten just under two lengths and that swayed the stipes decision.

Anton Marcus was planning a day off from the saddle but he was quick to heed a late call to replace Corne Orffer and Bernard Fayd’Herbe who were carded to ride in the rescheduled Durbanville meeting.

Orffer was booked to ride Hudoo Magic for Brett Crawford and the three-year-old Aussie-bred proved too classy for his older rivals with fellow sophomores Trippi’s Express and Priceless Ruler next best.

Trippi’s Express put in a determined run up the inside to make made a race of it with his stable companion, but Hudoo Magic was always going just a little bit better to score rather comfortably in the end.

The ‘bomb’ landed in the fourth where 9-1 chance Count Dubucks scraped home under De Melo ahead of a fast-closing Red Herring and Chestnut’s Charm, the latter pair rank outsiders contributing to a quartet dividend of R83 555.30.

Travelling Light made short work of ruling favourite Talia Al Ghul in the card opener, Gath Puller’s filly pulling nearly five lengths clear with the balance of the field four lengths adrift of Talia Al Gul.

Summerhill-based sire Capetown Noir has some good looking horses in his first crop and Enjoy The View was an equally comfortable winner of the second giving title chasing Lyle Hewitson another winner, this for Michael Roberts. The race developed into a two-horse contest over the final two furlongs but favourite Into The Future was first to weaken with the balance well beaten.

Five’s Wild has been a revelation since joining Kom Naidoo. Bought off the Shongweni Horses In Training sale for a paltry R5000, he ran third first time out for the stable and recorded his second win from just three starts as apprentice Jason Gates got him home in the seventh, the second of two apprentice races.

The first went the way of Hey Boy, a difficult ride by all accounts, but Denis Schwarz rode an accomplished race to get him home for Duncan Howells, who rounded off the meeting with 55-1 chance Special Blend giving the stable a well-earned double.

By Andrew Harrison